Dissertation (Ph. D.)--University of Akron, Dept. of Sociology, 2009. / "August, 2009." Title from electronic dissertation title page (viewed 9/2/2009) Advisor, C. André Christie-Mizell; Committee members, Cheryl Elman, Dena Hanley, Patricia S. Hill, Robert Peralta, Richard T. Serpe; Department Chair, John F. Zipp; Dean of the College, Chand Midha; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract The purpose of my study was to outline the criteria of good mental health work by analysing the views of both clients and staff of a mental health service. By 'mental health work', I mean here the kind of mental health work referred to in Mental Health Act (1160/90). 'Good' is an evaluative concept, which can be replaced by other concepts, depending on the context. I did not intend to examine the semantic content of 'good', but rather aimed to elucidate the attributes assigned by my informants to 'good mental health work'. I outlined the criteria of good mental health work based on the following two research tasks: to describe the views of the clients of a mental health service concerning good mental health work, and to describe the views of the staff of a mental health service concerning good mental health work. By 'criteria', I mean attributes, characteristics or crucially distinctive features as well as grounds of evaluation. The informants consisted of 27 clients and 14 staff members of a mental health service. The staff members had different professional backgrounds, but included no doctors. The informants were recruited by means of convenience sampling. The approach was phenomenographic. I interviewed all enrolled clients and staff members individually 1-3 times with a technique that was partly thematic and partly unstructured. I started all interviews in accordance with the phenomenographic approach I had chosen by asking the informants to tell their views of good mental health work. I analysed the sets of research data separately in accordance with the phenomenographic approach. My findings consist of the categorised views of my informants concerning good mental health work and the combined generic categories. In the theoretical part of the dissertation, I discuss the following topics based on the relevant literature: mental health work, promotion of mental health, prevention of mental health problems and the examination, treatment and rehabilitation of patients suffering from mental illness and mental health disorders as well as mental health work as a good service and professional activity. I classified the informants' views based on the principles presented in the literature. I set up two generic categories, which represent clients' notions of good mental health work. I labelled these generic categories "professional workers help" and "doing things together helps" According to the generic category "professional workers help", the essential characteristic of good mental health work is that professional workers help clients who have problems. The helping methods consist of discussions, medication and information about mental health problems provided to family members. In the generic category "doing things together", the key property of good mental health work is co-operation with other people in a similar life situation. Co-operation may consist of sharing experiences through discussions, being together, going on excursions or doing things together in places where people with mental health problems can meet. I set up four generic categories and two categories, which represent mental health worker' motions of good mental health work. According to the generic categories, the essential criteria of good mental health work are a confidential therapy relationship, the patient's holistic control of their life situation, implementation of treatment regimens and implementation of therapies. The workers perceived the content of mental health work to consist of both preventive and corrective mental health work or merely corrective mental health work. The prerequisites of good mental health work were included into two categories: first, community focus and gradation of mental health service systems and, second, education, teamwork and mentoring. I extracted the criteria of good mental health work and their value basis from the categories and generic categories I had set up. