Burnout is a construct first proposed by Freudenberger to describe a condition that develops in people who work with people such as teachers, nurses and first responders (Shan, 2005). Professionals who are burned out demonstrate a lack of concern for the people they service and often perform poorly on the job. In recent years, the construct of Burnout has been largely replaced by the construct of Compassion Fatigue. Interestingly, mental health professionals who work with children as their predominant client base have not been extensively studied, although these professionals arguably could be experiencing some of the highest levels of Compassion Fatigue (Eastwood, 2008). Research shows that Burnout and Compassion Fatigue impact the work that an individual performs, but the impact of these on the use of particular therapeutic practices as an area is less studied. The present study sought to determine if there is a relationship between Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and the use of evidence-based practices in mental health professionals. Using research by Craig and Sprang (2010) as the starting point, this study also investigated whether mental health professionals who work with children experience more or less Burnout and Compassion Fatigue than those who work with adults. Mental health professionals from a variety of mental health facilities in the Philadelphia region served as subjects in this study. Participants were given the Trauma Practices Questionnaire (TPQ), a 22-item treatment practices utilization scale, the Professional Quality of Life Scale-V (PRoQOL-V), a 30-item scale that required respondents to assess their thoughts and feelings in relation to their work, and a questionnaire formulated by this investigator that included demographic information, background information, as well a question that focused on the age of the mental health professional's client base and a question that focused on years of professional experience. The results showed that the mental health professionals who worked with adults were older, more typically white, had higher levels of education and had undergraduate majors that were in psychology or a psychology-related area (e.g., social work) than mental health professionals who worked with children. Burnout and Compassion Fatigue correlated negatively with all practices, evidence based and non-evidence based. Males used more evidence-based and total practices than females. Females had a higher level of Compassion Satisfaction but also a higher level of Burnout. The results showed that the mental health professionals who worked with children had higher levels of Compassion Satisfaction, but also higher levels of Burnout. The data show that the group that works with children used less cognitive and behavioral approaches. The broader implications of the results are discussed in the conclusion. / Educational Psychology

There are a plethora of variables that are responsible for the overall health of society. This includes both physical and mental health, which together lead to better development of a society. But as any disorientation in physical health is highly visible, mental health lacks that instant self-diagnosis. This leads to ignorance of mental health. According to the latest research by neuroscientists, the majority of health-related diseases originate from poor mental frameworks. Common people in society lack awareness and knowledge of the direct connections between mental and physical health.  This degree project is primarily focused on portraying people’s mindsets regarding the education system, from specific demographics in India. The correlation between education and mental health is researched and profusely discussed in this paper. The thesis aim is to analyze the current scenario of mental health and propagate a sense of social awareness, especially among the youths, regarding certain undisclosed facts about the prevailing education system of the country. Along with a qualitative in-depth interview and online survey interview, the paper also includes a participation observation method. The participants involved were divided into four categories - teachers, parents, school students, and college students. For the in-depth interview there were 96 participants, for the online survey there were 138 participants and for the participatory video method, there were 22 participants. The theoretical framework devices for the research methods are the Media for Development (M4D) and Behavioural approach. The findings from the data analysis conducted revealed a lot about the mental health awareness and the impact of education among the young generation of the country, the behavior pattern among parents and teachers when observed in an environment of mental health mise-en-scene, created with the help of a compiled movie, was also quite insightful for the entire research purpose.

Public health concerns were prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding rising cases of anxiety and depression among adults. U.S. healthcare providers were especially affected by the unrelenting demands on their time and service. Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) provided patient care during the pandemic to meet the increasing need for mental health services as people began experiencing mood disturbances such as anxiety, depression, and grief. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceived effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of PMHNPs. A qualitative design using the interpretive description method allows researchers to use pre-existing knowledge to inform their research and actively participate in knowledge synthesis, focusing on variations in data. Individual interviews with 18 PMHNPs were conducted via video teleconferencing, and their data were evaluated and interpreted for meaning. After a thorough analysis of the interview transcripts, nine themes were identified: adaptive coping, improved access, support, self-care, work strain, complications, maladaptive coping, pandemic strain, and polarization. This study illuminated the challenges PMHNPs faced during the pandemic and the strategies they employed to cope with difficulties and will inform future research and practice in mental health care.

No / Improving Inclusion: Developing An Innovative Technology Assisted Learning Package for a UK Recovery College for Mental Health Service Users. Recovery Colleges in the UK represent a new initiative in providing support and psycho-educational interventions for people with mental health difficulties as part of the 'Recovery movement' (Williams, 2016; Perkins and Slade, 2012). Multiple barriers exist for people with mental health difficulties, particularly among ethnic minorities) in accessing such services and include (but are not limited to) -financial problems, difficulties with transport, condition-related difficulties - (e.g. poor motivation, organisational difficulties or feeling unwell) (Memon et al.,2015). To overcome this we put together a collaborative research project with a technology business partners service users and service providers to develop a new technology assisted learning project to ease access to the College's taught sessions. This involved developing sophisticated video-recording and streaming software and hardware that could 64 live-broadcast college sessions to users in their own homes via a variety of hardware platforms. Users could participate in the taught sessions by means of the video/sound interactive software on tablets, mobile devices or their home computer. The innovative features of the TAL package are described, and the impact this facility had on user participation in the college programme evaluated. Particular attention is paid to the development and partnership nature of the project development. The implications for Recovery College and mental health service provider practice is discussed with particular reference to the potential future wider application of TAL packages to promoting access across other domains of mental health care.

