Evaluation of a Mental Illness Awareness Week program in public schools

Article Abstract:

The establishment of an annual Mental Health Awareness Week in 1983 was the result of a joint effort of the American Psychiatric Association's Division of Government Relations and the US Congress. Its purpose was to promote public awareness of mental health issues. This is increasingly important for adolescents, as psychiatric and behavioral problems have replaced infectious diseases as the major cause of illness and death for this age group over the last 30 years. The "new morbidities" of youth include depression, substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and teenage pregnancy. To address these issues, a Mental Illness Awareness Week program was developed for adolescents in public schools. To determine the efficacy of this program in achieving mental health goals, changes in students' attitudes toward the program, toward psychiatrists, and toward seeking help for psychiatric problems were studied, as were differences in the teenagers' desires to hear more about mental health issues as a result of the program. Most (69 percent) of the 1,380 students who attended the program liked it and found it helpful. They stated that they learned new things, especially concerning drugs and alcohol. The students who did attend the program reported liking psychiatrists more than those who did not attend the program. Some students also responded that the presentations were not helpful. There was a trend for the students in the higher grades not to seek help, but those who heard the presentations reported that they would be more likely to do so than those who did not hear them. Both groups of students wanted to hear more about mental health issues, especially drugs, suicide, alcohol, and depression, but the group which attended the program indicated more interest toward these and other topics. It is now important to follow-up to see if the presentations made a difference in student's help-seeking behavior. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Mental health, Study and teaching, Health education

---

Private and public psychiatry: a comparison of two health care systems

Article Abstract:

The patterns of clinical care between Australia and New Zealand were compared. Both countries have similar demographic and ethnic distributions, and have psychiatrists who have been similarly trained. The significant differences occur in the structures of their health care systems. The Australian government provides insurance for fee-for-service private practice treatment that is unlimited. Australia also has half the number of psychiatric beds and twice the number of psychiatrists in private practice as New Zealand. The higher number of doctors in private practice means the treatment of a broader spectrum of the mentally ill, where practices are extended to include the neurotic and personality disordered, as well as the hospital-based psychotic patient. Both countries have private and public health care systems, but the government of New Zealand only supports public sector inpatient services. Australia has a reputation of having a very costly health care system, but the results of this study indicated that this is not necessarily the case. When data were collected on the overall effectiveness of patient care and treatment, Australia was found to have a more efficient system. The key factors that were identified in the Australian system which were thought to be responsible for the higher rates of efficiency were the combination of fewer public hospital beds along with a higher number of psychiatrists in private practice.

Health aspects, Social aspects, Analysis, Australia, Demographic aspects, New Zealand, Medical care, Cost of, Health care costs, Community psychiatric services, Community mental health services, Public health administration, Psychiatric hospitals

---

Psychiatry in the framework of primary health care: a threat or boost to psychiatry

Article Abstract:

The inclusion of psychiatry within an integrated concept of primary health care is generally sound if a holistic and not a piecemeal and selective approach to strategies is implemented. Thus, psychiatry should be examined in relation to its public health importance, scientific basis of its treatment procedures, affordability, population involvement and social acceptability of its interventions.

Medical care

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: The validation of a self-report measure of posttraumatic stress disorder: The posttraumatic diagnostic scale. Adolescent offenders and stages of change
• Abstracts: Comparison of nutrient intake among depressed and nondepressed individuals. Interpersonal predictors of diet practices among married couples
• Abstracts: Relationship of transformational and transactional leadership with employee influencing strategies. Can group self-management mean a loss of personal control: triangulating a paradox
• Abstracts: Early treatment time course of depressive symptoms in opiate addicts. A hierarchical model of opiate addiction: failures of self-regulation as a central aspect of substance abuse
• Abstracts: Parental alcoholism as a risk factor in benzodiazepine abuse: a pilot study. Insights into the structure and function of GABA-benzodiazepine receptors: ion channels and psychiatry

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.