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimukseni tavoitteena oli tuottaa hyvän mielenterveystyön kriteerit mielenterveystoimiston asiakkaiden ja työntekijöiden käsityksistä. Mielenterveystyöllä tarkoitan tutkimuksessani mielenterveyslain (1160/90) mukaista mielenterveystyötä. Hyvä on arvokäsite, joka voidaan kontekstista riippuen korvata muilla käsitteillä. Tässä tutkimuksessa en tutki sinänsä käsitettä hyvä vaan olen kiinnostunut siitä, miten tutkimuksessa mukana olevat ymmärtävät käsitteen hyvä mielenterveystyö. Hyvää mielenterveystyötä koskevat kriteerit olen muodostanut kahden tutkimustehtävän perusteella. Tutkimustehtävinäni on kuvata mielenterveystoimiston asiakkaiden käsityksiä hyvästä mielenterveystyöstä ja kuvata mielenterveystoimiston työntekijöiden käsityksiä hyvästä mielenterveystyöstä. Kriteerillä tarkoitan tuntomerkkiä tai tunnusmerkkiä tai ratkaisevaa ja muista erottavaa ominaisuutta sekä arviointiperustetta. Tutkimuksessa oli mukana yhden mielenterveystoimiston 27 asiakasta ja 14 työntekijää. Työntekijät olivat eri ammattiryhmistä; yhtään lääkäriä ei kuitenkaan osallistunut tutkimukseen. Tutkimuksessa mukana olevat valitsin harkinnanvaraisesti. Olen toteuttanut tutkimuksen fenomenografista lähestymistapaa soveltamalla. Haastattelin tutkimuksessa mukana olleita asiakkaita ja työntekijöitä 1-3 kertaa yksitellen tavalla, joka voidaan sijoittaa teemahaastattelun ja avoimen haastattelun välimaastoon. Aloitin kaikki haastattelut valitsemani fenomenografisen lähestymistavan mukaisesti pyytämällä tutkimuksessa mukana olevaa kertomaan käsityksensä hyvästä mielenterveystyöstä. Olen analysoinut tutkimusaineistot erillisinä aineistoina fenomenografisen lähestymistavan mukaisesti. Tutkimustuloksina esitän tutkimuksessa mukana olleiden käsityksiä hyvästä mielenterveystyöstä kuvaavat kategoriat eli käsitystyypit sekä näitä yhdistämällä muodostamani ylätason kategoriat. Tarkastelen teoriaosassa mielenterveyden edistämistä, mielenterveyden häiriöiden ehkäisemistä sekä mielisairauksien ja muiden mielenterveyden häiriöiden tutkimusta, hoitoa ja kuntoutusta sekä mielenterveystyötä hyvänä palveluna ja professionaalisena toimintana. Olen hyödyntänyt kyseistä kirjallisuutta erottaessani käsitystyyppejä toisistaan. Asiakkaiden käsityksiä hyvästä mielentrveystyöstä kuvaavat kaksi ylätalon kategoriaa. Nämä ylätason kategoriat olen nimennyt seuraavasti: ammattitaitoiset työntekijät auttaa ja yhdessä toimiminen auttaa. Ammattitaitoiset työntekijät auttaa -ylätason kategorian mukaan olennaista hyvässä mielenterveystyössä on, että ammattitaitoiset työntekijät auttavat vaikeuksiin joutuneita asiakkaitaan. Auttamismenetelmiksi mainitaan keskustelut, lääkehoito ja perheenjäsenille tarjottava tieto mielenterveysongelmista. Ylätason kategorian yhdessä toimiminen auttaa mukaan olennaista hyvässä mielenterveystyössä on yhteistoiminta muiden samassa elämäntilanteessa olevien kanssa. Yhteistoiminta voi olla kokemusten jakamista keskusteluissa, yhdessä olemista retkillä tai yhdessä toimimista mielenterveydellisiä ongelmia omaaville tarkoitetuissa kokoontumispaikoissa. Työntekijöiden käsityksiä hyvästä mielenterveystyöstä kuvaavat neljä ylätason kategoriaa sekä kategoriat, jotka kuvaavat käsitystä mielenterveystön sisällöstä ja edellytyksistä.Ylätason kategorioiden mukaan olennaista hyvässä mielenterveystyössä on joko luottamuksellinen hoitosuhde, potilaan kokonaisvaltainen elämäntilanteen järjestäminen, hoito-ohjelmien toteuttaminen tai terapiamuotojen toteuttaminen. Mielenterveystyön sisällöksi työntekijät ymmärtävät joko sekä ehkäisevän että korjaavan mielenterveystyön tai pelkästään korjaavan mielenterveystyön. Hyvän mielenterveystyön edellytyksiä kuvaavat kaksi kategoriaa, joissa toisessa edellytyksiksi ymmärretään mielenterveystyön palvelujärjestelmän avohoitokeskeisyys sekä porrasteisuus ja toisessa koulutus, tiimityö ja työnohjaus. Hyvää mielenterveystyötä kuvaavat kriteerit ja niiden arvoperustan olen tulkinnut muodostamieni kategorioiden ja yläkategorioiden pohjalta.

