A fundamental concern with competitive health insurance markets is that they will not supply efficient levels of coverage for treatment of costly, chronic, and predictable illnesses, such as mental illness. Since the inception of employer-based health insurance, coverage for mental health services has been offered on a more limited basis than…

To be able to offer children with developmental disorders adequate help, professionals working in special needs education must use a screening device to assess the specific psychiatric difficulties of the children. In this paper the psychometric properties of an easy-to-use parental rating scale to screen symptoms of major psychiatric disorders…

As a potential solution to increasing demands on mental health services at universities, this project seeks to develop an informal online learning community for mental health support and education. Students' use of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), especially to access health information, provides a supporting…

Lifelong learning is recognized as an important tool to reduce social exclusion, but out of the many investigations into the provision of lifelong learning in Europe none has yet sought to examine the specific situation of mental health care service users. This study examines the provision of lifelong learning for this disadvantaged group; it…

Background: Over the years, the closure of institutions has meant that individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs) must access mainstream (i.e. general) mental health services. However, concern that general services may not adequately meet the needs of patients with ID and mental illness has led to the development and implementation of more…

There is a growing expectation that schoolteachers should not only act as educators by delivering the national curriculum, but also be more involved as tier one mental health professionals. In this role they are expected to assume some responsibility in the early identification of children's mental health problems and to refer these children for…

The article interrogates current international development constructs of childhood, rights, vulnerability, and schooling in light of the daily experiences of two Malawian children affected by HIV/AIDS. It aims to better understand how development efforts targeted at these children function in practice, and suggests that current development…

We evaluated the Starting Early Starting Smart (SESS) national initiative to integrate behavioral health services (parenting, mental health, and drug treatment) into the pediatric health care setting for families with young children. Data are presented from five pediatric care (PC) sites, drawing from families at risk due to demographic and…

This fact sheet summarizes a study that examined how schools in the U.S. Gulf Coast region perceived the mental health needs of students after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and how schools responded. According to the report, despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, many…

The primary purpose of this research is to illuminate three critical components related to the success of jail diversion programs. First, prior to diversion there is the need to identify those offenders most open to therapeutic services. Second, for those offenders diverted, there must be a proper match between the offender and the mental health…

An individual tells his story of how mental health problems got him to prison and how prison mental health services were difficult to obtain and inappropriate at times. He had to demand that he receive adequate treatment. Mike Weaver currently advocates for mental health services and treating people rather than extending their prison sentences.

The Connecticut Department of Children and Families Title IV-E waiver demonstration evaluated whether the well-being of children approved for residential mental health services could be improved, and lengths of stay in restrictive placements reduced, by providing case rate payments to community agencies to provide continuum of care services.…

Professional psychology's ability to meet older Americans' psychological needs and to simultaneously thrive as a profession will be closely tied to the federal Medicare program over the coming decades. Despite legislative changes in the 1980s providing professional autonomy to psychologists and expanding coverage for mental health services,…

There are many factors that impact on mental health and the utilization of these services in the bush. The results from a three year ethnographic study in a bush community indicate that attitudes to mental health in this area of Queensland are influenced by bush identity, defined by reference to historical and current characteristics which include…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are known to have a high prevalence of mental health problems but few studies have considered how such mental health problems are addressed in Canada. The purpose of the present study was to document both the range of mental health services available to individuals with intellectual disabilities…