A presentation of the task of the 1981 White House Conference on Aging, i.e., to address the problems of older Americans and to consider ways to use older Americans as national resources, is followed by a discussion of the legislative background of the Conference and Conference funding. Six topics chosen by the Advisory Committee for discussion…

This paper describes the program and research related to the "Making It" series of 18 multi-media divorce workshops co-sponsored by a community mental health center (CMHC) and a chapter of Parents without Partners (PWP). An introductory section discusses the rationale for larger scale community intervention and epidemiological research. The…

The ineffectiveness of community boards as avenues for meaningful citizen participation in providing public human services may be traced to problems in service institutions, in communities, and in the boards themselves. In service institutions, community participation in the provision of services is discouraged by: (1) professionals' condescending…

The paper explores measurement issues surrounding acculturation, discusses the Children's Acculturation Scale (CAS), relates results of several studies dealing with the acculturation and mental health of Mexican Americans, and concludes with a substantiation of the idea that the process of acculturation is stressful and impacts on adjustment.…

To provide some directions for the design and implementation of innovative health programs, both on an individual and community level, this paper, using both empirical and anecdotal sources, explores some of the possible psychological mechanisms Indian people have used to endure overt and covert Federal policies and social attitudes of termination…

A literature review is presented of client outcome measures in rehabilitation programs for the physically disabled in Canada and the United States. Following an introduction to the changing need for program evaluations and accountability, articles dealing with the traditional outcome measurement system are reviewed that deal with the traditional…

A study was conducted in fall 1980 at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) to develop a greater understanding of the mental health/counseling needs of students. Specifically, the study sought to determine which stress-inducing conditions (stressors) had the greatest effect on students and the kinds of interventions and strategies that might be…

Traditionally, measures of psychological symptomology have been employed as the most useful criteria for identifying needs in specific communities, including measures derived from clinical screening inventories. A path analytic model of the relationships among indicators of need was derived from a survey of 1495 residents from four catchment areas…

This paper reports the progress of an ongoing clinical research project on prevention services for at risk infants of mentally ill mothers. This project extends the prevention focus of early education programs into the mental health field. Previous research findings indicate that maximum preventive effects are achieved when programs (a) begin…

A multi-dimensional approach to evaluating psychological well-being or distress is essential for a full description of subjective mental health. Factor analytic techniques were used to explore dimensions of subjective mental health with data collected from two, nationwide representative sample surveys of U.S. adults. Indices were constructed…

With the entry of more women into the labor force during the 1970's than in any other decade in this century, the effects of this phenomenon on women's mental health have become a great concern. The relationship between workforce participation and depressive symptomatology was examined in a survey of 82 low-income mothers with young children.…

A confiding spousal relationship and/or a confidant outside the marital relationship may affect an individual's ability to cope with various stressful events occurring during the adult years. Initial interviews of adults (N=2299) were conducted in 1972; a follow-up study was conducted in 1976 with 1106 adults. The findings confirmed the…

An attempt to increase adoption of the Community Lodge program through the use of a site visit was investigated. The sample of 24 state mental hospitals agreed to have a workshop about the Lodge. At the conclusion of the workshop, 12 of the hospitals were told they would have the opportunity to send one staff member on an expense-paid site visit,…

A holistic approach to health education is presented with a model outlining the scope, direction and impact of such education on individual development. The fundamental concept in this model is the interrelationship between physical, mental, and spiritual health, and it expands from these three areas into dimensions that may and may not be altered…

Mental health center administrators are concerned about persons who contact centers but fail to keep initial appointments. Factors within centers that discourage client follow-through must be identified and changed. Telephone surveys were attempted for 50 such individuals from the youth (N=23) and adult (N=27) team logs of the Weber Mental Health…