Discutem-se os processos de trabalho e de produção do cuidado dos auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem do Núcleo de Atenção à Crise do Instituto Municipal de Assistência à Saúde Nise da Silveira, no contexto da desinstitucionalização, e seus efeitos na integralidade do cuidado. O foco de análise repousa sobre o cuidado cotidiano prestado por esses profissionais nas unidades de internação psiquiátrica. Buscou-se realizar uma reflexão sobre os aspectos contemporâneos do cotidiano da assistência psiquiátrica e o papel dos hospitais psiquiátricos no atendimento aos pacientes agudos. Para tal objetivou-se, especificamente: contextualizar o IMNS no cenário de saúde mental no município do Rio de Janeiro; descrever as práticas assistenciais de auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem no cuidado aos pacientes agudos internados; e discutir as práticas de cuidado no contexto da reorientação do modelo hospitalar e suas repercussões na integralidade da assistência em saúde, buscando contradições e aproximações com o discurso da política de saúde mental vigente. Foram abordadas na fundamentação teórica: as questões da prática da equipe de saúde sob o eixo da integralidade, em especial da equipe de enfermagem, e a relação trabalho/saúde/cotidiano na construção dos processos de trabalho e de produção do cuidado da assistência prestada. Como abordagem teórico-metodológica que possibilitou alcançar o objetivo proposto, realizou-se estudo exploratório, de natureza qualitativa, na perspectiva da cartografia, tendo na observação participante seu principal elemento de coleta de dados. O mapeamento das práticas rotineiras de cuidado evidenciou que estas são predominantemente pautadas no modelo asilar, no qual auxiliares e técnicos desempenham suas atividades diárias de modo distanciado dos pacientes e de suas necessidades. Esses profissionais não são vistos como elementos da equipe de saúde mental, e assim, desprestigiados em relação à política de formação e capacitação em saúde mental, assumem o cuidado aos pacientes institucionalizados de modo pouco estruturado, sem levar em consideração os anseios e sofrimentos dos usuários. Acolhimento, vínculo e integralidade fizeram parte do discurso oficial de reorganização da assistência, num contexto macroestrutural, mas ainda não se materializam nas práticas assistenciais da unidade de saúde pesquisada. A importância do estudo está pautada no fornecimento de subsídios para a formulação e implantação de ações que auxiliem na melhoria da gestão do trabalho em saúde mental. Sua justificativa se faz na medida em que essa área é permeada por conflitos e questões que interferem decisivamente na qualidade dos serviços prestados. / This dissertation discusses the processes of health care work and production of caregivers and nursing technicians at the Instituto Municipal de Assistência à Saúde Nise da Silveira (IMNS) [Center for the Attention of Crises of the Nise da Silveira Municipal Institute for the Health Care (NMMI)] in the context of deinstitutionalization, and its effects on integral care. This analysis focuses on the daily care routine of these professionals in the units of psychiatric admission. We meant to make considerations on contemporaneous aspects of the daily psychiatric assistance and the role of the psychiatric hospital in assisting severe patients. To do so, we specifically aimed: to contextualize the NMMI in the mental health scenario in the city of Rio de Janeiro, being detached its social, cultural and politics aspects; to describe care practices of assistants and technicians of nursing; and to discuss the meanings of care in the context of reorientation of the hospital model and its impact on the comprehensiveness of the health assistance, analyzing contradictions and convergences to the discourse of the current mental health policy. The theoretical approach concerned the practice of the health staff, particularly the nursing staff, from the integral point of view, and the relation work-health-quotidian in the construction of the work and production processes of the effective care care. The methodological approach concerned an exploratory and qualitative study in a cartography perspective, and data were collected through observation. The mapping outcomes of the routine care practices had shown it had been based on the asylum model, where assistants and technicians do their daily activities at a distance from the patients and their needs. Those professionals are not considered members of the mental health staff; instead, as they are discredited in relation to the formation, qualifying and updating policies in mental health, they assume the care of patients in a way not properly structured, not considering their yearnings and sufferings. Welcoming reception, bond and integrality were included in the official discourse of the assistance reorganization in a macro-structural context, but do not effectively happen in the assistance practices in the researched unit. This study is important to subsidize the formulation and implementation of actions which will help out most of mental health work management. It is justified by the conflicts and questions that pervade the area and decisively interfere in the quality of services.

