Rural School-Based Mental Health Services: Parent Perceptions of Needs and Barriers

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Kimberly Searcey van Vulpen ◽  
Amy Habegar ◽  
Teresa Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Parent Perceptions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Behavioral Issues ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
School Based ◽  
Main Challenge

Abstract The benefits of school-based mental health services have been supported in prior research and literature. Studies have shown that approximately one in five youths in schools today have diagnosable mental health disorders. However, research has identified that close to 70 percent of those youths do not receive the services they need. This gap in care has a significant impact on the academic, social, and emotional well-being of youths. Parent involvement is essential in bridging services. However, parents often face barriers in accessing mental health care for their child. The aim of this study was to explore parent perceptions of needs and barriers to school-based mental health services. This exploratory study included 607 parent and guardian respondents. Findings showed that parents were overwhelmingly in support of schools being involved in addressing the mental health needs of students. Anxiety, depression, and bullying were the top emotional and behavioral issues that parents recognized as the main challenge for their child. Lack of parent support, understanding that mental health issues even exist in youths, and lack of supportive school programs were identified as key factors that place youths at risk of not receiving the services they need.

Mental Health Services

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Bloom
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Family Counseling ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
School Based ◽  
Counseling Group ◽  
Teachers And Parents

Mental health problems in children are a major deterrent to learning. Yet the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in 2002 pointed out that mental health services for children are so fragmented as to be ineffective in major ways. The commission’s report emphasizes the importance of using the school system as the means of delivering such services. The school-based approach to mental health helps accomplish several goals: • Minimizing barriers to learning • Overcoming stigma and inadequate access to care • Providing comprehensive on-site counseling services • Creating a school climate that promotes students’ social and emotional functioning • Promoting healthy psychological and social development This chapter will describe the mental health services at the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) community schools, focusing on staffing, structure, and strategies and describing the clinic at one school in greater detail. Questions of space, accountability, and funding will be explored, and some conclusions based on our work will be discussed. CAS’s school-based clinics, located in elementary and middle schools, provide individual and family counseling, group therapy, in-depth assessments and referrals, and crisis intervention for students and their family members. Referrals to the clinic are made by students, teachers, and parents. Assessment and intervention plans include the active participation of the child, his or her family, school staff, and anyone else who can help in understanding the child’s needs. Based on the assessment, the child and/or family are engaged in shortor long-term individual, group, or family counseling aimed at ameliorating the problems that precipitated the referral. An in-depth psychosocial assessment is the first step in developing a comprehensive treatment plan that includes short- and long-term goals. Psychological and psychiatric evaluations are scheduled as appropriate. Clinicians (social workers with M.S.W. or C.S.W. degrees) generally have caseloads of 18–22 students, with enough room in their schedules to see walk-ins and emergencies. Problems that have been successfully treated include suicide ideation, physical and sexual abuse, drug and alcohol use, disruptive school behaviors, academic delays, hyperactivity, family and peer conflicts, and depression.

scholarly journals Voices from Minority Youth on Help-Seeking and Barriers to Mental Health Services: Partnering with School-Based Health Centers

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supp) ◽  
pp. 437-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi ◽  
Kacy Bonnet ◽  
Sophie Feller ◽  
Kathleen Nagaran ◽  
Maryjane Puffer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Minority Youth ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
School Based ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
School Based Health Centers

Objective: Schools and school-based health centers (SBHCs) play an important role in reducing disparities in access to mental health treatment. However, there is a need to increase student engagement in school mental health services. This study sought to understand the perceptions of low-income minority youth on help-seeking and barriers to mental health services at SBHC sites.Design: Descriptive, qualitative study.Setting: A network of SBHCs, called Well­ness Centers, developed as part of a strate­gic plan to serve students and community members in under-resourced areas of a large urban school district.Participants and Procedures: We conduct­ed focus groups with 76 middle and high school students at nine SBHC sites through a community-academic partnered approach from January to May 2014. The focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, and major themes coded with Atlas.ti.5.1.Results: Students identified teachers as a primary source of support for mental health issues, followed by peers and mental health counselors. Students felt that trust and con­nection were vital for help-seeking. Barriers to using SBHCs included: embarrassment; fear of judgment; concerns about confiden­tiality; a sense that they should keep things inside; and lack of awareness.Conclusions: Despite the resources avail­able at SBHCs, students face barriers to help-seeking. SBHCs can help teachers and school staff gain awareness of mental health issues and services available to students. The students’ recommendations—making SBHCs more comfortable, raising mental health awareness, and bolstering connec­tions with school and SBHC staff—may improve engagement in mental health services at schools with SBHCs. Ethn Dis. 2018;28(Suppl 2):437-444; doi:10.18865/ed.28.S2.437

scholarly journals Increasing School-Based Mental Health Services with a “Grow Your Own” School Psychology Program

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Schmitz ◽  
Kerri L. Clopton ◽  
Nicole R. Skaar ◽  
Stephanie Dredge ◽  
David VanHorn
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
School Psychology ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
School Based ◽  
Grow Your Own ◽  
Psychology Program

Transdiagnostic versus Diagnosis-Specific Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders and Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Nina Reinholt ◽  
Morten Hvenegaard ◽  
Anne Bryde Christensen ◽  
Anita Eskildsen ◽  
Carsten Hjorthøj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Outpatient Mental Health ◽  
End Of Treatment

