Introduction: Crisis intervention aims to prevent hospital admissions by providing rapid assessment and intensive support in the community. Interest is growing in the potential of crisis care for people with intellectual disabilities who often have co-occurring psychiatric disorders and challenging behaviors. They are at high risk for admission to…

The current review examined the use of self-report measures in autistic individuals in the context of psychiatric assessments. It focused on inter-rater agreement, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and criterion validity with clinical diagnoses. It also gathered information on constructs measured, the nature of the samples, and the…

Although sleep problems often comprise core features of psychiatric disorders, inadequate attention has been paid to the complex, reciprocal relationships involved in the early regulation of sleep, emotion, and behavior. In this paper, we review the pediatric literature examining sleep in children with primary psychiatric disorders as well as…

Background: There are a variety of models for the mental health care of adults with comorbid intellectual disability (ID) and mental illness. There has been a long-running debate as to whether this should be provided by general psychiatric or specialised ID services. A previous review concluded that there was no clear evidence to support either…

Identifying and Assessing Depression is essential to ensuring access to appropriate treatment and services. Unfortunately, limited literature exists on identifying and assessing depression in prelingually deaf people. In a literature review, the authors critically examined relevant published studies. The earliest reported information on depression…

Describes study examining admissions to adolescent psychiatry inpatient units. Seven diagnostic groups accounted for 90% of admissions. Treatment programs included external resources and agencies. 67 percent of admissions led to "completed treatment." Suggests type of diagnosis, not reliance upon elective admissions, reduced likelihood…

Describes clinical, individual, and family characteristics of initial admissions to secure adolescent psychiatric unit. One-third constituted risk to themselves. Two-thirds had committed a recent serious offense. Reveals high levels of disruption and disadvantage in family and personal histories. Emphasizes need for appropriate after-care…

Reviews literature evaluating appropriateness of Medicare's prospective payment system (PPS) through Diagnostic-Related Groups (DRGs), since its implementation in 1983, for psychiatric care. Cites shortcomings that make the system untenable for mental health care, including lack of homogeneity of DRGs, inability to predict length of stay, and…

Investigates validity of the Suicide Assessment Checklist (SAC) in a sample of 1,969 admissions to a psychiatric emergency crisis center. Supporting construct related validity, total score differences were found in the expected directions as a function of referral reason. Convergent validity was based on observed correlations between selected SAC…

Reviews short-term approaches and strategies for group treatment of emotionally disturbed inpatients. Offers a sample of educational, preventive, and task-oriented treatment in groups as applied to psychiatric patients. (Author/ABB)

Describes study investigating perceived efficacy of treatment and parental satisfaction with service at adolescent psychiatric service. Over half of respondents reported positive changes in children's behavior. Approximately one-fifth criticized treatment and suggested changes. Satisfaction was positively associated with improvement in child's…

The Rapid Response Model (RRM) provides psychiatric services to children and adolescents seen at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department or at the Urgent Consultation Clinic. In a naturally occurring experiment, the RRM was introduced, withdrawn and restarted. The RRM reduced nighttime Emergency Consultations and inpatient admissions from…

Reviews the literature dealing with the role of computers in psychiatric interviewing, and with the role of the computer as a patient or as a therapist. Efforts to develop forms of computer-assisted therapy are described, and implications for the mental health field are suggested. (40 references) (LRW)

Describes a fictional case study that illustrates the usefulness of various psychiatric rehabilitation strategies over the long course of treatment for a consumer with chronic mental illness. Reviews the literature on specific psychiatric rehabilitation strategies as a way to introduce and clarify the use of psychiatric rehabilitation…

Individuals are considered mentally ill chemical abusers (MICAs) when they exhibit psychotic behaviors and are actively abusing alcohol and/or drugs; are actively psychotic with a history of alcohol or drug abuse; and/or are actively abusing alcohol or other drugs and have a history of severe psychiatric diagnoses. Although some practitioners use…