Mothers with mental illness are in need of support as they struggle to cope with competing demands of their illness and those of parenting. Health professionals’ attitudes and experiences have been shown to affect how clients with mental illness are assessed and what resources are provided. The purpose of this research was to explore and describe experiences of Public Health Nurses (PHNs) in Manitoba who visited families in the postpartum period. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups consisting of PHNs within the city of Winnipeg. Emerging themes, “Dealing with where they’re at”; “Treasure hunting”; “I kept wanting more”; “You can only do so much” together aimed at a common theme, “Helping Moms succeed”. Results suggested that PHNs wanted to provide the best resources for mothers to succeed at parenting. PHNs provided recommendations for the needs of families and changes in practice to help improve service to families.

People with serious mental illness are genetically predisposed to diabetes. Their risk is heightened with the use of atypical antipsychotic medications. Contextual conditions also influence diabetes care and outcomes. There is a lack of research on diabetes care for the mentally ill in residential care facilities. Therefore, there is little understanding of the social relations that contribute to this group’s health disparities. Institutional ethnography was chosen to explore this phenomenon in a group of 26 women in a rural for-profit group home in southern Ontario. Work activities of residents and providers were examined to map out the social organization of health inequities. Interviewees included residents with diabetes, care providers, field workers, and health professionals. Observations and analysis of coordinating texts were further methods used to reveal disjunctures between discourses embedded within diabetes care guidelines and the actualities of living within imposed constraints of group home care. The overarching State interest in cost containment creates rationing that limits the care afforded residents, resulting in poor dietary intake and lack of quality of life opportunities. Further, group home policies regulate systems of safety, reporting, and financial accountability, but do not promote health. The medical and psychiatric divide also contributes to health disparities. Diabetes care provision supports ‘self-care,’ which is challenging for this group, and health providers lack understanding of contextual constraints. Combined, these social circumstances perpetuate disease development and make illness management difficult. These findings warrant the need for State financial support and policy changes that give primacy to illness prevention, health promotion, and medical management so the mentally ill can realize health and wellbeing. A linkage between mental and physical health care is also crucial. Further, health providers are urged to be critical of social ideologies that sustain health inequalities, and to deliver services that are sensitive to unique particularities.

People with serious mental illness are genetically predisposed to diabetes. Their risk is heightened with the use of atypical antipsychotic medications. Contextual conditions also influence diabetes care and outcomes. There is a lack of research on diabetes care for the mentally ill in residential care facilities. Therefore, there is little understanding of the social relations that contribute to this group’s health disparities. Institutional ethnography was chosen to explore this phenomenon in a group of 26 women in a rural for-profit group home in southern Ontario. Work activities of residents and providers were examined to map out the social organization of health inequities. Interviewees included residents with diabetes, care providers, field workers, and health professionals. Observations and analysis of coordinating texts were further methods used to reveal disjunctures between discourses embedded within diabetes care guidelines and the actualities of living within imposed constraints of group home care. The overarching State interest in cost containment creates rationing that limits the care afforded residents, resulting in poor dietary intake and lack of quality of life opportunities. Further, group home policies regulate systems of safety, reporting, and financial accountability, but do not promote health. The medical and psychiatric divide also contributes to health disparities. Diabetes care provision supports ‘self-care,’ which is challenging for this group, and health providers lack understanding of contextual constraints. Combined, these social circumstances perpetuate disease development and make illness management difficult. These findings warrant the need for State financial support and policy changes that give primacy to illness prevention, health promotion, and medical management so the mentally ill can realize health and wellbeing. A linkage between mental and physical health care is also crucial. Further, health providers are urged to be critical of social ideologies that sustain health inequalities, and to deliver services that are sensitive to unique particularities.

No description available.

