Psychologists can direct community mental health centers.

Psychologists in Divisions 12 and 13 of the American Psychological Association are concerned about the apparent downgrading of their profession in community mental health centers by the Federal Government. In 1963, The Community Mental Health Centers Act (Pub. L. No. 88-164, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., Oct. 31, 1963) authorized Federal grants for the construction of local sites and stated in Section 54.212, Subsection C,2 "a qualified psychiatrist will be responsible for the clinical program, and the medical responsibility for every patient will be vested in a physician." Some psychologists have interpreted this regulation as discriminating against their experience, training, and competence by assuming that the director of a community mental health center must be selected on the basis of identity with a particular profession--medical. After having conferred with his Congressman, the author notes there is no Federal discrimination against professions or competency in the selection of a director for a community mental health center. Instead, the qualifications of this official are a matter of individual state policy, as long as there is medical responsibility for each patient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of psychologists at health maintenance organizations and community mental health centers.

Conducted a national survey of psychologists at health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and a comparison group of psychologists at community mental health centers. Activities and attitudes, and overall staffing patterns are examined. Recommendations are made for increasing the involvement of psychologists at HMOs. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Services for the aged in community mental health centers

The author studied the services provided for the elderly at eight community mental health centers. He describes discrimination against the elderly, the reasons why relatively few elderly persons seek care, and innovations in treatment. He discovered that high-quality care depends more on staff awareness of the unique problems of the elderly than on specialized services. The author recommends a more public-health-oriented approach that would set priorities on the basis of community needs.     

Psychology positions in comprehensive community mental health centers and community clinics.

Analyzed data from 655 questionnaires completed by community mental health centers and community clinics in the US in 1968. 71% of the agencies offered services to adults and children. 15% served primarily adults, while 14% served primarily children. The major sources of financial support, in descending order, were state, county, and federal governments. 69% of agencies had private consultation privileges associated with positions, and a small percentage of agencies also paid professional membership dues. The median maximum salary for the chief psychologist was $16,750. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A method for quality assurance in a community mental health center. Community psychiatry in Copenhagen

The purpose was to describe a method for quality assurance in community mental health centres. Three psychiatrists and a multiprofessional treatment team conceived the method. The community mental health center--which was the basis for the work--was the Copenhagen centre for the sectors Vesterbro and Kongens Enghave. The target group for the centre is people with serious mental illness. The work is done according to the principles for clinical case managers. Data are registered in a national database in combination with the centre's own registration system. Eleven indicators for process quality and eight for outcome quality were selected. Measurement parameters for there indicators were defined. Criteria and standard were defined according to existing knowledge and the author's clinical experience. The necessary programs for calculating the value of the chosen standards are constructed. With the use of existing data and a limited extra registration it was possible to evolve a method for quality assurance in a community mental health centre.     

Quality assurance: An approach to accountability in a mental health center.

Although the potential benefits of quality systems are substantial, the development of effective systems is complicated by many difficulties. The present article describes a multidisciplinary quality assurance system that was developed in a comprehensive children's mental health center to cope with some of these difficulties. The system incorporates central elements of effective quality assurance activity: definition of standards, promotion of high-quality service, and evaluation of quality. It is proposed that some of the problems encountered in developing quality assurance systems can be minimized by taking into account principles of behavior modification, data from organizational research on worker participation and self-motivation, and established techniques of psychological assessment. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing master's clinical training with professional responsibilities in community mental health centers.

100 directors from randomly selected, federally funded community mental health centers and 70 coordinators from university-based, master's-level clinical training programs were surveyed by mail. A 5-part questionnaire sought information regarding (a) relative amount of time spent by master's-level clinicians performing 10 specified professional responsibilities, including psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy and counseling, research, administration, and consultation, or relative time spent at them in training; (b) the same estimates projected 10 yrs into the future; (c) differences in the groups' ratings of master's-level clinician's competency for the same 10 responsibilities; (d) perceived relative importance of each responsibility for the clinicians; and (e) estimates of importance 10 yrs hence. Results are based on return rates of 33% for center directors and 60% for program coordinators and are presented in both between- and within-groups comparisons. Master's-level clinicians were seen as competent professionals having a continuing role in mental health service delivery. Implications for training, provision of service, and degree recognition are considered. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alternatives in mental health care and criteria for quality assurance.

