Community Mental Retardation Research Articles

Mental illness vs mental retardation

Mental illness and mental retardation are completely two different terms and with two different concepts in them and cannot be used interchangeably. Mental illness can be caused by number of causes like genetic causes, environmental causes and chemical imbalances in the brain. While mental retardation in the imbalance in normal development of the brain in an individual by which it can be categorized into mild Estimates of the prevalence of comorbidity of psychiatric disorders and mental retardation in community and clinical populations range from 14.3 to 67.3 percent. Mental illness can be described when behaviour of individuals is inappropriate, irrational, or unrealistic in most physical, or in mental illness the person’s behaviour is not normal. Mental disorder can be caused by physical, psychological or environmental factors, or a com- bination of all three. While mental illness is not level of intelligence, it is possible for a person to be both mentally ill and retarded.

Positive perceptions held by support staff in community mental retardation services.

Existing research on support staff has been focused on variables associated with stress. However, there has been little attention to the possibility that staff may also experience a number of positive outcomes or perceptions. In the present study, 101 support staff working with adults who had mental retardation completed measures of burnout and mental health and a new measure: the Staff Positive Contributions Questionnaire (SPCQ). A range of positive perceptions of their work was endorsed by participants, demonstrating that such perceptions do exist and require theoretical explanation. The SPCQ had promising internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Thus, further research with this instrument is warranted.

Use of the timeout ribbon procedure during community-based instruction.

Involvement in community-based instruction can be adversely affected when students engage in behavior that interferes with participation in instruction. A multiple probe across settings design with an embedded reversal was used to investigate the effectiveness of the nonseclusionary timeout ribbon procedure for two middle-school students with moderate mental retardation in community and school settings. An athletic wristband served as the timeout ribbon, which functioned as the stimulus for the availability of reinforcement. When the student was wearing the wristband, he could earn reinforcers. On occurrence of inappropriate behavior, the wristband was removed and the student was placed in nonseclusionary timeout. Implementation of the timeout ribbon procedure resulted in target behaviors reduced to zero occurrences for both youths. This was maintained at a 2-week follow-up, even as the reinforcement schedule was thinned. The timeout ribbon procedure provided an efficient, effective, and socially valid means of supporting positive behavior across settings for these students.

Communication forms and functions of children and adults with severe mental retardation in community and institutional settings.

The forms and functions of expressive communication produced by 84 individuals with severe mental retardation were assessed, using a structured communication sampling procedure. Symbolic communication acts were produced by 39 participants, and 27 of these symbolic communicators produced one or more multiword/multisymbol utterances. Of the remaining participants, 38 produced intentional but nonsymbolic communication acts; 7 were not observed to produce any intentional communication. For all participants who produced intentional communication, there were significantly more imperative than declarative communication acts. Significant differences in the frequencies and functions of communication acts produced by these participants were associated with differences in their communication levels (contact gesture, distal gesture, or symbolic), age (child vs. adult), and residential status (community home vs. large facility).

Toward family and community mental retardation services in Massachusetts, New England, and the United States.

Current trends in mental retardation services in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were investigated using the New England region, the state of Michigan, and the United States as comparative frames of reference. Our goal was to analyze recent structural, financial, and programmatic trends in Massachusetts and the New England region to close state institutions and implement community and family support services. Massachusetts in particular illustrates the policy choices and challenges facing many American states engaged in restructuring their service delivery systems. New England is an extremely dynamic and innovative region that is providing significant national leadership in the provision of alternatives to institutional care.

Lessons From the Continent for Mental Health Practice in Community Mental Retardation Services

Lessons From the Continent for Mental Health Practice in Community Mental Retardation Services

Community mental health and mental retardation services in the United States: a comparative study of resource allocation

Preliminary studies suggest that during the 1980s, spending for community mental retardation services in the United States may have grown much more rapidly than spending for community mental health. The primary objective of this study was to test empirically the validity of this thesis on a national basis. An additional objective was to determine why such a distinction in community spending patterns might have evolved nationally. The study used states as the units of analysis and employed a five-factor hierarchical regression to predict variance in mental health and mental retardation spending. Factors were state size, state wealth, degree of federal assistance, state civil rights activity, and strength of consumer advocacy groups. Strong roles for the civil rights and consumer advocacy factors were hypothesized. A collateral opinion survey in the 10 states exhibiting the greatest within-state difference in community mental health and mental retardation spending was also completed. Community mental retardation spending grew nearly four times more rapidly than community mental health spending in the 1980s. The consumer advocacy and civil rights factors were strongly associated with spending for community mental retardation services in the states, but these factors did not predict spending for community mental health services. Study recommendations included strengthening mental health family and consumer advocacy groups in the states and promoting systematic exchange between the mental health and mental retardation fields through joint state planning initiatives, studies, and conferences. The need for Medicaid reform is a unifying theme in both the mental health and mental retardation fields.

Mental Retardation and Psychiatric Disorders

Estimates of the prevalence of comorbidity of psychiatric disorders and mental retardation in community and clinical populations range from 14.3 to 67.3 percent. A wide variety of disorders have been reported in this population, including schizophrenia, depression, and, commonly, conduct disorder. The incidence of specific disorders appears to be related to the level of retardation and the concomitant presence of seizure disorder. Accurate assessment of psychiatric disorders in this population is difficult because mentally retarded patients have poor communication skills and because most diagnostic instruments were developed for persons of normal intellectual functioning. Treatment includes educational, behavioral, and pharmacological interventions, but guidelines for safe use of psychotherapeutic drugs are needed.

Behavioral/emotional problems in mentally retarded children and youth.

A survey was made of 1,114 mentally retarded children seen at a community mental retardation evaluation clinic between January, 1970 and April, 1977 to determine the prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems. 25% of the surveyed population showed such problems. Prevalence was related to level of intelligence and age, but not to sex or economic status.