Under-utilisation of mental health services is widespread globally and within Australia, especially among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Improving service access is a priority, as is the need to deliver culturally competent services to the CALD communities. Having migrated to Australia in waves for approximately 150 years from China and South East Asia for various social, political and economic reasons, the Chinese population in Sydney is now the fastest growing non-English speaking ethnic group. There is a need to better understand the impact of culture on the emotional experiences of these Chinese in Australia. How do Chinese make sense of their depressive episodes? To address this question, this study explored the ways participants reach out for medical and/or non-medical help. Lay concepts of illness underpin these decisions and were thus unveiled. Mixed-method research design provided the opportunity to bring together multiple vantage points of investigation: population mental health, transcultural psychiatry and medical anthropology. A study combining quantitative survey and qualitative focus groups was undertaken in metropolitan Sydney. Narratives on symptoms, explanatory models and help-seeking strategies were articulated by focus group informants. Surveys covered demographics, symptom-recognition, previous depressive experiences and professional help sought. Depression measurement tools were cross-culturally validated. Self-ratings of ethnic identities and the Suinn-Lew Self-Identity Acculturation Scale were used to quantify Chinese participants' acculturation level. This allowed comparisons between 'low-acculturated' Chinese', highly-acculturated' Chinese and Australians. Survey results showed comparable levels of symptom-recognition in all subgroups. Focus group discussions provided rich data on informants' help-seeking strategies. Highly acculturated Chinese closely resembled the Australians in many study variables, yet qualitative data suggested cultural gaps beyond language barriers in influencing service use. Participants believed that trustful relationships could work as the bridge to link services with those in need. The implications for Australia's mental health policy include recognising the importance of rapport-building and the existence of cultural gaps. The study indicated professionals can benefit from acquiring information about the mental health beliefs both of individual clients and the wider ethnic communities in which they belong, and respecting the cultural differences between helper and helped as the first step towards cultural competency.

Psychology in South Africa is facing a dire need for valid and reliable mental health instruments for all its citizenry. There presently exists a reliance on instruments of foreign origin. Very often such instruments are used without their psychometric properties having been tested in the local setting. The present study employed a multi-stage process for translating the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) into Zulu. A simplified English version of the GHQ and the translated Zulu version were subsequently administered to a sample of two hundred and fifty seven (257) bilingual high school students. The data from this sample was used to assess the equivalency between the Zulu version and the English version. At the scale level, both versions of the GHQ showed adequate internal consistency and reliability. Item analysis revealed certain differences between the two versions. Possible explanations regarding semantic differences are discussed. Substantial overlap between the factor solutions of the two versions was found. These factor solutions were found to correspond well with those recorded in the literature. The present sample scored much higher on the GHQ than foreign samples do. Suggestions for raising the cutting scores for South African samples are made. On the whole, the Zulu version displayed evidence of reasonable equivalence to the English version. A comprehensive research programme for the GHQ in South Africa is presented. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

Under-utilisation of mental health services is widespread globally and within Australia, especially among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Improving service access is a priority, as is the need to deliver culturally competent services to the CALD communities. Having migrated to Australia in waves for approximately 150 years from China and South East Asia for various social, political and economic reasons, the Chinese population in Sydney is now the fastest growing non-English speaking ethnic group. There is a need to better understand the impact of culture on the emotional experiences of these Chinese in Australia. How do Chinese make sense of their depressive episodes? To address this question, this study explored the ways participants reach out for medical and/or non-medical help. Lay concepts of illness underpin these decisions and were thus unveiled. Mixed-method research design provided the opportunity to bring together multiple vantage points of investigation: population mental health, transcultural psychiatry and medical anthropology. A study combining quantitative survey and qualitative focus groups was undertaken in metropolitan Sydney. Narratives on symptoms, explanatory models and help-seeking strategies were articulated by focus group informants. Surveys covered demographics, symptom-recognition, previous depressive experiences and professional help sought. Depression measurement tools were cross-culturally validated. Self-ratings of ethnic identities and the Suinn-Lew Self-Identity Acculturation Scale were used to quantify Chinese participants' acculturation level. This allowed comparisons between 'low-acculturated' Chinese', highly-acculturated' Chinese and Australians. Survey results showed comparable levels of symptom-recognition in all subgroups. Focus group discussions provided rich data on informants' help-seeking strategies. Highly acculturated Chinese closely resembled the Australians in many study variables, yet qualitative data suggested cultural gaps beyond language barriers in influencing service use. Participants believed that trustful relationships could work as the bridge to link services with those in need. The implications for Australia's mental health policy include recognising the importance of rapport-building and the existence of cultural gaps. The study indicated professionals can benefit from acquiring information about the mental health beliefs both of individual clients and the wider ethnic communities in which they belong, and respecting the cultural differences between helper and helped as the first step towards cultural competency.