Primary Prevention In Mental Health Research Articles

IJCM_328A: Operational Research on Capacity Building of Community Health Workers in Screening for Depression and Suicide risk

Background: The basic training for ASHA workers in Tamil Nadu include a module on Non-Communicable diseases with inadequate focus on Mental Health. As a part of the Community Based Assessment Checklist, ASHAs are trained in administration of Patient Health Questionnaire-2 to screen for depression. However, there is significant gap in the primary prevention of depression in the communities in terms of screening, basic counselling services and knowledge and attitude among community health workers Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of capacity building of Community Health Workers in screening for depression and suicide risk and provision of Psychological First Aid Services Methodology: 117 Community Health Workers including ASHAs, AWWs, ANMs, WHVs, VHNs and UHNs were trained in WHO Psychological First Aid, PHQ-9 administration and WHO MhGAP 10 questions on suicide risk screening in Thiruvannamalai, Vellore and Tiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu Results: Of the 1371 individuals screened, 13.18% were positive for depression and 38% were positive for atleast one suicide risk. The most common suicide risk observed was chronic pain followed by extreme hopelessness. PHQ-9 and Suicide risk assessment was easy to administer among ANM, VHN and UHNs. However, ASHAs and Women Health Volunteers reported that PHQ-2/WHO Wellbeing Index was an easier tool to use in the field. Psychological First Aid training can be easily delivered by non-medical professionals to health workers. Conclusion: Community Health Workers can provide primary prevention in mental health by provision of Psychological First Aid to their community. Depression screening should be simplified by PHQ-2/WHO Well being index

Managing Minds at Work: development of a digital line manager training programme

Abstract Background Mental ill health is the leading cause of sickness absence with high economic burden. Workplace interventions aimed at supporting employers with prevention of mental ill-health in the workforce are urgently required. Managing Minds at Work (MMW) is a digital intervention targeting support for line managers in any work setting to promote better mental health at work through a preventative approach. Objectives To describe the design and development of the MMW digital training programme, prior to feasibility testing. We adopted a collaborative participatory design involving co-design (users as partners) and principles of user-centred design (pilot and usability testing). Agile methodology was used to co-create intervention content with a stakeholder community of practice. Development processes were mapped to core elements of the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions. Results The program covers five broad areas: (i) promoting self-care techniques among line managers; (ii) designing work to prevent work-related stress; (iii) management competencies to prevent and reduce stress; (iv) having conversations with employees about mental health; (v) building a psychologically safe work environment. Pilot and usability testing (n = 37 surveys) aligned with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) demonstrated that MMW was perceived to be useful, relevant, and easy to use by managers across sectors, organization types and sizes. We identified positive impacts on manager attitudes and behavioural intentions related to preventing mental ill-health and promoting good mental well-being at work. Conclusions MMW is a digital training programme for line managers that has been co-created using rigorous development processes and aims to support employers with primary prevention in mental health. The next step is to explore the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention with line managers in diverse employment settings. Key messages

Primary mental health prevention in partners of mothers with a major mental illness: SMS4Dads

ABSTRACT Background: Mental health promotion and prevention with expecting and new fathers has historically been challenging. Approximately 10% of this population report experiencing depression in the post-partum period and 18% report experiencing anxiety. This population may be further at risk if their partner has a mental illness. Objective: To assess if information provided by SMS may be a way to reach a vulnerable population of new fathers with partners who have a mental illness. Method: Twenty-three new and expecting fathers who have partners with a mental illness were engaged in a qualitative assessment of their experience with the SMS4Dads programme. Results: This analysis showed that at risk new fathers appreciated the information received during the programme and reported acting on this, making changes in the way they interact with their children. Conclusion: The combination of timely, accurate and practical information delivered in a novel way, likely contributed to the reports of improved interactions within the family unit. Key Words: Fathers, infant, SMS, depression, mental health

Development of a Scale for Practical Competence Assessment of Occupational Health Nurses in Contracted Industrial Health Agencies for Primary Mental Health Prevention

