Mental health care in a Fleet Mental Health Support Unit.

1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Blake Chaffee ◽  
Ralph E. Bally
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naru Fukuchi ◽  
Shusaku Chiba

Abstract Background A long-term mental health support system for the community is sometimes needed following massive natural disasters. Although the Disaster Mental Health Care Center (DMHCC) was established as a long-term mental health care center in Japan, its exact role and functioning are unclear. The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJE) of 2011 affected thousands of residents. The Miyagi DMHCC was established in Miyagi prefecture in response to the GEJE and supported residents and communities as a long-term mental health care center. Methods The main purpose of this study was to clarify which population is psychologically at high risk and which methods are useful for residents’ mental health in each phase. The study used data collected by the Miyagi DMHCC that included personal information of residents who were supported by the center from 2013 to 2018. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted on the annual number of individuals supported by the center, sex, and the number of support methods used by the center according to years. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted on the annual mean age, followed by a post-hoc comparison of the functioning of the center. Results The number of residents who needed mental health support dramatically increased in Miyagi prefecture after the 2011 disaster. The Miyagi DMHCC supported 6,850 individuals who sought mental health services, which accounted for 22.9% of all cases reported to the health services between 2012 and 2017. Based on the results, in the first few years, the elderly residents who lived alone were declared as high-risk individuals by the health survey and supported through home visits. Several years later, as younger people started to seek mental health support by themselves, they underwent counseling at the Miyagi DMHCC. Conclusion Residents who need mental health support might change depending on recovery phases. Long-term mental health care centers should observe community recovery and provide appropriate support. We discuss the implications of this result and future research directions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. e40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Rickwood ◽  
Marianne Webb ◽  
Vanessa Kennedy ◽  
Nic Telford

Background The adolescent and early adult years are periods of peak prevalence and incidence for most mental disorders. Despite the rapid expansion of Web-based mental health care, and increasing evidence of its effectiveness, there is little research investigating the characteristics of young people who access Web-based mental health care. headspace, Australia’s national youth mental health foundation, is ideally placed to explore differences between young people who seek Web-based mental health care and in-person mental health care as it offers both service modes for young people, and collects corresponding data from each service type. Objective The objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive profile of young people seeking Web-based mental health care through eheadspace (the headspace Web-based counseling platform), and to compare this with the profile of those accessing help in-person through a headspace center. Methods Demographic and clinical presentation data were collected from all eheadspace clients aged 12 to 25 years (the headspace target age range) who received their first counseling session between November 1, 2014 and April 30, 2015 via online chat or email (n=3414). These Web-based clients were compared with all headspace clients aged 12 to 25 who received their first center-based counseling service between October 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015 (n=20,015). Results More eheadspace than headspace center clients were female (78.1% compared with 59.1%), and they tended to be older. A higher percentage of eheadspace clients presented with high or very high levels of psychological distress (86.6% compared with 73.2%), but they were at an earlier stage of illness on other indicators of clinical presentation compared with center clients. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that eheadspace is reaching a unique client group who may not otherwise seek help or who might wait longer before seeking help if in-person mental health support was their only option. Web-based support can lead young people to seek help at an earlier stage of illness and appears to be an important component in a stepped continuum of mental health care.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248018
Author(s):  
Carol Wogrin ◽  
Nicola Willis ◽  
Abigail Mutsinze ◽  
Silindweyinkosi Chinoda ◽  
Ruth Verhey ◽  
...  