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) delivered in a group format could facilitate the implementation of evidence-based psychological treatments. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> This study compared the efficacy of group UP and diagnosis-specific cognitive behavioral therapy (dCBT) for anxiety and depression in outpatient mental health services. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> In this pragmatic, multi-center, single-blinded, non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial (RCT), we assigned 291 patients with major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or agoraphobia to 14 weekly sessions in mixed-diagnosis UP or single-diagnosis dCBT groups. The primary test was non-inferiority, using a priori criteria, on the World Health Organisation 5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5) at the end of the treatment. Secondary outcomes were functioning and symptoms. We assessed outcomes at baseline, end-of-treatment, and at a 6-month follow-up. A modified per-protocol analysis was performed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> At end-of-treatment, WHO-5 mean scores for patients in UP (<i>n</i> = 148) were non-inferior to those of patients in dCBT (<i>n</i> = 143; mean difference –2.94; 95% CI –8.10 to 2.21). Results were inconclusive for the WHO-5 at the 6-month follow-up. Results for secondary outcomes were non-inferior at end-of-treatment and the 6-month follow-up. Client satisfaction and rates of attrition, response, remission, and deterioration were similar across conditions. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> This RCT demonstrated non-inferior acute-phase outcomes of group-delivered UP compared with dCBT for major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and agoraphobia in outpatient mental health services. The long-term effects of UP on well-being need further investigation. If study findings are replicated, UP should be considered a viable alternative to dCBT for common anxiety disorders and depression in outpatient mental health services.

scholarly journals Remote care for mental health: qualitative study with service users, carers and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e049210
Author(s):  
Elisa Liberati ◽  
Natalie Richards ◽  
Jennie Parker ◽  
Janet Willars ◽  
David Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Comparison Method ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Remote Care

ObjectivesTo explore the experiences of service users, carers and staff seeking or providing secondary mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignQualitative interview study, codesigned with mental health service users and carers.MethodsWe conducted semistructured, telephone or online interviews with a purposively constructed sample; a lived experience researcher conducted and analysed interviews with service users. Analysis was based on the constant comparison method.SettingNational Health Service (NHS) secondary mental health services in England between June and August 2020.ParticipantsOf 65 participants, 20 had either accessed or needed to access English secondary mental healthcare during the pandemic; 10 were carers of people with mental health difficulties; 35 were members of staff working in NHS secondary mental health services during the pandemic.ResultsExperiences of remote care were mixed. Some service users valued the convenience of remote methods in the context of maintaining contact with familiar clinicians. Most participants commented that a lack of non-verbal cues and the loss of a therapeutic ‘safe space’ challenged therapeutic relationship building, assessments and identification of deteriorating mental well-being. Some carers felt excluded from remote meetings and concerned that assessments were incomplete without their input. Like service users, remote methods posed challenges for clinicians who reported uncertainty about technical options and a lack of training. All groups expressed concern about intersectionality exacerbating inequalities and the exclusion of some service user groups if alternatives to remote care are lost.ConclusionsThough remote mental healthcare is likely to become increasingly widespread in secondary mental health services, our findings highlight the continued importance of a tailored, personal approach to decision making in this area. Further research should focus on which types of consultations best suit face-to-face interaction, and for whom and why, and which can be provided remotely and by which medium.

scholarly journals Designing servicescapes for transformative service conversations: lessons from mental health services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahir Gopaldas ◽  
Anton Siebert ◽  
Burçak Ertimur
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Encounters ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Emotional Risk

Purpose Dyadic services research has increasingly focused on helping providers facilitate transformative service conversations with consumers. Extant research has thoroughly documented the conversational skills that providers can use to facilitate consumer microtransformations (i.e. small changes in consumers’ thoughts, feelings and action plans toward their well-being goals). At the same time, extant research has largely neglected the role of servicescape design in transformative service conversations despite some evidence of its potential significance. To redress this oversight, this article aims to examine how servicescape design can be used to better facilitate consumer microtransformations in dyadic service conversations. Design/methodology/approach This article is based on an interpretive study of mental health services (i.e. counseling, psychotherapy and coaching). Both providers and consumers were interviewed about their lived experiences of service encounters. Informants frequently described the spatial and temporal dimensions of their service encounters as crucial to their experiences of service encounters. These data are interpreted through the lens of servicescape design theory, which disentangles servicescape design effects into dimensions, strategies, tactics, experiences and outcomes. Findings The data reveal two servicescape design strategies that help facilitate consumer microtransformations. “Service sequestration” is a suite of spatial design tactics (e.g., private offices) that creates strong consumer protections for emotional risk-taking. “Service serialization” is a suite of temporal design tactics (e.g., recurring appointments) that creates predictable rhythms for emotional risk-taking. The effects of service sequestration and service serialization on consumer microtransformations are mediated by psychological safety and psychological readiness, respectively. Practical implications The article details concrete servicescape design tactics that providers can use to improve consumer experiences and outcomes in dyadic service contexts. These tactics can help promote consumer microtransformations in the short run and consumer well-being in the long run. Originality/value This article develops a conceptual model of servicescape design strategies for transformative service conversations. This model explains how and why servicescape design can influence consumer microtransformations. The article also begins to transfer servicescape design tactics from mental health services to other dyadic services that seek to facilitate consumer microtransformations. Examples of such services include career counseling, divorce law, financial advising, geriatric social work, nutrition counseling, personal styling and professional organizing.

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