Treating people with co-occurring or dual diagnosis disorders requires an integrated treatment approach due to the complex health and social needs of people who suffer from mental illness and drug addiction. An integrated approach is not only necessary but crucial to treat both the drug addiction and mental illness concurrently. The aim of this study is to explore the impact that non- integrated care can have on the number of relapses that dually diagnosed people can have. The study found that there is no correlation between concurrent treatment and the number of relapses that dually diagnosed people may have. Social workers will need to be able to recognize mental illness that co-occurs with substance use in order to effectively treat clients to determine what treatment approach should be used. Social workers are trained to use a biopsychosocial approach to capture all aspects of the client’s life. This I especially important for clients that may be dually diagnosed.

This paper will identify the problems faced by deaf people in terms of social and emotional, and then discuss the research on factors which contribute to the problems. The first section will define deafness, investigate the psychological characteristics of the deaf, and then identify the incidence of mental or emotional problems. The second section will review the literature on factors which contribute to the emotional problems of the deaf. The final section will review the literature on the service system available to the deaf. Throughout this presentation, the writer will summarize with personal conclusions. These summaries will both capsulize the literature and explain the writer’s value stance.

The purpose of this study was to assess the adjustment of 157 children discharged from Edgefield Lodge in an effort toward accountability to both clients served and the public. Level of adjustment of the children was determined by checking the records of various community agencies including the Police, Sherriff, Youth Service Centers, Juvenile Court, Children’s Services Division, and the schools. Using the information gathered, the adjustment of each child was scored using the Community Adaptation Scale which was developed for that purpose. Theses adjustment scores were the main outcome variable in the study.

Current language theory focuses on how a person communicates within a context (Bates, 1976a). A person's communicative competence depends on how effectively she translates her cognitive and social knowledge into linguistic forms to interact in the specific situation, following pragmatic rules (Prutting, 1982b). Thus, in order to assess a person's language ability accurately, the clinician needs to assess pragmatic skills as well as cognitive, social, and linguistic skills. A person's pragmatic development culminates in the ability to participate in a conversation (Rees, 1978).

The present research was conducted in order to ascertain whether differences in attitudes exist between the three main professional groups which are presently the major providers of mental health care -- psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and social workers -- with respect to six treatment modalities: Individual Psychotherapy, Individual Counseling, Family Therapy, Group Therapy, Psychiatric Medication and Psychiatric Hospitalization. Modalities evaluated include treatments appropriate to a variety of individual, social and biological concepts of mental health/pathology. It was assumed that any such attitudinal differences might reflect biases in the provision of mental health treatment and therefore be an important concern for consumers of mental health care.

The theoretical underpinnings of Washington County Children's Services Division (CSD) Immediate Conflict-Resolution Family Treatment Program include the systems theory of family therapy with a focus on communication and roles. One of the many approaches to helping families in crisis, it incorporates theories regarding assessment of and intervention in families in crisis. Finally, while it draws upon several different approaches to family therapy, the Washington County program is most closely related to Multiple Impact Therapy (MIT). Thus, a review of relevant literature must address portions of the above enumerated theories that illuminate the thinking behind the Immediate Conflict- Resolution Family Treatment Program. While each of the four components of the literature review (systems theory, family crisis theory, assessment of families in crisis, and Multiple Impact Therapy) represents a topic area of breadth and complexity, the aspects of each topic area which seem most relevant to Washington County's MIT project have been reviewed.

The purpose of this study was to assess the special needs of the families of hospitalized mental patients. The study focused upon the time prior to and including the decision to hospitalize a mentally ill family member. Particularly, the researchers wished to examine the stresses that the family encountered in attempting to deal with a disturbed member as well as their concerns regarding psychiatric hospitalization and the effect which it had upon the family.

This study involves data from the Cache County Study, which began in 1994 with joined efforts by Duke University, Utah State University, and Johns Hopkins University. It consisted of 5,092 participants from Cache County, Utah, located in the northern part of the state. Characteristics of the population include high participation rates (~ 90%), a majority of participants are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, longer life expectancy than the general US population, a greater than 80% rate of at least a high school education, and low rates of migration. Subjects cognitive status was screened using the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination or rated by knowledgeable informants using an Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline. Low scoring subjects were examined using the Dementia Questionnaire, an inventory of cognitive symptoms, functional impairments, and medical conditions relevant to dementia. The clinical data were reviewed by a geropsychiatrist and neuropsychologist. Those suspected of dementia underwent further testing and final dementia diagnoses were decided by a consensus conference of experts. Clinical assessment at the baseline interview identified 368 individuals out of the original 5,092 subjects as having dementia. These individuals were removed from the present analysis. Prevalent cases of dementia were excluded in our analyses of risk associated with incident AD. Dietary data were collected using a food frequency questionnaire at baseline in 1995. A list of 142 foods was provided and participants noted frequency they consume the food or food group. To calculate intake of a specific nutrient, the nutrient content of each food is multiplied by the frequency of consumption for each food. This number is summed over all food items. Cox Proportional hazards modeling was used to assess risk of incident AD in relationship to folate and B-vitamin intake over eleven subsequent years of data collection. Cox modeling assists in analysis of censored cases (drop-outs and deaths). No relationship was found between folate from food, supplement, or combined sources with dementia or with AD. Similar results were observed for B-12 and B-6.

Family participation in residential treatment for disturbed adolescents has increased over time. A general sense of this movement is that this is beneficial. However, there are no common discriptions of family involvement in residential treatment in the literature. In order to be able to better understand which components of famiy involvement are most beneficial, we need to first understand how residential treatment centers define and describe famiy involvement. This study compiled data from interviews with nine participants, one each from administration, therapy staff, and direct care staff level of three northern Utah RTCs that claimed family involvement in youth treatment at their centers.

Despite substantial existing evidence that sexually diverse populations are at increased risk for mental health concerns due primarily to minority stress, how the underlying mechanisms of minority stress lead to specific psychological syndromes among these populations is not adequately understood. On the other hand, sexologists have been encouraged to shift the focus of their work towards understanding the specific characteristics or experiences that facilitate individuals' capacity to adapt and thrive within an oppressive and marginalizing society in order to "depathologize" nonheterosexuals. In attempts to address existing limitations and further the existing body of mental health risk and resiliency research among sexually diverse populations, three studies were conducted that sought to (a) examine how specific aspects of minority stress were individually and collectively associated with depression; (b) develop a new quantitative assessment tool used to evaluate the positive aspects of nonheterosexuality; and (c) explore levels of "outness" within various social contexts, as it relates to individuals' perceptions of the positive aspects of being nonheterosexual. Additionally, sociodemographic differences (e.g., gender, sexual identity, and level of affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS]) were explored with regard to each study's aims, respectively. Findings for Study 1 indicated that all minority stress factors examined were individually predictive of depression. When collectively examined, needs for others' acceptance was found to be the strongest predictor of depression, followed by internalized homophobia. Associations between specific stressors were moderated by level of affiliation with the LDS Church. Psychometric evaluations of the newly developed measure (Study 2) supported use of the measure by researchers and practitioners to evaluate positive aspects of nonheterosexuality. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated positive associations between perceived benefits of being nonheterosexual and disclosure of one's nonheterosexuality in all four social contexts examined. Results further indicated that levels of "outness" were moderated by gender. Implications for research and practice are discussed for each study.