Adaptive Functioning Behaviors for Trauma-Affected Children in the Cambodian Context

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.

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Burn ◽  
Maris Vainre ◽  
Ayla Humphrey ◽  
Emma Howarth

Abstract Background The Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP-IAPT) programme was introduced to transform Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across England. The programme comprised a set of principles that local CAMHS partnerships were expected to operationalise and embed with the aim of increasing access to services and improving the quality of care. This study explored how the implementation of the CYP-IAPT programme was executed and experienced by CAMHS professionals in the county of Cambridgeshire (UK), and the extent to which the CYP-IAPT principles were perceived to be successfully embedded into everyday practice. Methods We analysed 275 documents relating to the CYP-IAPT programme issued between 2011 and 2015. We also conducted a thematic analysis of 20 qualitative interviews, undertaken at two time points, with professionals from three CAMHS teams in Cambridgeshire. Analysis was informed by implementation science frameworks. Results Document analysis suggested that the CYP-IAPT programme was initially not clearly defined and lacked guidance on how to operationalise key programme principles and apply them in everyday practice. There was also a degree of programme evolution over time, which made it difficult for local stakeholders to understand the scope and aims of CYP-IAPT. Interviews with staff showed low coherent understanding of the programme, variable levels of investment among stakeholders and difficulties in collaborative working. Barriers and facilitators to programme implementation were identified at individual, service and strategic levels. These in turn impacted the local implementation efforts and sustainability of the programme in Cambridgeshire. Conclusions We identified factors relating to programme design and national and local implementation planning, as well as features of inner and outer context, which impacted on the delivery and sustainability of the programme. These findings can be drawn upon to inform the development and delivery of other local and national quality improvement (QI) initiatives relating to children and young people’s mental health.


2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary P. Koss ◽  
Jennifer A. Bailey ◽  
Nicole P. Yuan ◽  
Veronica M. Herrera ◽  
Erika L. Lichter

Male violence is an enduring feature of women's lives from childhood through old age. The review covers child sexual abuse, rape, and partner violence with emphasis on the prevalence of violence, its mental health consequences, the course of recovery, and mediators and moderators of traumatic impact. The primary focus is depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, the two major diagnostic entities through which postassault emotions and behaviors have been conceptualized and measured. The effects of psychiatric conceptualizations of victimization and patterns of individual recovery are critically reviewed. The PTSD paradigm as the sole foundation for most victimization research is also debated. Following the review, mental health services for victimized women are examined. The article concludes with public policy recommendations to improve the availability and accessibility of mental health services with emphasis on reaching those survivors who are less likely to consult the formal system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Erlend R. Maagerø-Bangstad ◽  
◽  
Knut Tore Sælør ◽  
Ottar Ness ◽  
◽  
...  

Background: Staff-directed aggression and violence may have harmful implications for all parts of a mental health service organisation. In an effort to advance the development of competent practice in community mental health and substance abuse services in Oslo, the municipality has offered various courses in the prevention and management of staff-directed aggression and provided supportive tools for practice development. Aim: To explore managers’ perceptions of how participating in education and applying supportive tools have contributed to the development of competence and practice in their own services. Method: Qualitative interviews with 11 managers working in homebased community mental health services were analysed, using qualitative content analysis. Findings: The findings show education and application of tools contributed to: 1) increased awareness and understanding of the complexities of staff-directed aggression; 2) empowered and collaborative practice through negotiations of power relations; and 3) adjustment of perceived management responsibilities and assignments. Conclusion: The findings indicate that managers not only felt their staff had become more knowledgeable and competent following education, but that participation in education also impacted on collaboration within and outside their own services, as well as directly influencing how they dealt with threatening situations in the workplace. Implications for practice: Staff-directed aggression is a complex phenomenon and efficient practitioners are able to keep in mind a number of relevant aspects of practice simultaneously Collaboration in prevention and management of staff-directed aggression requires staff to acknowledge and accommodate service users’ perspectives regarding practice A levelling of power differentials between community mental health services and specialist mental health services takes place when partaking in the same education and sharing vocabulary and conceptual frameworks regarding risk assessment and management


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Tamara Nadine Sancho ◽  
Michael Larkin

Purpose Undergraduates are highly susceptible to the development of mental health difficulties. Afro-Caribbean students are particularly vulnerable to the pressures of university yet are less likely than other ethnic groups to receive early intervention. This paper aims to understand the barriers and facilitators that Afro-Caribbean undergraduates perceive towards accessing mental health services in the UK. Design/methodology/approach Critical Incident Technique was used as the qualitative method because it explores the critical factors that contribute to or detract from a specific experience. Seventeen Afro-Caribbean undergraduates participated in five focus groups. This involved engaging in a novel psychosocial activity that incorporated vignettes to encourage the identification of barriers and facilitators to service access. The data were analysed thematically to generate categories of critical incidents and wish-list items. Findings Analysis revealed rich data from a sub-group rarely researched within UK literature. Fifteen barriers, eleven facilitators and five wish-list items were identified. The importance of mental health literacy, social networks, cultural sensitivity and concerns surrounding services underpinned many categories. Originality/value Findings provide a new perspective on barriers reported in previous literature. Novel facilitators were highlighted where, although psychological and sociocultural factors were deemed valuable, structural changes were most desired. Recommended changes illustrate innovative interventions that could make services accessible for young adult Afro-Caribbean populations. Future research should explore the barriers and facilitators identified by Afro-Caribbean undergraduates across various universities who have successfully accessed and engaged with services. This could provide a holistic perspective on viable facilitators enabling access despite the presence of barriers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-38
Author(s):  
Kupukai Mlambo

Despite attempts made in recent years to address the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in Mozambique, service provision remains deficient. The present paper focuses on the attitudes to mental illness and its diagnosis and treatment in Mozambique. This paper is based on both a thorough literature search and on the results of qualitative interviews carried out with six individuals of Mozambican origin now living in the UK.


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