Introduction Adolescents living with HIV have poor treatment outcomes, including lower rates of viral suppression, than other age groups. Emerging evidence suggests a connection between improved mental health and increased adherence. Strengthening the focus on mental health could support increased rates of viral suppression. In sub-Saharan Africa clinical services for mental health care are extremely limited. Additional mechanisms are required to address the unmet mental health needs of this group. We consider the role that community-based peer supporters, a cadre operating at scale with adolescents, could play in the provision of lay-support for mental health. Methods We conducted qualitative research to explore the experiences of peer supporters involved in delivering a peer-led mental health intervention in Zimbabwe as part of a randomized control trial (Zvandiri-Friendship Bench trial). We conducted 2 focus group discussions towards the end of the trial with 20 peer supporters (aged 18–24) from across 10 intervention districts and audio recorded 200 of the peer supporters’ monthly case reviews. These data were thematically analysed to explore how peer supporters reflect on what was required of them given the problems that clients raised and what they themselves needed in delivering mental health support. Results A primary strength of the peer support model, reflected across the datasets, is that it enables adolescents to openly discuss their problems with peer supporters, confident that there is reciprocal trust and understanding derived from the similarity in their lived experiences with HIV. There are potential risks for peer supporters, including being overwhelmed by engaging with and feeling responsible for resolving relationally and structurally complex problems, which warrant considerable supervision. To support this cadre critical elements are needed: a clearly defined scope for the manageable provision of mental health support; a strong triage and referral system for complex cases; mechanisms to support the inclusion of caregivers; and sustained investment in training and ongoing supervision. Conclusion Extending peer support to explicitly include a focus on mental health has enormous potential. From this empirical study we have developed a framework of core considerations and principles (the TRUST Framework) to guide the implementation of adequate supportive infrastructure in place to enhance the opportunities and mitigate risks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-189
Author(s):  
Gabriel Abotsie ◽  
Roger Kingerlee ◽  
Andrew Fisk ◽  
Sam Watts ◽  
Rachel Cooke ◽  
...  

Purpose Comparatively, men have poorer physical and mental health outcomes than women, with a significantly higher suicide rate. Contributory factors are thought to be social and biological, leading to reduced access to health-care services. The study aims to develop and implement community-based support to increase awareness of and access to men’s mental health support networks and groups. Design/methodology/approach The project involved three key work-packages discussed in this paper: raising awareness of men’s mental health needs in health care, educational and community settings; collaboration between National Health Services (NHS) and non-NHS health-care support organisations to build multi-sector partnership working; and developing a supported sports-based community intervention aimed at men living with mental health conditions. The acceptability and feasibility of these work-packages were pragmatically evaluated through mixed-methods surveys and qualitative content analysis. Findings Overall, both community events and sports groups successfully engaged men living with mental health problems. Organisations interested in men’s mental health are continuing to engage in a partnership initiative. Community events were well-attended and received positive feedback, particularly regarding the educative and real-life experiences approach promoted in the events. The sports intervention is feasible and well-accepted by participants, who described feeling supported with their physical and mental health needs, with increased mental well-being reported. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of this project are that the authors only evaluated a football group rather than all work areas. The project collected outcomes relating to participants’ demographics and qualitative reflections of participating in the football group along with a retrospective survey of perceived benefits, but the project did not undertake a pre- and post-comparison of well-being outcomes owing to low completion of these measures. Future work could focus on collecting more pre- and post-measures related to well-being, recovery and inclusion and compare these with men not involved in the football groups or public events. Practical implications This paper discusses the development and feasibility of setting up community-based men’s mental health support networks, involving public events, partnership working and targeted-sports interventions. All initiatives were well-received and successfully attended by men living with mental health conditions. Evaluation of the programme revealed the value placed on education about mental health and the role that community sports interventions may play in men’s mental health care. Social implications This project has demonstrated three different ways of supporting men’s mental health needs in the community. Community public events were held to raise awareness of men’s mental health needs and issues were well-attended and highlighted the need for health promotion and education in this area across all the communities. The men’s football group demonstrated the feasibility of moving mental health support out into a non-clinical and more community arena in a way that men engaged effectively. Finally, the creation of MensNet has bought together disparate multi-sector organisations successfully to lead public health mechanisms to support men’s mental health needs. Originality/value This paper describes a new multi-disciplined approach to supporting health-seeking challenges among men, in particular, how partnership working across NHS and non-NHS sectors can successfully support an identified public health need pragmatically using existing services and organisations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Abid Hassan ◽  
M. D. Iftekhar Ali ◽  
Rifat Ahammed ◽  
Sami Bourouis ◽  
Mohammad Monirujjaman Khan

