Explores the relationships of caregivers of mentally ill people with professional mental health providers since the introduction of community-based services. Respondents perceived mental health workers to be professional, friendly, respectful and positive in outlook. However they indicated dissatisfaction with accessibility, communication about…

Provides background on national movements toward expanded school mental health programs and school-based health centers, and presents advantages and challenges of joining these two systems of child and adolescent health care. These challenges, ideas for overcoming them, and future directions for promising service delivery are discussed. (Contains…

The relationship between service intensity and improvement in general psychological well-being was investigated at a Community Mental Health Center staffed primarily by Blacks and serving a Black clientele. Results for 145 Black, 18 White, and 12 other clients indicate a nonlinear relationship between level of services and patient improvement.…

Examines the suicide epidemic on Wind River Reservation during August and September 1985, which produced 12 suicide deaths and 88 verifiable attempts or threats, mainly among teenagers and young adults. Describes immediate responses and longterm prevention efforts of the reservation Behavior Health Program, government agencies, and tribal groups.…

Analyzes the 1983 distribution of inpatient mental health facilities and estimated inpatient beds for all 3,137 U.S. counties categorized on an 18-position urbanization scale. Finds services available in only 13 percent of all nonmetro counties and in virtually none of the most rural, nonadjacent, nonmetro counties. Contains 30 references. (SV)

It is suggested that Community Mental Health (CMH) should be more involved in the development of comprehensive behavioral services, which is now taking place outside the traditional mental health environment. Implications for CMH planning and financing are discussed, drawing upon a selective literature review and clinical illustrations. (SLD)

Reviews literature on alternatives to hospitalization for mentally ill. Describes mutual-help organizations which, if successful, involve individually tailored, assertive, and long-term support. Presents one mutual-help organization which has been observed for five years as an example. (Author/ABL)

Describes Alzheimer Support/Tender Loving Caregivers Project which represents the efforts of a mental health center to collaborate with an interfaith coalition to recruit and train church-based volunteers to provide respite care for frail elderly and their families. Describes educational component as overshadowing service. (Author/ABL)

Notes that, despite changed goals of mental health treatment for inmates, some prison treatment programs still evaluate effects in terms of adjustment indicators. Discusses and critiques proposals in Ohio to use adjustment indicators as outcome measures for new treatment program for mentally ill inmates. Discusses proper outcome measures for…

Rural people constitute about one-fourth of the U.S. population; their special mental health needs have largely been neglected. Psychologists are needed to practice in rural areas, to develop rural service models, and to support the development of state and federal policies that address rural needs. (DM)

Responses of 100 mental health and mental retardation professionals to a questionnaire concerning the concept of age appropriateness in services for people with mental retardation showed that, although most respondents believed in the concept's importance in treatment success, they differed on definitions and applications of the concept. (DB)

Reviews the systemic and philosophical problems surrounding government funding for behavioral research. Discusses the relationship between Congress and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), lists specific requests to NIH, and prognosticates the future of behavioral-research funding. (EMK)

Provides suggestions for phases and objectives for quality assurance (QA) programs in expanded school mental health programs. Suggests that important QA activities include examining staff training activities, assessment of stakeholder perceptions of services, conducting satisfaction surveys, examining therapy process, and investigating treatment…

Studies linkages between mental and general health care with mental health staff in rural health centers. Staff identified roles, benefits, and barriers to linkages. Benefits included increased access; coordination; promotion of more holistic sense of health care. Barriers were lack of space, differences among health disciplines, and…

This study demonstrates the usefulness of cluster analytic patterns of care in a sample of 979 children receiving federal mental health services. Six patterns were identified. These service-utilization clusters provide a useful and easily understood way to summarize children's quantity of use of various mental health services. (SLD)