The role of therapeutic recreation in psychiatric settings is examined. The importance of establishing a positive communication pattern is emphasized. Elements of assessment in the therapeutic recreation setting are considered, including thought processes and verbal behavior, nonverbal behavior, and awareness of feelings. Treatment planning is…

Designed to promote and facilitate educational opportunities at the local level for prospective guardians, this manual outlines a model course to introduce the concept of guardianship to persons interested in serving as legal guardians. First, introductory material describes the purpose, content, and development of the model course. Next, a course…

This paper provides general guidelines for psychiatric mental health workers who work with children and adolescents in a residential treatment center. Twenty-four questions commonly asked by therapists in these situations are posed and answers are discussed for each question. Topics covered include why some patients appear perfectly normal, the…

The article explores the issues of role identity and role negotiation in establishing a viable psychiatric consultation contract with a school program for multihandicapped deaf children and offers guidelines for dealing with the consequences of role confusion and conflict in this consultation relationship. (Author/DLS)

Suggested that every hospital should have a suicide prevention committee which establishes written guidelines after surveying security areas and talking with staff and patients. Reasonable treatment requires that each patient be evaluated for suicide risk and that staff follow a treatment plan according to the hospital's own policies. (JAC)

Offers 10 tips for developing well-designed crises-management plans and specified procedures for dealing with crises and tragedies. (LMI)

This article discusses how clinicians can work with parents of young children with disabilities who may themselves have mental health disorders. Recommendations are provided for an initial approach to parents with mental health challenges, referral to psychiatric personnel, establishing trust and rapport, and sustaining a relationship with parents…

This document is part of a series of monographs on community-based services for children and adolescents who are severely emotionally disturbed. The series is the product of a national study of community-based service approaches which identified over 200 programs serving emotionally disturbed children and included visits to several programs…

The article provides recommendations to personnel at residential schools for children who are blind and visually impaired, concerning (1) the impact of the difficult child (erosion of trust, increased demands on personnel); (2) the difficult child as policymaker; and (3) the role of consultants in helping the residential school and the difficult…

Service utilization records, often used to determine American Indian psychiatric disorder patterns, can guide selectively focused research. A tentative psychiatric epidemiology research framework contains four major components: community collaboration, sampling techniques, instrument development, and implementation. Available from: White Cloud…

Offers practical suggestions for college faculty and administrators who encounter disruptive students, emphasizing the need for well-defined codes of student conduct and procedures for handling disruption. The article considers why some university officials hesitate to handle psychiatrically related disciplinary problems. It also examines the role…

This report highlights the major issues discussed during a 2-day workshop on Medicaid funding for community-based mental health services for children and youth with severe emotional disturbances. The report opens with a brief description of the service needs of children and youth with severe emotional disturbances and the system of care that can…

This article shares a personal perspective on school mental health through a discussion of the ways that schools currently address mental health, an example of advancing such work through a school district mental health unit, and reflection on some important lessons learned. The article's appendix lists five sample delivery mechanisms and formats.…

An approach is presented for estimating the need for specific types of services within a system of care for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and for estimating the staff, dollars, and other resources required. Many of the issues that need to be resolved before one can "size" and cost out a system of care are…

This publication presents papers and reprints of articles aimed at family members of persons with mental illnesses. After an introductory chapter, the second chapter reviews definitions of mental illness, and discusses what is known about medicating such conditions as well as the relationship of substance abuse to mental illness. The next chapter…