The complexity of information produced since the 1980's on co-occurring severe mental illness and substance misuse makes it difficult for social workers to grasp the current state of the question. This is a new field of study, and much of the information is incomplete or contradictory. This review examines epidemiological studies carried out in North America. We identify the varied semantic and philosophical approaches to the question of dual diagnoses, and provide an overview of etiological theories, as well as of the theory and practice of treatment for these disorders. Emergent concepts of recovery are also discussed. / Major findings. epidemiological data vary, but all point to a widespread problem. The diversity of meaning and of etiological theories appears to be linked to the heterogeneity of this population. An integrated treatment strategy is the current modality of choice, despite outcomes that are only mildly encouraging; finally, there is consensus among consumers that recovery from a disease is possible even in the absence of a complete cure. / Research limitations and knowledge gaps are to be expected in a new field of study. Additional research is necessary to determine the extent and causes of these comorbidities. Social workers must become knowledgeable in this field and remain abreast of new developments in order to engage in evidenced-based practice. Greater education about comorbidities is necessary, as is an overarching policy response from all levels of government. The principal contribution of this master's thesis to the discipline of social work is to provide a general synthesis of knowledge in a domain that is highly medicalized in the literature.

This thesis proposes a general overview of the three principal critical approaches to images of female madness in the work of Andre Breton, more specifically in his narrative Nadja. Grounded, respectively, in a Freudian, a feminist and a mythocritical perspective, these approaches tend to present a negative vision of Nadja's madness. After examining the arguments made by proponents of each approach, this study seeks to lay the foundations for positive analyses which will allow for the rehabilitation of female madness and the foregrounding of the link between insanity and female identity. Breton at once desired and fostered this feminine condition, which he deemed to be essential to creation and the discovery of the secret meaning of life: the marvelous. While it may convey disconcerting qualities, female madness is portrayed as noble and exceptional in this unique book whose title is the Russian word for hope.

In the Islamo-arabic world, as it is proven in this text, the expression of Insanity was tolerated, free, and was attributed traits of sainthood. We found these three characteristics, in the speech of three muslim immigrants, users of psychiatric services in Montreal. The major themes of their speech were listed. Two therapeutic propositions were given as a conclusion to the text.

The global burden of disease attributable to mental illness is high, and as a result people with serious mental illness are at greater risk of indicators of social exclusion, such as poverty, homelessness and social isolation. Since deinstitutionalisation began in the 1960s, a variety of housing and support models have been used for this group. „Housing first‟ models are proving superior to „continuum of care‟ models in achieving positive housing outcomes and improving indicators of social exclusion. Housing first programmes are also believed to be more effective as they offer consumers choice, are not contingent on treatment, and are, therefore, empowering and philosophically compatible with harm reduction and recovery approaches. The physical and social environments have also been found to influence housing satisfaction and well-being outcomes for this group, but are often poorly measured or inadequately defined in the few studies which have been conducted. As little recent New Zealand research has examined housing, support and environmental effects for people with serious mental illness, this twelve-month prospective cohort study provides a more current account of the experiences of this group. Thirty six participants were recruited from a group of people with serious mental illness referred to the Comcare Housing Service for assistance to obtain independent, community-based housing. An examination of the variables influencing housing and overall well-being ratings was conducted. Peace and Kell's (2001) sustainability framework, outlining four categories of resources required for this group to maintain housing, was also evaluated. The results demonstrate the success of housing support in improving outcomes for people with serious mental illness, particularly in terms of improved housing quality and satisfaction, and residential stability. They also provide further evidence that this group have high rates of homelessness and are frequently in situations where they are at risk of homelessness. The physical environment appeared to have little influence on housing satisfaction or other well-being measures, however, the social environment seemed to play a role in higher ratings on these outcomes. Participants rehoused by Comcare Housing reported higher housing satisfaction and fewer housing problems, indicating that the service was providing effective housing support. Peace and Kell‟s framework is a good model for conceptualising housing for this group, although environmental and neighbourhood effects need to be included in the model in order for it to have international applicability. The omission of those at risk of homelessness from the New Zealand definition is a serious concern and has policy implications as support to address housing issues for this group may be neglected due to their invisibility in the statistics.

