Knowledge Of Mental Health Services Research Articles

Knowledge, familiarity, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on barriers to seeking mental health services among older people: a cross-sectional study.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused drastic changes in older people's daily activities with a negative impact on their mental health, yet older people are less likely to seek mental health services. This study aims to explore the relationship between knowledge of and familiarity with mental health services, along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and barriers to seeking mental health services among older people. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 352 older people, recruited among community-dwelling adults who attended randomly selected postal offices and pension outlets. Three tools were used: a structured interview schedule for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of older people, the revised version of the Knowledge and Familiarity of Mental Health Services Scale (KFFMHS-R), and the Barriers to Mental Health Services Scale Revised (BMHSS-R). All participants reported experiencing mental health distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intrinsic barriers had a higher mean score than extrinsic barriers, and 27.4% of the variance of overall barriers to seeking mental health could be explained through regression analysis by familiarity, knowledge of mental health services, and age. Overall barriers explained 24.4% of the variance of older people's perceived distress as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (F = 22.160, P < 0.001). Knowledge of mental health services was the most significant predictor of barriers to seeking mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher barriers predicted higher distress as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study suggest the need for a multidisciplinary mental health team for older people.

“We’re not educated on that enough, and we really should be”: adolescents’ views of mental health service education

ABSTRACT Purpose Despite the susceptibility to the experience of mental distress during adolescence, this population often demonstrate poor help-seeking behaviours. Efforts have been made by schools to address adolescents’ knowledge around mental health; less focus has been given to addressing their knowledge of mental health services and avenues for help-seeking. This study aimed to explore adolescents’ views of mental health services education. Methods An interpretive descriptive design was adopted. Thirty adolescents from Ireland participated in individual interviews. Data were analysed using content analysis. Two themes were identified Recognizing Gaps in Knowledge about Mental Health Service Education, and Enhancing Mental Health Service Education for Young People. Participants reported gaps in their knowledge about mental health services and were uncertain how to access help. Current strategies (e.g., print media) were considered tokenistic and ineffective; instead, multimedia (film/TV) approaches were recommended. Results Two themes were identified: Recognizing Gaps in Knowledge about Mental HealthService Education, and Enhancing Mental Health Service Education for YoungPeople. Participants reported gaps in their knowledge about mental healthservices and were uncertain how to access help. Current strategies (e.g., print media) were considered tokenistic and ineffective; instead, multimedia (film/TV) approaches were recommended. Conclusions Current mental health education programmes need to expand their focus beyond social/emotional well-being, providing adolescents with the knowledge they need to access appropriate supports. Considering traditional print media was viewed as ineffective, while film/TV had an influence on perceptions of mental health services, a multimedia approach to education may be an effective way of engaging this population.

Community Mental Health Services and Research Clinic (KP2KJM) Muhammadiyah University of East Kalimantan

Mental health disorders will interfere the overall health of a person, so families and communities needs to increase the knowledge of families and community members in determining the condition of mental disorders, as well as how to intervene and implement mental disorder management. There are some services for it, namely the mental health consultation service program, modality therapy, client home visits, health education for the community, and mental health cadres. The results in the change of percentage level of family knowledge after given the actions are as follows: moderate category increases from 35.7% to 46.03%, the good category increases from 23.02% to 33.86%, while the poor category decreases from 41.27% to only 20.11%. It is currently preparing to collaborate with doctors and Healthcare and Social Security Agency (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial or BPJS) as the first-level health facilities and pharmacy services that are open to the public. Based on the results of research conducted, it shows that the program implemented can increase knowledge of mental health services in the community.

Examining mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviours, distress, and wellbeing in UK coaches

