<p> The purpose of this study was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to fund a program designed for older adults who suffer from serious mental illness. In this program, the older adults would be using computerized activities to enhance memory. Another portion ofthe program would be dedicated to the prevention of falls through the use of rhythmic steps in music. The program would be held by the host agency, Life Sharing Health Care in the city ofNorwalk, California, once the Archstone Foundation approved and funded the grant proposal. Since memory loss and falls are prevalent in the older adult population, it is essential to create programs whose mission is to prevent these problems from occurring or at least reduce the impairment and frequency. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.</p>

<p> Coordinating care is of particular concern in Alaska due to expansive geography, difficulty of travel, and often limited behavioral health care resources. This study explored how individual, organizational, and systemic factors influence clinicians' use of video teleconferencing to conduct "live" discharge plans from urban psychiatric facilities to rural communities. </p><p> Semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted, in person and by telephone, with urban clinical staff (n = 10), urban administrative staff (<i>n</i> = 6), and rural outpatient staff (<i>n</i> = 14). Two researchers analyzed the transcribed interviews in a recursive manner using a grounded theory methodology. </p><p> Participants described infrequent, but generally positive experiences with live discharge planning: connecting patients to providers, temporarily joining treatment teams, evaluating patients for appropriate placement, engaging patients in their own care, addressing medication issues, and coordinating with family and village resources. Providers recommended hiring interns or dedicated staff, installing equipment "on unit," or using wireless tablets. Rural participants ascribed a greater value to emergency psychiatric consultations at admissions than coordination at discharge. </p><p> Continued selective use of live discharge plans is indicated with patient length of stay being an important consideration in determining feasibility. Future implementation should involve dedicated resources and use video teleconferencing to formally enhance other transitional services. Once issues of organizational readiness are addressed, a Knowledge-Attitudes-Behavior framework may be useful for managing providers' underuse. Future research could evaluate rural, village-based intensive case management supported by consultation with the psychiatric hospital via video teleconferencing.</p>

<p> Holocaust survivors are a diminishing population, yet they share a wealth of knowledge, and their vast experiences, life stories, and perspective are relevant now and for future generations. The goal of this exploratory study was to elicit information about posttraumatic growth among Holocaust survivors and the factors that may come into play. The questions focused on the time before, during, and after the war. This study is about a positive change an individual may experience as a result of a traumatic event, posttraumatic growth, a term coined by Tedeschi and Calhoun. A total of 13 people (7 females and 6 males) were interviewed for this qualitative study. All of the subjects identified with suffering from PTSD at one point in their lives, and 10 (77%) indicated that posttraumatic growth has been prevalent, mainly in domains of greater sense of personal strength and more profound appreciation of life. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1989. Adviser: Dean Barry Ackerson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-133) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> The proposed support group was designed for older Cambodian refugees who suffer from any mental health conditions primarily from the Khmer Rouge regime. Although the genocide occurred three decades ago, many refugees still suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, especially among the older generation. The support group will consist of older Cambodian refugees who had lived through the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979), are 55 year of age or older, are currently residing in the Long Beach community and suffer from any mental health condition diagnosed for more than 1 year. The goal of the proposed group is to strengthen the support and connection among the Cambodian refugee elders. The actual submission and/or funding of the grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine various social and ecological factors that affect adolescents' nervousness and/or depression. Secondary data from the 2011- 2012 California Health Institute Survey were used to examine these factors. Chi-Square analyses were utilized to test if relationships existed between the variables in the data. This study examined race, poverty level, immigration status, physical well-being, safety of environment, and the receipt of psychological/emotional counseling as factors for influencing feelings of nervousness and/or depression among adolescents. Results indicated that adolescents feeling nervous were affected by race, poverty level, environmental safety, and the receipt of psychological/emotional counseling. Feeling nervous did not have a significant association with physical well-being in this study. Furthermore, adolescent depression was affected by race, poverty level, physical well-being, environmental safety, and the receipt of psychological/emotional counseling. Immigration status was not found to be associated with affecting adolescent nervousness or depression. Further research is suggested.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the association between adolescent characteristics, community factors and mental health. This was achieved by completing a quantitative study analyzing secondary data obtained from a mental health agency in Orange County, California, and an online database, City-Data.com. The results rendered a statistically significant relationship between age and those who had the presenting problem of depression, relational problems, and poor coping. A statistically significant relationship between females and poor coping was also revealed. The most interesting finding, however, was the statistically significant relationship between presenting problems in relation to their community factors. Both poverty levels and educational attainment less than high school among the residents in the communities where these adolescents live were associated with depression and relational problems. The findings of this study are beneficial in identifyirig the need for further research regarding the relationship between educational attainment and mental health.</p>