Discutem-se os processos de trabalho e de produção do cuidado dos auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem do Núcleo de Atenção à Crise do Instituto Municipal de Assistência à Saúde Nise da Silveira, no contexto da desinstitucionalização, e seus efeitos na integralidade do cuidado. O foco de análise repousa sobre o cuidado cotidiano prestado por esses profissionais nas unidades de internação psiquiátrica. Buscou-se realizar uma reflexão sobre os aspectos contemporâneos do cotidiano da assistência psiquiátrica e o papel dos hospitais psiquiátricos no atendimento aos pacientes agudos. Para tal objetivou-se, especificamente: contextualizar o IMNS no cenário de saúde mental no município do Rio de Janeiro; descrever as práticas assistenciais de auxiliares e técnicos de enfermagem no cuidado aos pacientes agudos internados; e discutir as práticas de cuidado no contexto da reorientação do modelo hospitalar e suas repercussões na integralidade da assistência em saúde, buscando contradições e aproximações com o discurso da política de saúde mental vigente. Foram abordadas na fundamentação teórica: as questões da prática da equipe de saúde sob o eixo da integralidade, em especial da equipe de enfermagem, e a relação trabalho/saúde/cotidiano na construção dos processos de trabalho e de produção do cuidado da assistência prestada. Como abordagem teórico-metodológica que possibilitou alcançar o objetivo proposto, realizou-se estudo exploratório, de natureza qualitativa, na perspectiva da cartografia, tendo na observação participante seu principal elemento de coleta de dados. O mapeamento das práticas rotineiras de cuidado evidenciou que estas são predominantemente pautadas no modelo asilar, no qual auxiliares e técnicos desempenham suas atividades diárias de modo distanciado dos pacientes e de suas necessidades. Esses profissionais não são vistos como elementos da equipe de saúde mental, e assim, desprestigiados em relação à política de formação e capacitação em saúde mental, assumem o cuidado aos pacientes institucionalizados de modo pouco estruturado, sem levar em consideração os anseios e sofrimentos dos usuários. Acolhimento, vínculo e integralidade fizeram parte do discurso oficial de reorganização da assistência, num contexto macroestrutural, mas ainda não se materializam nas práticas assistenciais da unidade de saúde pesquisada. A importância do estudo está pautada no fornecimento de subsídios para a formulação e implantação de ações que auxiliem na melhoria da gestão do trabalho em saúde mental. Sua justificativa se faz na medida em que essa área é permeada por conflitos e questões que interferem decisivamente na qualidade dos serviços prestados. / This dissertation discusses the processes of health care work and production of caregivers and nursing technicians at the Instituto Municipal de Assistência à Saúde Nise da Silveira (IMNS) [Center for the Attention of Crises of the Nise da Silveira Municipal Institute for the Health Care (NMMI)] in the context of deinstitutionalization, and its effects on integral care. This analysis focuses on the daily care routine of these professionals in the units of psychiatric admission. We meant to make considerations on contemporaneous aspects of the daily psychiatric assistance and the role of the psychiatric hospital in assisting severe patients. To do so, we specifically aimed: to contextualize the NMMI in the mental health scenario in the city of Rio de Janeiro, being detached its social, cultural and politics aspects; to describe care practices of assistants and technicians of nursing; and to discuss the meanings of care in the context of reorientation of the hospital model and its impact on the comprehensiveness of the health assistance, analyzing contradictions and convergences to the discourse of the current mental health policy. The theoretical approach concerned the practice of the health staff, particularly the nursing staff, from the integral point of view, and the relation work-health-quotidian in the construction of the work and production processes of the effective care care. The methodological approach concerned an exploratory and qualitative study in a cartography perspective, and data were collected through observation. The mapping outcomes of the routine care practices had shown it had been based on the asylum model, where assistants and technicians do their daily activities at a distance from the patients and their needs. Those professionals are not considered members of the mental health staff; instead, as they are discredited in relation to the formation, qualifying and updating policies in mental health, they assume the care of patients in a way not properly structured, not considering their yearnings and sufferings. Welcoming reception, bond and integrality were included in the official discourse of the assistance reorganization in a macro-structural context, but do not effectively happen in the assistance practices in the researched unit. This study is important to subsidize the formulation and implementation of actions which will help out most of mental health work management. It is justified by the conflicts and questions that pervade the area and decisively interfere in the quality of services.