Although research has explored stress in coaches, little is known about their mental health literacy and how this is associated with their mental health. Their mental health literacy may have an impact on the wellbeing of their young players. This study examined levels of mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviours, distress, and wellbeing, as well as relationships amongst these variables, in coaches in the United Kingdom. Coaches were recruited through social media and asked to fill out questionnaires. A total of 103 coaches ( n = 65 men, n = 37 women, n = 1 other gender) participated in the study. Coaches had an average age of 27.9 (SD = 10.6) years. Most self-identified as heterosexual ( n = 85, 82.5%), had four or more years of experience ( n = 46, 44.7%), coached children ( n = 77, 74.8%), and coached at either the beginner ( n = 30, 29.1%) or amateur levels ( n = 66, 64.1%). In total, 20 (19.4%) coaches indicated a previous diagnosis of a mental disorder. A total of 51 (49.5%) coaches indicated that, at the time of the completion of the survey, they exhibited symptoms of a mental disorder. Overall, the average mental health literacy score was 123.10 and lower than in previous studies. Mental health literacy was not significantly associated with help-seeking behaviour, distress, or wellbeing. General help-seeking behaviour was positively correlated with wellbeing. The results suggest that coach certification programmes could adopt strategies to help coaches improve their knowledge of mental health services and how such services may be accessed. These changes may improve the wellbeing of coaches and may benefit their athletes.

The African, Caribbean and European (ACE) Pathways to Care study: a qualitative exploration of similarities and differences between African-origin, Caribbean-origin and European-origin groups in pathways to care for psychosis

ObjectivesThis paper reports on a qualitative exploration of the reasons for differences in pathways to care and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) in the African, Caribbean and European (ACE) Pathways...

Barriers to mental health services utilization in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria: service users’ perspectives

IntroductionThere is only one neuro-psychiatric hospital for over four million people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Low-income groups in urban and rural areas who access care through public mental health clinics are at greater risk of not accessing the needed mental health care. This study aimed to explored barriers that prevent people from utilizing mental health services, and to identifies key factors to increase access and improved service delivery.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted among 20 service users attending the outpatient clinic of Rumuigbo neuropsychiatric hospital. Ten participants were caregivers and 10 were clients, both having accessed services for at least one year.ResultsThe mean age was 37.7 years, 60% were males, 40% were unemployed and only 15% had a regular monthly income, while 65% live in rural areas. Barriers observed in mental health services use were physical, financial and cultural. These include absence of service in rural communities, poor knowledge of mental health services, stigma, transportation problems, waiting time at the facility and cost of service.ConclusionStigma remains a strong barrier to accessing mental health services, and extensive efforts need to be made to overcome ignorance and discrimination. Mental health services need to be provided throughout the health care system to enable people to access them locally and affordably, preventing the need to travel and promoting service uptake and treatment continuation.

African-American Urban Clergy's Literacy of Alzheimer's Disease

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine urban African-American clergy's awareness of Alzheimer's disease and willingness to provide support to elders and their family/caregivers. Interviews were conducted with nine African-American clergy who presided over churches in central Kentucky. Collectively, all clergy had previous experience providing pastoral care to adults with Alzheimer's disease and were literate regarding its treatment. Study findings also revealed clergy were inclined to partner with their internal “health care” ministries and/or members with specialized knowledge of mental health services in an effort to provide education and emotional support to congregants in need. These findings have implications for social workers building collaborative community treatment relationships.

Child and Youth Mental Health Service Referrals: Physicians' Knowledge of Mental Health Services and Perceptions of a Centralized Intake Model

We conducted a survey to assess physicians' attitudes and knowledge of mental health services and centralized intake services for mental health. A survey consisting of 51 questions was sent to 735 physicians in active practice within the catchment area of a regional centralized intake for child and youth mental health services. The survey was conducted during the summer of 2006. Of 735 eligible physicians, 388 completed and returned the survey (52.8% response rate). The majority of physicians were aware of mental health services offered by their hospital. Physicians reported lower confidence levels for delivering counselling and psychopharmacological treatments for mental health. Furthermore, over 72% indicated that they did not feel they had time in practice to provide mental health counselling. Over 65% of physicians reported that mental health referrals should have appropriate/defined criteria. The majority (92%) of physicians had referred to specialized mental health services provided by their hospital. With respect to centralized intake services, 57.2% of physicians indicated they were aware of the service and 73.9% said it should be continued. However, only 34% reported satisfaction with the centralized intake referral service. Predictors of satisfaction with the service were satisfaction with mental health feedback and satisfaction with response time of the centralized intake service. Physician confidence levels in providing mental health services vary greatly. While doctors favour a centralized intake for mental health services, their satisfaction with such a service somewhat depends on variables beyond the control of the centralized intake, such as wait times and feedback from mental health providers.

