Outside of major illness or severe developmental problems, child mental health has not previously been a focus of much study. The West Australian Child Health Survey (WACHS) was one of the first surveys to specifically address mental health as part of an attempt to gain comprehensive data on child and adolescent health. During 1993, data were…

This study examines how mothers fare in the post-abuse environment; that is, how able nonoffending mothers are by virtue of their own mental health and well-being to provide the support their children need. Subjects (N=92) were women who are participating with their daughters in an ongoing study of child sexual abuse; a matched comparison group…

A therapeutic play program in New Zealand aims to provide an environment that helps children cope with the stress of being in a hospital. A relatively new aspect of child health care in New Zealand, the therapeutic play program is a preventive mental health program that differs from play therapy, which is intervention for children who have an…

Although the major locus of mental health care in the United States is in community agencies, funding cutbacks threaten the services those agencies provide. To assist human service managers in developing guidelines and concrete action strategies for dealing with financial problems, 106 mental health professionals (e.g., agency directors, technical…

The combined concepts of holism and general systems theory have led to the belief among health care professionals that people cannot be fully understood unless the mind and body are seen as having an integral relationship. The relationship between nutrition and behavior is one area in which the holistic approach is relevant for the field of…

This document provides descriptions of simple intervention techniques that day care center staff can use to help working parents and support young children's mental health. Discussion begins with the proposition that when children let adults know through their behavior that they are troubled, the children deserve a joint effort of parents and…

An exploratory study investigated the success of a small group behavior change program in eliminating self-defeating behavior (SDB) in outpatients with chronic mental illness. Four of the six subjects were outpatients at the local mental health center but were currently not exhibiting psychotic behavior. The remaining two subjects were student…

Rather than ask whether multiple roles, such as employee, wife, and mother, have a protective or harmful effect on women's psychological well being, this study examined the combination of stressors and supports associated with work and family roles. Female clerical workers (N=44) who were married and/or had a child living at home completed…

Although there is consensus in the mental health literature that women report more distress and depressive symptoms than men, it is not clear if this applies to all age groups. To examine the relationship of gender and distress among older adults, two methods were employed. First, a review was conducted of all random community surveys conducted…

This document describes services for the elderly provided by the Spokane Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Spokane, Washington. It begins by stating several reasons that the elderly are often unserved or underserved by health and social service agencies and by noting the need for community efforts to identify and locate the subpopulation of…

Because of the lack of research on the Khmer people in the United States, and because the Khmer have arrived here so recently, this paper describes itself as "less a state of the art analysis of Khmer resettlement and more of a speculation on their condition calling for more research." After an introductory section, the paper describes the two…

Research on the use of paraprofessionals and trained volunteers for visitation programs with elders is limited. To determine the effects of a visitation program on nursing home residents and their college student and elder visitors, and to explore the effectiveness of special training for such visitation, nursing home residents (N=25) visited with…

Mental health services are often unavailable, inaccessible, or inappropriate for the children and families who need them. In order to implement a more effective system of mental health services to children and adolescents, an adequate system of care must be defined and described, and a policy mandate to implement such a system must be developed.…

This document contains the 42 reports from mini-conferences held in various nationwide locations prior to the 1981 White House Conference on Aging. Each report presents an overview of the topic, descriptions of particular problems, and statements of recommendations, based on the views of mini-conference participants, and made available to the…

The first section of this Technical Committee Report provides a brief summary of the major health problems of the elderly. Problems are categorized under the general headings of health maintenance, chronic illness, mental illness, multiple impairments, demographic characteristics, manpower (geriatric medicine, nursing, and other health…