Background: The goal of social integration is part of the ideological motivation behind the transition from institutionalised to decentralised psychiatric care. Modern community mental health care considers social integration vital for improving mental health. However, reports suggest that efforts to socially integrate people who suffer from mental health problems have not been as successful as anticipated.Aim: The overall aim of the study was to achieve a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of social integration of people with mental health problems in the community. An additional aim was to develop the healthcare professionals’ insight into this phenomenon by means of co-operative inquiry. The specific research questions were: How have people with mental health problems affected their neighbourhood after re-establishing in the community? How do people with mental health problems experience social integration in the community? How does knowledge of social integration promote practical changes in mental health professionals’ practice?Methods: This study, which comprises four papers, has a hermeneutic design. The data collection methods took the form of interviews with 19 neighbours of group homes for people with mental health problems (Paper I) and focus groups in two separate studies of people with mental health problems, one of which comprised 12 participants in three groups (Paper II) and the other 17 participants in three different multistage focus groups (Paper III), i.e. a total of 14 focus groups. Paper IV utilises findings from Papers I-III by means of a co-operative approach. There were two areas of knowledge development in the research process: dialogue-based teaching and focus groups. The main emphasis of the dialogue-based teaching was to facilitate the articulation of practical and tacit knowledge. Twenty-two healthcare professionals and social workers participated in two different multistage focus groups, a total of 6 focus groups (Paper IV). Data-analysis methods included both the constant comparative process and qualitative content analysis.Findings: The first paper begins with the experiences of neighbours of people who suffer from mental health problems. The neighbours reported frightening behaviours as well as complications in their contact with people who had long-term mental health problems, which led to increased insecurity and fear. The reaction of the neighbourhood was exclusion and segregation in the form of distancing or watching. The next two papers employed a user perspective and revealed that, when meeting people, the participants experienced shame and fear of exclusion due to lack of acceptance and loss of autonomy. Integrity proved a necessary quality for the possibility to be treated as an equal. Lack of work or a meaningful occupation and a low income contributed to a sense of worthlessness and loneliness. Those who had a job or took part in club activities seemed to achieve social companionship, which gave them a sense of being more socially integrated. The co-operative research project enabled co-researchers to gain increased professional knowledge and awareness, as well as providing potential for improvements in clinical practice. Systematic reflection on practice leads to an increased awareness of one’s own attitudes and intervention methods, societal conditions and the community’s attitude to the increased social integration of people with mental health problems. The experiential knowledge gained may contribute to health-promotion strategies such as social integration.Conclusions: Integration difficulties are experienced by both individuals with mental health problems and their neighbouring community. In order to achieve social integration, a person with long-term mental health problems needs to develop adequate social competence. Those working in community mental health care must ensure that people suffering from mental health problems experience a sense of belonging in the community, which can enable them to develop a network and achieve social integration in the planning and development of day-time activities and work, thus promoting social integration. The neighbourhood requires, at the very least, general information when a group home is established. Co-operative inquiry can be beneficial in the public sector, although in order to achieve the best possible result, the whole team must be involved and play an active role in all areas of the research project. If the groups are too large, the