Multiple-Family Group Treatment for English- and Vietnamese-Speaking Families Living With Schizophrenia

Multiple-Family Group Treatment for English- and Vietnamese-Speaking Families Living With Schizophrenia

Attitudes Towards Mental Illness and Knowledge of Mental Health Services Among the Australian and Chinese Community

The study aimed to examine the attitudes toward mental illness and knowledge of mental health services among Anglo-Australian and Chinese-Australian adults. Participants included 105 Anglo-Australians and 129 Chinese-Australians. Participants were requested to complete a questionnaire on attitudes toward mental illness and knowledge of mental health service available in the community. The results indicated that there was a significant ethnic difference in attitudes towards mental illness. Chinese-Australians endorsed authoritarian, restrictive attitudes towards people with mental illness and interpersonal etiology more than Anglo-Australians. There was also a significant difference in attitudes towards mental illness due to the amount of contact with people with mental illness. The more contact the participants had with people with mental illness, the less they endorsed authoritarian, and restrictive attitudes toward people with mental illness. Though there was a non-significant difference in knowledge of mental health services due to ethnic origin or amount of contact with people with mental illness, there were ethnic differences in the type of mental health services preferred. Among Chinese-Australians, age was positively related to knowledge of services for acute and chronic cases of mental illness. Implications for community mental health education programs are discussed.

Correlates of unmet need for mental health services by children and adolescents.

Little is known about the extent and correlates of unmet need for mental health services in community samples of children and adolescents. Data were obtained from the 1285 parent/youth pairs interviewed at four sites in the USA and Puerto Rico in the Methods for the Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders (MECA) Study. Unmet need was defined to exist if psychopathology and associated functional impairment were present but no mental health services had been received in the previous 6 months. Of the total sample, 17.1% had unmet need. Adjusting for demographic variables, logistic regression analyses revealed that unmet need was significantly associated with: indicators of economic disadvantage, such as being on public assistance and not being covered by health insurance; opinions of the parents and children or adolescents that the latter had poor mental health; parental psychopathology; poor school grades; and parent-reported access barriers such as concern that the child would want to solve the problem unassisted, would refuse to attend mental health services, or would be hospitalized or taken away against the parent's will. No youth-reported access barriers were significantly associated with unmet need. The economic correlates of unmet need may attain increased importance in the light of current reform in health care financing in the USA. Access may be facilitated by increasing parental knowledge of mental health services and enabling children and adolescents to initiate contact with services independently of their families.

Do adolescents know where to find help for mental health problems? A brief report.

Few previous studies have investigated adolescents' knowledge of the services available to provide help with mental health problems. This is an important omission as knowledge about the availability of mental health services may significantly influence the extent to which adolescents with mental health problems receive appropriate help for their difficulties. The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge of mental health services among socio-economically disadvantaged adolescents. Students attending the participating high school completed a questionnaire describing mental health services in South Australia. The results suggest that the adolescents had little knowledge of mental health services and they primarily discussed their problems with other family members or friends. The results also suggest that the adolescents prefer to obtain information about mental health problems from education programmes in schools or on television. There is a need to make adolescents and their families more aware of the services available to provide help for mental health problems.

Barriers and new directions in mental health services research in the primary care setting

Reviewed current knowledge of mental health services in primary care settings, examined barriers to conducting research, and proposed topics and methods for further study. Services research in primary care settings is increasingly recognized as a critical component of the effort to improve the care of children with mental health problems because a large number of children are evaluated and treated by primary care providers. Although the need for primary care research has become more apparent, a number of methodologic issues confront services investigators. The barriers to this type of research are substantial and will require innovations in design and collaboration among disciplines.

Mental health treatment and referral practices of clergy and physician caregivers.

Consistent with previous literature, the results of a detailed survey mailed to clergy and physicians from a community known for its longstanding, excellent mental health system indicated extensive treatment and referral of mental health problems by clergy and physicians. Clergy and physicians, though, displayed very limited knowledge of mental health services and personnel, particularly innovative approaches and workers. Receiving mental health training was identified as a key factor, particularly for physicians, in terms of knowledge of services and personnel, referral to a mental health center, and treatment of serious mental health problems. Strategies were, therefore, outlined to provide more accurate information to this natural treatment and referral system.