scholarly journals Mental Health Services in NCAA Division I Athletics: A Survey of Head ATCs

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Sudano ◽  
Christopher M. Miles

Background: There is a growing awareness of the importance of mental health care in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes; however, there is a lack of literature on mental health resources in collegiate settings. Identifying current practices can set the stage to improve the delivery of care. Hypothesis: There is great variability in resources and current practices and no “standard of care” exists. Study Design: Observational, quantitative. Level of Evidence: Level 5. Methods: One hundred twenty-seven (36% response rate) head athletic trainers at Division I NCAA member colleges completed a web-based survey. Questions assessed several aspects of mental health clinicians, perception of care coordination, and screening. Results: Seventy-two percent of respondents noted that counseling took place in a counseling center, and 20.5% of respondents indicated that they had a mental health provider who worked in the athletic training room. Mental health clinician credentials included marriage and family therapist, psychologist, clinical social worker, and psychiatrist. The majority of athletic trainers (ATCs) noted that they are satisfied with the feedback from the mental health provider about the student-athletes’ mental health (57.3%) and believe that they would be able to provide better care to student-athletes if mental health services occurred onsite in the training room (46.4%). Fewer than half (43%) indicated that they use screening instruments to assess for mental health disorders. Conclusion: There is wide variability on how mental health services are provided to NCAA Division 1 student-athletes. Some mental health care providers are located offsite, while some provide care in the training room setting. Also, there are inconsistencies in the use of standardized screening tools for mental health evaluation. There is no standard collaborative or integrated care delivery model for student-athletes. Clinical Relevance: Opportunities exist for standardization through integrated care models and increased use of validated screening tools to deliver comprehensive care to student-athletes.

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 736-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay R.L. Larson ◽  
Dora Elizabeth Bock

Purpose Recent evidence on consumer decision-making suggests that highly complex choice scenarios lead consumers to use simplistic decision heuristics, often resulting in suboptimal decision-making. This study aims to investigate the relationships among consumers’ primary information source, patient satisfaction and patient well-being, specifically focused on the search for mental health professionals. The selection of a mental health provider is of interest, because practitioners work from a highly diverse set of theoretical bases, may hold a wide range of different credentials and provide drastically different therapeutic approaches, therefore making the selection complex and difficult for consumers to self-navigate. Design/methodology/approach Three studies were undertaken, with data sampling from both patients of mental health services and practitioners. Findings Consumers selecting a provider based on self-performed searches, rather than receiving external input (referrals from physicians, relatives or friends), report lower satisfaction with their mental health provider. In turn, patient satisfaction positively impacts patient well-being. Practitioner data corroborate these findings, revealing that a large percentage of patients stem from a self-performed internet search, though mental health providers recognize that external referrals are likely to lead to better outcomes. Originality/value The results reveal the importance of understanding the consumer search and, particularly, the use of the internet as a search tool. The results present several implications for service providers, including the need to identify patients’ primary source utilized within an information search, as it can adversely impact patient satisfaction.


Elements ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather K. Speller

Disparities in mental health care for racial minorities remains a serious and very real problem calling for immediate attention. The 2001 report of the Surgeon General affirmed that ethnic and racial minorities have less access to and availability of mental health services, and are subsequently less likely to receive needed mental health services. This paper examines a range of issues regarding Asian American mental health. It presents the practical and cultural barriers that members of this ethnic group confront when seeking mental health care and explains how cultural differences sometimes result in misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment. It also explores ways that the American mental health care system can improve to accommodate diverse ethnic groups.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Holley ◽  
Steven Gillard

There is a lack of literature evaluating the development and use of vignettes to explore contested constructs in qualitative health care research where a conventional interview schedule might impose assumptions on the data collected. We describe the development and validation of vignettes in a study exploring mental health worker and service user understandings of risk and recovery in U.K. mental health services. Focus groups with mental health workers and service users explored study questions from experiential perspectives. Themes identified in the groups were combined with existing empirical literature to develop a set of vignettes. Feedback focus groups were conducted to validate and amend the vignettes. Following use in research interviews, results suggested that the vignettes had successfully elicited data on issues of risk and recovery in mental health services. Further research using creative, comparative methods is needed to fully understand how vignettes can best be used in qualitative health care research.


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