"The purpose of this study was to evaluate the responses made by nine male alcoholic patients to a questionnaire comprising thirty items regarding the closed ward community. All nine patients were admitted to the closed ward of the Veterans Administration Hospital, Coral Gables, Florida. The data were analyzed and evaluated in order to delineate and clarify the patients' feelings toward the closed ward community"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "June, 1957." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work." / Advisor: Robert Lansdale, Professor Directing Study. / Includes bibliographical references.

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Abstinence among alcohol dependents

The subject of this study is to examine the problems of a group of discharged mental patients and the services provided to them by their referral to a public assistance agency. The study has examined the particular problems presented in financial need, accommodation, and family difficulties, and has attempted to assess whether public assistance services are adequate to effect continuing improvement, in a clinical sense, in the patient's psychological adjustment. Within the period, January 1st, 1954, to December 31st, 1954, fifteen patients were referred by the Crease Clinic Social Service Department, Essondale, British Columbiaj to the City Social Service Department, Vancouver, British Columbia, as being in need of financial assistance. Ten of the patients were in receipt of assistance at the time of their admission to the Crease Clinic. At this point their cases were closed by the City Social Service Department. Upon discharge from the Crease Clinic, re-application to the assistance agency was necessary. This constituted re-referral and they were thus included in this study. By the use of two Schedules¹ and through personal communication with the Administrators of the Social Service Department of the Crease Clinic, and the Social Service Department, data were obtained about the patients' psycho-social background, the problems presented, and the services given by the psychiatric hospital social workers, and the Assistance Agency Staff. The findings indicated that shortage of social work staff, and heavy caseloads, may in certain severe problem cases, result in uncoordinated and inadequate service. The need for a more adequate definition of responsibility in providing After-Care Services through joint hospital and community planning, was evident, particularly in the cases where the psychological difficulties of the patients, remained unmodified by the services given. This is stressed because of the policy of the City Social Service Department to close their cases when financial need is no longer required, in the cases mentioned the psychological problems would appear to re-activate psychosocial difficulties. An example of a referral policy has been suggested to affect closer liaison between the agencies. A suggestion that the City Social Service Department consider plans to promote preventative services to families and individuals with rehabilitative potential ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¹ See Appendix, pp. 91-92. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This study reviews the procedures, standards, and administrative requirements inherent in the setting up of a Social Service Department in a mental hospital. Recommendations for a future Social Service Department are based upon: (a) standards for adequate social service as recommended by the American Psychiatric Association and other professional personnel, and (b) the experience of some existing departments in Canada. The latter include: (a) the Social Service Departments at the Crease Clinic of Psychological Medicine and the Provincial Mental Hospital, Essondale, British Columbia, and (b) the After Care Department of the Ontario, Hospital, London, Ontario. This study has also incorporated the information and findings contained within four previous Master of Social Work theses, dealing with (a) the analysis of social work services in a mental hospital, (b) administrative aspects of a social service department in a mental hospital, (c) post-discharge problems of mental patients. The study has examined social work functions in a mental hospital, including: social services rendered during admission, social services rendered during the period of treatment, social services rendered during rehabilitation and convalescence. To ensure effective provision of these social services, the study has outlined "job descriptions" for each social work position within a Social Service Department. Three selected Social Service Departments were examined on the basis of: (a) administrative structure, (b) personnel, and (c) services rendered. Methods used include direct observation, interviews and correspondence with administrative personnel, an examination of information in annual reports and relevant professional articles. The projected department is divided into three distinct sections: (a) an Admissions Section; (b) a Continuing Casework Section: and (c) an Out-Patient Section. To ensure adequate administration and service, such a department requires twenty appropriately-qualified personnel: sixteen social workers at the direct service level; three social workers, each as Casework Supervisor of a Section; and one social worker as the Director of Social Service. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Understanding the social, psychological, and physical dynamics involved in mental illness is difficult enough because of the many intangibles involved. However, when mental illness occurs among immigrants, the problem becomes even more complicated. Some of the difficulty stems from the tendency to say that these people are mentally ill because they are newcomers, or that they are immigrants because of their mental or emotional instability. This study is intended as a small contribution to bringing some order to the confusion union seems to distinguish present day approaches to mentally ill newcomers. The material for this study was derived from a thorough perusal of newcomers’ hospital files. Because these files, in most cases, included the observations and impressions of psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, nurses and others, together with a full transcription of any Interviews hold with a patient, it was possible to get a fairly full picture of any newcomer's personality, behaviour, and general circumstances. On the basis of the information available in these files, a rating scale was evolved, being designed to assess the newcomers’ prevailing and potential adjustment. In part, this study is an experiment in scientific method, pointing the tray towards identifying mentally ill newcomers who could be rehabilitated, and those for whom deportation appears to be the only alternative. Such a method involves a differential approach to mentally disturbed immigrants, and the assumption that deportation legislation should not apply to people who, with proper assistance, can become proper citizens. Without doubt, because the sample of immigrants studied required hospitalization for mental and emotional disorders, they may be regarded as a special group in the total Immigrant population, nevertheless, the enquiry establishes the fact that some offer distinct rehabilitation possibilities while others should not have boon permitted to migrate in the first place. A verification of the existence of those two kinds of newcomers leads to appropriate recommendations concerning the application of deportation legislation and the screening of potential citizens. It suggests both the employment of qualified social workers who are well equipped to assess a person's emotional or mental stability, end the use of methods on the lines of those developed in this study for evaluating and predicting the kind of adjustment newcomers are likely to experience in this country. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Atlanta University. / Bibliography: leaves 49-51.

This study is a formulative exploratory study in the area of communication. It investigates the operation of the social worker-patient communication process with respect to selected variables thought to influence this process. The study consists of three parts; the original research design, the critique of the original design, and the new design. The project takes place at the Riverview Hospital and involves both Crease Clinic and Centre Lawn units. The original design is formed around a frame of reference which underlines the need for communication by patients at a mental hospital. Unfortunately, the original design, which involved a study of factors affecting the information flow between social worker and patient, failed to achieve a clear focus in its purpose and problem formulation. The critique pointed out the various factors influencing the original study and which led to the necessary revision of the study design. It includes a comprehensive outline of the extraneous variables which were encountered in this study and suggests the extent to which they may affect the validity of the study findings. The new design incorporates the findings and implications of the original design, and was enlarged to include communication between the staff treatment team (doctor, social worker, charge nurse) and the patient. A more specific theoretical frame of reference was developed and in addition suggestions for implementation of the new design are made and can serve as a reference point for any continuing studies in this area. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

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