Details a demonstration project which was developed to train older adult volunteers as mental health paraprofessionals for nursing homes. Discusses the effectiveness of the program for residents, as well as benefits to the staff. Includes details of recruitment, training and supervision of volunteers, services they provide, and problems…

Describes ways in which parents and professionals are working together to ensure that goals related to family support are translated into policies, programs, and services in the care system for children and youth with serious emotional disorders. Features a parent organizing project in Wisconsin. (RJC)

Asserts that mental health planning has been limited by conceptual and logistical restraints, causing planning to be isolated from management and ineffectual in describing total system of services required by persons experiencing severe mental illness. Describes application of new ideas and information technologies which can yield enhanced…

Presents summaries of four group discussions on topics raised by Broskowski's paper "Critical Issue Paper 1: Goldfields and Minefields: Changing Management Technologies and Resources." Outlines ideas and recommendations that arose as common themes from the discussions in these areas: preprofessional training, inservice training needs, technical…

Discusses these trends in mental health services: cost control and financial retrenchment, policy influence and funding, shift of long-term care responsibility, expansion of private health care market interest, and change in characteristics of mentally ill. Recommends information enhancements, market potentials, alternative organizational…

Presents overall summary of the 1986 State-of-the-Art Symposium on Mental Health Administration whose papers and summaries of group discussions are presented previously in this journal. Presents list of 10 topics in contemporary mental health administration which were highlighted. Lists five recommendations made by conferees related to research,…

Discusses the absence of national standards which are uniformly applicable to health, safety, sanitation, and nutrition aspects of child care programs. Explains the responsive collaborative project of the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Public Health Association to develop national reference standards for out-of-home child care…

Reviews a report prepared by the Senate Select Committee on Aging and the American Association of Retired Persons and presents an alternative interpretation, suggesting that high rates of mental health problems in old age are accompanied by an unmet need for services. Presents problems in governmental policy as contributing to service…

Examines the impact of medicaid coverage on access to and utilization of health care by poverty children during 1983 in Iowa. Survey results showed that poverty children receive less well care from private pediatricians and see the same health professional less often than do nonpoverty children. (SA)

Describes an approach used by a community mental health district to (1) assess its current services for sexual-minority clients (gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals), (2) develop recommendations for more appropriate staffing and staff development, and (3) implement a plan of community outreach and professional training. (Author/ABB)

Outlines the positive approach of providing services that will enhance competence and effectiveness, especially in schools as an alternative to the current overemphasis on remedial approaches. Gives consideration to the issue of who can do it and how it can be done. (Author/ABB)

Discusses four areas of research in health communication and how to make them more useful for the future. (VLC)

Presents practical information about psychiatric medications and psychological emergencies to assist staff working in outdoor settings with mental health patients. Discusses the potential hazards and side effects of psychotropic drugs. Provides step-by-step guidelines for distinguishing between medical and psychological problems, assessing…

Results of evaluation research studies, even those that are meticulously designed and carefully executed, often are not implemented. This article examines some of the critical factors that mediate between the carrying out of evaluation research and the utilization of findings. To illustrate these factors, two case studies are analyzed. (Author/EGS)

A validity scale for the Sharp Consumer Satisfaction Scale was developed and used in experiments to assess patients' satisfaction with community mental health centers. The scale discriminated between clients who offered suggestions and those who did not. It also improved researcher's ability to predict true scores from obtained scores. (DWH)