Occupational health nurses in contracted industrial health agencies are expected to provide small- and medium-sized companies with high-quality health promotion activities, primarily in terms of mental health prevention, in terms of the implementation of these health activities, practical competence is required to not only build support systems in the workplace, but in the affiliated agencies as well. This study aimed to develop a self-assessment scale of practical competence of occupational health nurses working in contracted industrial health agencies primarily aimed at the prevention of mental health problems. A draft scale was prepared based on previous qualitative research and results obtained via literature reviews. A questionnaire survey was administered to 555 occupational health nurses from 111 facilities in order to verify the validity and reliability of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis of the responses from the 169 nurses, using maximum likelihood estimation and promax rotation, was performed. As a result, 26 items across the following four factors were identified: "the ability to operate a chain of health promotion activities in accordance with the policies and needs of workplaces," "the ability to consolidate partnerships with workplaces," "the ability to maintain the foundation of health promotion activities of the affiliated agency," and "the ability to draw support needs from workers." After confirmatory factor analysis was performed, and which resulted in the removal of four items, the resulting 22 items (across the four factors) had goodness of fit indices as follows: GFI = 0.874, AGFI = 0.838, CFI = 0.962, and RMSEA = 0.050. The developed scale appeared to have certain levels of reliability and validity in its use as a scale for the practical competence assessment of occupational health nurses working in contracted industrial health agencies primarily aimed at preventing mental health problems. Thus, the scale can be used as a self-assessment tool that can help occupational health nurses working in contracted industrial health agencies to review their daily activities.

Proposed guidelines for primary prevention for mental health at work: an update

Proposed guidelines for primary prevention for mental health at work: an update

A Pesquisa em Prevenção em Saúde Mental no Brasil: A Perspectiva de Especialistas

Resumo: Este estudo investigou experiências e recomendações de pesquisadores em prevenção primária em saúde mental no Brasil, com vistas a subsidiar uma agenda de trabalho para o fortalecimento nacional da área. Utilizou-se a técnica Delphi e dez pesquisadores, especialistas em prevenção, foram entrevistados. Investimentos na aproximação entre pesquisa e extensão, incremento do ensino de prevenção, parceria com diversas áreas de conhecimento e estudos de validação de instrumentos para avaliação de programas foram citados como necessidades. Foram apresentados recursos pessoais, profissionais e ambientais, percebidos como apoiadores para a construção da carreira. Foram abordadas direções futuras para a área, tais como a construção de redes de pesquisa e a difusão de programas preventivos. São discutidas implicações dos dados para uma agenda de pesquisa.

Primary prevention in psychiatry in general hospitals in South Asia.

The focus of primary prevention is on reducing the disease incidence. Primary prevention in mental health has been given minimal priority in low-resource settings with no significant investments. General hospitals are one of the main providers of mental health services in South Asia. This paper focuses on primary prevention activities, which can be undertaken in a general hospital in South Asia with abysmally low-mental health resources. For implementing primary prevention in psychiatry, a general hospital may be conceptualized as a population unit, located in a well-populated area with easy accessibility where different kinds of communities, for example, students and resident doctors, consultants, patients and their caregivers, and paramedical, nursing, administrative and other supportive staff, coexist and have varied functions. All the functional components of the general hospital psychiatric units (GHPUs) offer scope for introducing primary preventive psychiatry services. Psychiatrists in GHPUs can lead efforts for primary prevention in mental health in the hospital by employing strategies in the framework of universal, selective, and indicated prevention. The preventive strategies could be targeted at the patients visiting the hospital for various health services and their caregivers, employees, and the trainees. Similar principles can be employed in teaching and training.

Prevention Will Be Central Theme of This Year’s IPS Conference

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Association NewsFull AccessPrevention Will Be Central Theme of This Year’s IPS ConferenceNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:11 Jul 2016https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2016.7b14AbstractAPA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., hopes to use the IPS platform to educate members on the value of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies.As the APA community prepares to descend on the nation’s capital this October 6 to 9 to attend the 2016 IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference, APA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., hopes the meeting can help ignite the conversation on a subject that has been fairly muted in psychiatry: prevention.“There remains a certain resigned thinking among the public, and even among practitioners, that psychiatric conditions cannot be prevented,” she said. “But in truth we have many avenues by which we can halt, or at least slow down, the trajectories of mental disorders.”The theme of the meeting, chosen by Oquendo, reflects her passion for this subject: “Implementing Prevention Across Psychiatric Practice.”Register Now and Save!IPS: The Mental Health Services Conference will be held October 6 to 9 in Washington, D.C. Register now and save on fees. This year’s meeting offers sessions in seven tracks: addiction psychiatry, information for medical directors and administrators, integrated and interdisciplinary care, psychopharmacology, prevention, quality and measurement, and technology in health care. To obtain information about the preliminary program and to register, go to psychiatry.org/IPS.As Oquendo elaborated to Psychiatric News, the mental health field has been engaged in preventative practices, but it has been heavily skewed toward preventing negative outcomes—such as suicide, other violence, or institutionalization—in individuals who have already been identified with a mental disorder. As these outcomes have serious consequences for those affected by illness, as well as their family, friends, and communities at large, these types of preventative efforts are essential and will be the subject of many of the sessions at this year’s institute. Sylvia Atdjian, M.D., for example, will chair a symposium on preventing violence and the need for restraints or seclusion in hospital settings, while Peter Chien, M.D., will lead a workshop on the clinician’s role in preventing suicide in the health care setting.But Oquendo stressed that such late-stage, or tertiary, prevention should be only one part of a comprehensive prevention strategy. Psychiatry can benefit from more secondary prevention, which can entail either preventing the onset of secondary symptoms (for example, potential substance use or obesity) in someone newly diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder or treating patients showing subsyndromal levels of illness to delay or soften the impact of full-blown illness. And though it may seem daunting, even primary mental health prevention—stopping at-risk people from developing a disorder—is possible, she believes, suggesting more support for childrearing practices aimed at mothers dealing with depression or other mental illness as one strategy.Addressing social risk factors of disease is another area of opportunity, which will be the focus of the symposium “Inside Washington: National Perspectives and Cross-Sector Collaborations for Acting on the Social Determinants of Mental Health,” chaired by Ruth Shim, M.D., M.P.H.Oquendo noted that the use of the word “collaboration” is important as well. “Prevention is the direction medicine is going in general, and as we psychiatrists think about how we can make a difference in people’s lives, we should think on how we work with other specialties to implement mental health prevention strategies across the board.” ■ ISSUES NewArchived

