Risk management strategies in the provision of mental health services

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 473-476
Author(s):  
Miira Niska ◽  
Melisa Stevanovic ◽  
Elina Weiste ◽  
Tommi Ostrovskij ◽  
Taina Valkeapää ◽  
...  

People who are recovering from a mental illness often have difficulties finding and maintaining employment. One of the main reasons for these difficulties is the negative label, or stigma, attached to mental illnesses. People who possess stigmatizing characteristics may use compensatory stigma management strategies to reduce discrimination. Due to mental illnesses’ invisible characteristics, information control is an important stigma management strategy. People can often choose whether they disclose or non-communicate their illness. Nevertheless, it might be difficult to decide when and to whom to disclose or non-communicate the stigma. Since stigma management is a dilemmatic process, workers in mental health services play an important role in informing their clients of when it is best to disclose or non-communicate their illness. In this article, we adopt the perspective of discursive social psychology to investigate how workers of one mental health service programme evaluate and construct self-disclosure and non-communication as stigma management strategies. We demonstrate how these workers recommend non-communication and formulate strict stipulations for self-disclosure. At the same time, they differentiate non-communication from lying or providing false information. The study contributes to an improved understanding of stigma management in contemporary mental health services.


2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 433-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. Kennedy

The syllabus for higher training in forensic psychiatry requires knowledge of the therapeutic uses of security, although there are no references to this in standard texts. Similarly, the process of mapping a mental health service is an essential first step in planning, audit and needs assessment. All mental health services, not just forensic services, are organised to stratify patients according to the risk they present so that they can be cared for in an environment that is safe but imposes the minimum necessary restrictions and intrusions. Forensic mental health services differ from other mental health services mainly by including subsystems which are at higher levels of security than those necessary in local services. Although they have a general orientation towards risk awareness and risk management, they remain integral parts of the mental health services for the populations they serve.


2020 ◽  
pp. VV-D-18-00107
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Storey ◽  
Stephen D. Hart

Mental health professionals are at heightened risk of stalking victimization, however minimal research has examined empirically supported risk factors for stalking and the efficacy of risk management strategies. Three hundred and six counselors were surveyed, and the present study focuses on the 7% (n = 23) who had been stalked by clients. Results describe the characteristics of stalking, perpetrators, and victims and the perceived efficacy of management strategies employed. Stalking behaviors tended to be of lower severity. Common perpetrator risk factors included relationship problems, anger, and obsession. Victim vulnerabilities were identified, where many victims engaged in behavior considered ineffective in response to stalking. Victims often encountered problems coping with victimization due to inadequate access to resources. Results indicate that risk management plans must be individualized and highlight ways that mental health professionals can and would like to be protected from stalking.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (10) ◽  
pp. 831-847
Author(s):  
Caleb J. Figge ◽  
Cecilia Martinez-Torteya ◽  
Sophie Dixon ◽  
Steven Santoro ◽  
Sopheap Taing ◽  
...  

Across contexts, the roles and responsibilities for children are shaped by a range of sociocultural factors; thus, a contextually specific exploration of adaptive functioning norms is important in optimizing the acceptability, effectiveness, and sustainability of mental health intervention and community programming. The current study aimed to examine child adaptive functioning behaviors for children in Cambodia, a country faced with continuing recovery efforts from war and genocide, intergenerational trauma transmission, poverty, and minimal access to health and mental health services. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 children (ages 10–13, 16 girls) and 30 caregivers (ages 30–62, 24 females) in the Battambang province of Cambodia receiving mental health services related to caregiver intimate partner violence. Results reveal trauma-affected children in Cambodia engage in a range of familial, occupational, social, religious, and academic functioning domains. Children in this sample reported behaviors that reflect policy and community level priorities of development of children as a societal and economic resource, distress management strategies of self and others informed by mental health therapy and local healing strategies, and engagement in religio-cultural Khmer Buddhist practices and ceremonies. Findings highlight the importance of contextually specific conceptualizations of functional impairment in guiding assessment and community program design and identifying areas for monitoring intervention effectiveness.


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