The present mental health delivery system is composed largely of hospital services and outpatient office-based services. Alternatives to traditional mental health services have been slow to develop, although their cost-effectiveness is well demonstrated. A major reason for this is that 3rd-party payers are reluctant to reimburse for these services. The present study reviews the development of nontraditional, or alternate, approaches to mental health care and suggest applicable quality assurance strategies. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of brain injury related behavioral disturbances in community mental health centers

As a result of improved emergency trauma services, more individuals suffering a traumatic brain injury are surviving. Unfortunately, most of these survivors suffer chronic neuropsychiatric sequelae related to both the brain damage and the psychosocial impact of the injury on self-esteem, self-image, primary role, and vocational function. Current community supports are often inadequate to deal with the complex array of neurologic and psychiatric difficulties. This article outlines common features of brain injury, explores the link between these features and the common neuropsychiatric sequelae of brain injury, and suggests some principles helpful in the evaluation of the behaviorally challenged brain injured patient.     

Strengthening mental health services in Head Start: A challenge for the 1990s.

Steps must be taken to strengthen mental health services by building on Head Start's philosophy and by translating innovations in mental health services for older children and adolescents into improved services for young children and their families. Recommendations for strengthening Head Start's mental health program include creating a unified vision that reaffirms a holistic, family-focused, and comprehensive services approach; ensuring that mental health services are responsive to the diversity in families served; increasing coordination of mental health services and linkages with new initiatives; increasing resources and providing assistance in gaining access to new sources of funding; supporting innovation; and integrating the new paradigm for children's mental health services into more traditional approaches to intervention within Head Start. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Susanville: A community helps itself in mobilization of community resources for self-help in mental health.

Trained 18 adults to work with 7 families selected for having problem children in schools or being under stress, and 14 high school students to work with 4 boys with academic or behavioral problems in school. The trainees were selected for being good listeners, for not being opinionated, and for showing empathy. Training consisted of 70 hr. of role play and supervised practicum work (7 wk.) and was based on a communication model, under the assumption that all members of a family contribute toward the problems. Trainees learned to interrupt the reinforcement pattern which maintained a family's problems. Evaluation of project and community-wide measures applicable for future efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managed mental health care and independent practice: A challenge to psychology.

Suggests that the rapid development of managed mental health care systems has created serious problems for psychology. Addressed are several issues that are inherent in the manner in which psychology responds to the development of these systems, particularly whether effective psychological treatment must be compromised in such systems. A model of managed mental health care is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The community and the community mental health center.

The community has responsibility "for the quality and adequacy of the mental health services that it gets. The opportunities are now open for communities to employ the mechanism of the comprehensive mental health center to take major strides toward more intelligent, humane, and effective provision for their people. If communities rise to this opportunity, the implications for the national problem of mental health and for the quality of American life are immense." Guidelines are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing community capacity to treat post-deployment mental health problems: A public health initiative.

Meeting the mental health needs of Veterans returning from recent deployment requires the coordinated effort of partnerships across Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and state and local communities. Although the proportion of Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who have accessed VA health care has grown, the majority of these new combat Veterans have yet to present for VA care. The stigma associated with reporting a deployment-related mental health problem may be one factor in this, but access to treatment may also be an important concern among the one third of American Veterans who live in rural or highly rural areas. As these Veterans are more likely to present to a primary care, faith-based or mental health provider in their own community, partnerships between community providers, DoD, and VA are of critical importance in ensuring appropriate care, regardless of treatment setting. In an effort to improve services and access to services, especially to rural Veterans, an educational public health initiative was created to educate community providers about military culture, deployment-related mental health issues, VA resources, and evidence-based treatments. We describe the development, dissemination and evaluation of this initiative, as well as lessons learned for future similar endeavors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Community mental health centers "staffing" legislation.

"3 factors importantly affect the successful achievement of the objectives of the comprehensive community mental health center approach: (1) The centers must be free from restrictions which dampen or thwart the emergence of new patterns of service. (2) The centers must be free to take advantage of demonstrated leadership capability from whatever source it may come—medical or nonmedical. (3) Under these conditions of exciting new programs and challenging opportunities for leadership and service, the provisions of H.R. 2985 become the crucial 3rd factor in the success of the centers. Initial staffing support becomes the key ingredient. The 50 State Psychological Associations which are constituent parts of the national organization are intimately concerned with this new legislation." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)