Speeding the growth of primary mental health prevention.

While there is a strong case for primary prevention of mental health problems, relatively little mental health scholarship has been devoted to it in the last decade. Efforts to accelerate prevention scholarship could potentially benefit from strengthening pathways for interdisciplinary research; developing new training and working models for mental health professionals; developing a common language for public, policy, and scientific discussion of prevention; learning how to measure the common outcomes of heterogeneous interventions tailored to diverse communities.

Primary mental health prevention themes in published research and academic programs in Israel.

BackgroundThe World Health Organization Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan (CMHAP) 2013–2020 proposes the implementation of primary prevention strategies to reduce the mental health burden of disease. The extent to which Israeli academic programs and published research adhere to the principles spelled out by the CMHAP is unknown.ObjectiveTo investigate the presence of mental health primary prevention themes in published research and academic programs in Israel.MethodsWe searched for mental health primary prevention themes in: (1) three major journals of psychiatry and social sciences during the years 2001–2012; (2) university graduate programs in psychology, social work and medicine in leading universities for the academic year of 2011–2012; and (3) doctoral and master's theses approved in psychology and social work departments in five universities between the years 2007–2012.We used a liberal definition of primary prevention to guide the above identification of themes, including those related to theory, methods or research information of direct or indirect application in practice.ResultsOf the 934 articles published in the three journals, 7.2%, n = 67, addressed primary prevention. Of the 899 courses in the 19 graduate programs 5.2%, n = 47, elective courses addressed primary prevention. Of the 1960 approved doctoral and master's theses 6.2%, n = 123, addressed primary prevention. Only 11 (4.7%) articles, 5 (0.6%) courses, and 5 (0.3%) doctoral and master's theses addressed primary prevention directly.ConclusionsThe psychiatric reform currently implemented in Israel and WHO CMHAP call for novel policies and course of action in all levels of prevention, including primary prevention. Yet, the latter is rarely a component of mental health education and research activities. The baseline we drew could serve to evaluate future progress in the field.

Quality of life and functional health status of long-term meditators.

Background. There is very little data describing the long-term health impacts of meditation. Aim. To compare the quality of life and functional health of long-term meditators to that of the normative population in Australia. Method. Using the SF-36 questionnaire and a Meditation Lifestyle Survey, we sampled 343 long-term Australian Sahaja Yoga meditation practitioners and compared their scores to those of the normative Australian population. Results. Six SF-36 subscales (bodily pain, general health, mental health, role limitation—emotional, social functioning, and vitality) were significantly better in meditators compared to the national norms whereas two of the subscales (role limitation—physical, physical functioning) were not significantly different. A substantial correlation between frequency of mental silence experience and the vitality, general health, and especially mental health subscales (P < 0.005) was found. Conclusion. Long-term practitioners of Sahaja yoga meditation experience better functional health, especially mental health, compared to the general population. A relationship between functional health, especially mental health, and the frequency of meditative experience (mental silence) exists that may be causal. Evidence for the potential role of this definition of meditation in enhancing quality of life, functional health and wellbeing is growing. Implications for primary mental health prevention are discussed.