Introduktion: Psykisk ohälsa beskrivs idag som ett hälsotillstånd som är vanligt bland patienter på sjukhus, de senaste åren har psykisk ohälsa hos patienterna ökat. I sjuksköterskans möte med patienter är det viktigt att i tid upptäcka psykisk ohälsa för att på ett hälsofrämjande sätt hjälpa patienten, därför är det viktigt för sjuksköterskor att ha kunskaper om hur man vårdar patienter med psykisk ohälsa. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor som arbetar med somatisk vård upplever mötet med patienter som har psykisk ohälsa. Metod: Denna studie har en deskriptiv design med kvalitativ ansats. Intervjuer gjordes med åtta stycken sjuksköterskor på en somatisk avdelning. Intervjuerna bearbetades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Sjuksköterskor upplever att de har för lite kunskap och tid för att möta patienter med psykisk ohälsa. Sjuksköterskors upplevelse av mötet beror mycket på dennes utbildning, erfarenhet och kunskap. Att möta patienter med psykisk ohälsa kan ibland vara problematiskt på grund av den tidsbrist och stress som finns i vården. Samarbetet mellan yrkeskategorier inom vården bör utvecklas mer för att mötet mellan vårdpersonalen och en patient med psykisk ohälsa ska vara tillfredsställande. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskan behöver mer kunskap för att möta patienter med psykisk ohälsa. Det är ofta för lite personal i sjukvården för att sjuksköterskor skall ha tid för att på ett värdigt sätt möta patienterna med den tid som de behöver. Ett bättre samarbete i vården mellan de olika yrkeskategorierna skulle underlätta vården av patienterna. / Introduction: Mental illness is nowadays described as a fairly common health state among patients at hospitals, in the last few years mental illness among patients has increased. In the nurses meeting with patients, it is important to detect mental illness for a health-promoting way to help the patient, so it is important for nurses to have knowledge of how to care for patients with mental illness. Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe how nurses working with somatic care experience meeting with patients who have mental illness. Method: This study has a descriptive design with qualitative approach. Interviews were conducted with eight nurses in a somatic unit. Interviews were processed with a qualitative content analysis. Results: Nurses experience a limitation in knowledge and time to meet patients with mental illness. The experiences the nurses have of  meeting patients with mental illness relates to a large extent back to the nurses individual training, experience and knowledge. For nurses who meet patients with mental illness it can be problematic due to the time pressure and stress that exists within caring. The collaboration between professionals in healthcare should be developed more to the meeting between the nursing staff and a patient with mental illness to be satisfactory. Conclusion: The Nurse needs more knowledge to meet patients with mental illness. There is often a resource limitation in health care that makes it difficult for the nurse to meet patients with mental illness worthily and give them the time they need. Better collaboration of care between the various occupational categories would facilitate the care of patients.

Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world, and in Canada, 8% of adults will experience depression in their lifetimes. Nearly half of those with depression will not seek treatment, one of the major barriers being the social stigma associated with depression and other mental illnesses. Some of this stigma results from a mistaken understanding of free will and agency and the degree to which these are compromised in mental disorders. This thesis aims to show that free will in both psychologically healthy and pathological cases can be understood in a scientific causal deterministic way based on recent findings in neuroscience and psychology. The ‘will’ can be understood in terms of the normal range functioning of mechanisms for control, choice, and valuation. There is no ‘free’ will that is uncaused, but only relative freedom when these mechanisms are not internally damaged and there is no external coercion. Evidence that depression and mental illness can also be understood in a causal, deterministic way is also presented, and it is argued that this understanding can work back to reinforce the scientific understanding of the will in non-pathological cases. The understanding of free will based on healthy function and that based on pathological function are mutually reinforcing. The thesis concludes by showing that, based on a causal deterministic picture of the will, the stigma surrounding mental illness is unfounded, and that this view can lead to more compassion, understanding, and acceptance of both those with mental illness and the mentally healthy.