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the need for a better health care facility is highlighted more than ever. Besides physical health, mental health conditions have become a significant concern. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities for people to receive mental health care. There are inadequate facilities for seeking mental health support even in big cities, let alone remote areas. This paper presents the structure and implementation procedures for a mental health support system combining technology and professionals. The system is a web platform where mental health seekers can register and use functionalities like NLP-based chatbot for personality assessment, chatting with like-minded people, and one-to-one video conferencing with a mental health professional. The video calling feature of the system has emotion detection capabilities using computer vision. The system also includes downloadable prescription facilities and a payment gateway for secure transactions. From a technological aspect, the conversational NLP-based chatbot and computer vision-powered video calling are the system’s most important features. The system has a documentation facility to analyze the mental health condition over time. The web platform is built using React.js for the frontend and Express.js for the backend. MongoDB is used as the database of the platform. The NLP chatbot is built on a three-layered deep neural network model that is programmed in the Python language and uses the NLTK, TensorFlow, and Keras sequential API. Video conference is one of the most important features of the platform. To create the video calling feature, Express.js, Socket.io, and Socket.io-client have been used. The emotion detection feature is implemented on video conferences using computer vision, Haar Cascade, and TensorFlow. All the implemented features are tested and work fine. The targeted users for the platform are teenagers, youth, and the middle-aged population. Mental health-seeking is still considered taboo in some societies today. Apart from basic established facilities, this social dilemma of undergoing treatment for mental health is causing severe damage to individuals. A solution to this problem can be a remote platform for mental health support. With this goal in mind, this system is designed to provide mental health support to people remotely from anywhere worldwide.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Reques ◽  
C Rolland ◽  
E Aranda ◽  
A Grippon ◽  
N Fallet ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Central Mediterranean is one of the most dangerous migration routes from Africa. Violence perpetrated to migrants in Libya and host countries has been documented but not rigorously quantified. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of violence suffered in Libya, Italy and France by migrants consulting Médecins du Monde programs. Methods Monocentric cross-sectional study. Inclusion criteria: migrants over 18 years old, transiting through Libya, arrived in Europe from 2017 and consulting in Saint Denis Health Center. Exclusion criteria: psycotraumatic manifestations. A sample size of 72 individuals was calculated. An ad-hoc questionnaire was created through Kobo Collect. Proportion and frequency of physical, privation and sexual violence, as well as health care and shelter access were measured in each country. Results 95 individuals were recruited and 72 were interviewed (16 refused 7 were excluded) from February to April 2019. 76.3% were men, mean age was 31.6 years, 76.4% had low educational level, 66.7% were from Ivory Coast and 58.3% left their country for security reasons. In Libya, length of stay was 180 days, global proportion of individuals suffering from violence (GPISV) was 98.1% for men and 88.2% for women. Prevalence of physical, privation and sexual violence was 94.1%, 84.3% and 17.6% for men, and 85.7%, 93.3% and 60.0% for women. Health care access in Libya was inexistent. In Italy, GPISV was 31.8% for men and 28.5% for women. Health care access was 41.4%. In France, GPISV was 20.0% for men and 12.5% for women and shelter access was 44.3%. 60.3% of the participants reported need of psychological support. Conclusions The vast majority of migrants testify suffering from direct violence during migration, specially dramatic in Libya. Women have a particular risk of sexual violence. In Europe, the main problems are the lack of health care access in Italy and precarious living conditions in France. Mental health support is urgent. Key messages The vast majority of migrants testify suffering from direct violence during migration, specially dramatic in Libya. In Europe, the main problems are related to lack of health care access in Italy and the precarious living conditions in France. Mental health support is urgent.


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