FP04-5 Mental Health of a Population of Long Term Meditators – The Potential of Meditation for Primary Prevention in Mental Health

FP04-5 Mental Health of a Population of Long Term Meditators – The Potential of Meditation for Primary Prevention in Mental Health

Primary Prevention in Mental Health for Head Start Classrooms: Partial Replication with Teachers as Intervenors

In a previous study, Serna, Nielsen, Lambros, and Forness (2000) demonstrated that a 12-week universal intervention in three Head Start classrooms significantly improved outcomes on 5 of 10 measures of symptoms or impairment in mental health, compared to outcomes for children in two control classrooms. Children meeting clinical cutoffs for mental health risk also maintained or improved their performance as a result of such primary prevention compared to control children at risk (Serna, Lambros, Nielsen, &amp; Forness, 2002). The present study replicated the original, except the universal intervention was not conducted by a university preschool teacher but by regular Head Start teachers. Outcomes were significant on only two of eight outcome measures. The authors discuss them in terms of efficacy versus effectiveness.

Primary prevention for mental health: design and delivery of a generic stress management program

Objective: To design, deliver and evaluate a stress management program that would target the needs of the local community. Method: Balancing Out, is a pilot stress management program jointly designed and delivered by a senior social worker and an occupational therapist based at Bunbury Primary Health Services in Western Australia. Measures: The program was evaluated using a pretest-posttest design incorporating the Perceived Stress Scale. At the conclusion of the program participants were also asked to rate the content and presentation of the program and offer their opinion on what they learnt most from the program and what they would like to see changed. Results: Quantitative results indicate that our sample had significantly higher stress levels then the norm at the beginning of the program and below population norms at program completion. Qualitative responses indicated that respondents had gained increased self-efficacy in managing stress. Conclusions: Favourable evaluation results lead us to conclude that the Balancing Out program was effective in increasing the stress management skills of participants.

The Effect of an Optimism and Lifeskills Program on Depressive Symptoms in Preadolescence

AbstractDepression is a serious mental health problem, affecting more young people than ever before. This research reports on the short-term effectiveness of an Optimism and Lifeskills Program for preventing depression in preadolescents. A randomised, controlled trial was conducted with students about to make their transition to high school, in a private girls school. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess the program's effect on depressive and lonely symptoms, attributional style and self-worth, in a sample of 47 grade 7 girls at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Results showed fewer depressive symptoms and more positive self-worth in the intervention group compared to the control group at 6-month follow-up. This research indicates that depression prevention programs can be effective in the short-term and can provide valuable skills to young people making their transition to high school. Implementation issues and suggestions for further research on primary prevention for mental health in schools are discussed.

Primary Prevention for Mental Health: A Stress Inoculation Training Course for Functioning Adults

A college course is described that explores diverse cognitive-behavioral skills that facilitate coping, are preventive in nature, and are suitable for learning by healthy individuals in educational settings. The course was previously found to significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and hostility, and significantly raise self-esteem in participants. The need to expand preventive efforts regarding mental illness is suggested.

Primary Prevention for Mental Health: Results of an Exploratory Cognitive-Behavioral College Course

This exploratory study tested the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral college course based on the stress inoculation training model. Targeting healthy adults, the course taught skills to manage anger, prevent anxiety and depression, and build self-esteem. Twelve participants, self-selected for interest in managing stress through application of mental health skills, were tested prior to and after the 15 week intervention. Analysis showed significant reductions in anxiety and depression, and significant improvements in self-esteem—which persisted at one-month follow-up. Results are discussed in the context of primary prevention of mental illness.

The use and misuse of some positively valenced community concepts.

Considers the usage of four somewhat amorphous, but positively valenced, community mental health terms: primary prevention in mental health (and closely related notions such as wellness enhancement and positive psychology); resilience; charter schools; and empowerment. Use of these concepts often reflects a need to align with currently popular, "in"-terminology, rather than an intrinsic connection between what is being written about and a tight definition of the concept in question. Usages built primarily around a concept's positive valence and glitter tend to: (a) break down communication; (b) confuse rather than clarify; and (c) ultimately retard a field's growth and progress.

Primary Prevention in Mental Health: A Scottish Perspective

Primary Prevention in Mental Health: A Scottish Perspective

Now that we all know that primary prevention in mental health is great, whatis it?

This article reviews recent evidence documenting the efficacy of primary prevention approaches in mental health and calls attention to several different ways in which that concept has been used: a) the current, widely espoused, risk detection-disorder prevention model, pivoting around initial identification of risk factors for adverse psychological outcomes; and b) a more inclusive, challenging, life-span-oriented wellness enhancement model, based on the view that psychological wellness per se may provide significant protection against the likelihood of major psychological disorder. The author considers points of overlap between these two models as well as important differences in their underlying conceptualizations, defining strategies, and contexts of support. The article depicts a disorder prevention approach as one aspect of a more comprehensive, life-span oriented, wellness enhancement approach, and argues for more central roles and support for both models within a changing overall mental health matrix. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.