participants’ level of engagement may suffer. Multistage focus groups proved to be a powerful method for knowledge acquisition and should be further developed as a means of expanding new knowledg / Bakgrunn: En viktig ideologisk motivasjon for overgang fra institusjonalisert til desentralisert psykisk helsearbeid er målet om sosial integrering. Moderne lokalbasert psykisk helsearbeid anser sosial integrering som avgjørende for å bedre menneskers psykisk helse. Men rapporter viser at mennesker med psykiske problemer ikke har oppnådd tilfredsstillende sosial integrering.Mål: Det overordnede målet for studien var å oppnå en dypere forståelse av fenomenet sosial integrering for mennesker med psykiske problemer i lokalsamfunnet. Et tilleggsmål var å utvikle helse- og sosialarbeideres innsikt i fenomenet med bruk av handlingsorientert forskningssamarbeid. De spesifikke forskningsspørsmålene var: Hvordan har mennesker med psykiske problemer påvirket deres nabolag etter reetablering i lokalsamfunnet? Hvordan erfarte mennesker med psykiske problemer sosial integrering i lokalsamfunnet? Hvordan kan kunnskap om sosial integrering fremme praksisforandringer for psykisk helsearbeidere?Metode: Denne studien, som omfatter fire artikler, har et hermenautisk design. Metodene for datainnsamling var kvalitative intervjuer med 19 naboer til fellesboliger for mennesker med psykiske problemer (Art. I), og fokusgruppeintervjuer, i to separate studier, med mennesker med psykiske problemer. En studie med 12 informanter i 3 fokusgrupper (Art. II) og en studie med 17 informanter i 3 flersteg-fokusgrupper (Art. III), totalt 14 fokusgruppeintervjuer. Art. IV brukte funnene fra Art. I-III i et handlingsorientert forskningssamarbeid. Det var to former for kunnskapsutvikling i forskningsprosessen: Dialogbasert undervisning, som skulle fremme praktisk og taus kunnskap, samt fokusgruppeintervjuer. 22 helse- og sosialarbeidere deltok i 2 flersteg-fokusgrupper, totalt 6 fokusgruppeintervjuer (Art. IV). Datamateriale ble analysert med Grounded Theory og kvalitativ innholdsanalyse.Funn: Naboer til fellesbolig for mennesker med psykiske problemer beskriver i den første studien opplevelser som gav usikkerhet, skremmende adferd og problemer med å få kontakt med menneskene som hadde alvorlige psykiske problemer. Dette ledet til økt usikkerhet og frykt. Nabolaget reagerte med eksklusjon og segregering. De to neste studiene hadde et brukerperspektiv, og viste at informantene opplevde skam og frykt for eksklusjon som en følge av manglende akseptasjon og tap av autonomi i møte med mennesker. Integritet var en nødvendig forutsetning for å bli møtt som likverdig. Mangel på arbeid eller annen meningsfull dagaktivitet, samt lav inntekt, bidro til en følelse av verdiløshet og ensomhet. De som hadde et arbeid eller var aktiv deltager i klubbvirksomhet fikk et sosialt felleskap som gjorde at de kjente seg sosialt integrerte. I siste studie gav handlingsorientert forskningssamarbeid medforskerne økt profesjonell kunnskap og bevissthet, samt potensiale for å forbedre praksis. Systematisk refleksjon på praksis leder til en økt bevissthet for egne holdninger og interveneringsmetoder, sosiale betingelser og lokalsamfunnets holdninger til økt sosial integrasjon for mennesker med psykiske problemer. Økt kunnskapsdannelse i praksis kan bidra til forebyggende helsearbeid som sosial integrering.Konklusjon: Både mennesker med psykiske problemer og deres nabolag erfarte vanskeligheter med integrering. For at mennesker med alvorlige psykiske problemer skal erfare sosial integrering må de ha tilstrekkelig sosial kompetanse. Det må arbeides for at mennesker med psykiske problemer opplever tilhørighet i lokalsamfunnet, noe som kan sette dem i stand til å utvikle nettverk, og få til sosial integrering i planlegging og utvikling av dagaktiviteter og arbeid, og på den måten fremme sosial integrering. Nabolag bør i hvert fall ha generell informasjon når det etableres fellesboliger. Handlings- orientert forskningssamarbeid kan være gunstig i kommunehelsetjenesten. En forutsetning for et best mulig resultat er at hele team blir involvert og deltar i kunnskapsskapningen i praksis. Blir enhetene som deltar for store, blir det ikke noe eierforhold til forskningssamarbeidet. Flersteg-fokusgruppeintervju viste seg å være en god metode for kunnskapsutvikling, og metoden burde utvikles videre.Nøkkelord: Psykisk helsearbeid i kommunehelsetjenesten, sosial integrering, sosialt nettverk, handlingsorientert forskningssamarbeid, kvalitativ metode