The problem with which this study is concerned is the delineation of current practices in therapeutic recreation in psychiatric treatment centers in Texas, The programs of the forty-two hospitals responding to the survey questionnaire were evaluated in terms of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society's "Standards for Therapeutic Recreation in Psychiatric Facilities." It was determined that, while the use of recreation in psychiatric rehabilitation is widespread, many programs are not administratively independent., A close association between recreation and occupational therapy was found. Extensive recreation facilities and activities were reported. Use of community resources was widespread, but follow-up and leisure counseling services were rare. Most personnel had no recreation training. The evaluation showed limited compliance with the standards.

The study attempted to identify R425 diplomates' perceptions of their psychiatric competencies. An exploratory descriptive survey investigated specific strengths and weaknesses of the R425 diplomates in the psychiatric clinical units in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, as perceived by the diplomates themselves. The diplomates were reportedly competent in performing numerous, but not all cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills addressed by this survey. The R425 diplomates perceived themselves to be incompetent in designing and implementating rehabilitation programmes/workshops, managing community projects, conducting research and managing crises in psychiatric nursing units. / Health Sciences / M.A. (Health Studies)

D.Cur. / There is currently lack of mobilization of the advanced psychiatric nurse as a resource person in the mental health services of the Gauteng Province. This lack of mobilization of the advanced psychiatric nurse as a resource person in the mental health services, is associated with her supervisors who are the psychiatric nurse managers. The purpose of this research was to develop and describe a model that could be implemented to guide the mobilization of the advanced psychiatric nurse as a resource person in the mental health services in order to facilitate her mental health. The research also focused on developing guidelines for the implementation of the model for the mobilization of the advanced psychiatric nurse as a resource person. The model: "Mobilization of the advanced psychiatric nurse as a resource person: an interactive process", together with its operational guidelines was developed by using a theory generative design, that is, qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. This model was developed according to Chinn and Kramer's (1995) approach to theory generation, namely: identification of the central concepts for the model by conducting a field study to explore and describe the views of the advanced psychiatric nurse and those of the psychiatric nurse managers with regard to the mobilization of the advanced psychiatric nurse as a resource person in the mental health services of Gauteng; analysing the data gathered through focus groups interviews from the sample of the advanced psychiatric nurses and form the sample of psychiatric nurse managers using Strauss and Corbin's (1990) open, axial, and selective coding approach to guide data analysis; analysing the data by identifying, defining, classifying the concepts and placing them into relationship with each other to form relationship statements as the conceptual framework for the model; describing the model using strategies proposed by Chinn and Kramer (1995) and then subjecting the model to evaluation by experts in theory generation; describing the guidelines for the implementation of the model in the clinical setting.

Psykisk ohälsa är ett globalt problem och unga vuxna är en särskilt utsatt grupp. Mental Health Literacy (MHL) är en modell som innefattar fyra komponenter avseende psykisk hälsa och ohälsa. God MHL bidrar till att stärka psykisk hälsa och kan vara en förutsättning för tidig upptäckt och behandling av psykisk ohälsa, det är därför viktigt med en större förståelse för unga vuxnas MHL ur ett omvårdnadsperspektiv. Syftet med studien var att undersöka specialistsjuksköterskors erfarenheter av unga vuxnas MHL. En kvalitativ metod med abduktiv ansats användes. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes på allmänpsykiatriska specialistmottagningar för vuxna och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. I resultatet framkom fyra teman: erfarenheter av unga vuxnas förståelse att kunna uppnå och upprätthålla god psykisk hälsa, erfarenheter av unga vuxnas förståelse för psykiatriska tillstånd och hur de behandlas, erfarenheter av unga vuxnas upplevelse av stigma relaterat till psykisk ohälsa samt erfarenheter av unga vuxnas hjälpsökande. Unga vuxna har en ökad kunskapsnivå gällande psykiatriska tillstånd men en bristfällig förmåga att omsätta kunskapen till ett adekvat självomhändertagande. Vissa diagnoser var mer stigmatiserande och det fanns oklarheter angående hjälpsökande. Sjukvårdens kunskap om unga vuxnas MHL behöver förbättras för att främja god personcentrerad omvårdnad. Forskning inriktad på implementering av personcentrerad psykiatrisk vård behövs. / Mental illness is a global problem, and young adults is a vulnerable group. Mental Health Literacy (MHL) is a model that includes four components relating to mental health and illness. High levels of MHL contributes to strengthening mental health, can prerequisite early detection and treatment of mental illness, it´s therefore important to increase understanding of young adults’ MHL from a nursing perspective. The aim of the study was to explore mental health nurses’ experiences of MHL among young adults. Qualitative method with an abductive approach was used. The datamaterial was analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Ten semi-structured were conducted at psychiatric specialist clinics for adults. The results showed four themes: experiences of young people’s understanding for obtaining and retaining mental health, experiences of young people’s understanding of mental illness, experiences of young people and stigma in relation to psychiatric conditions, and experiences of young people’s help-seeking. Young adults have an increased knowledge regarding psychiatric conditions but lack ability to convert the knowledge into adequate self-care. Some diagnoses are more stigmatizing, and there´s uncertainty where the young adults can receive help for their mental illness. The health care organization needs better knowledge of young adults' MHL to promote psychiatric person-centred care.

This dissertation reports on the lived experiences of four child psychiatric nurses. The territory of child psychiatric nursing is explored in this investigation through the punctuation of many voices within this field of study. The methodology of the investigation is descriptive phenomenology and Colaizzis’ steps in descriptive phenomenology (map) are used to discover and describe the different template theories (the territory) that are unique to each of the four child psychiatric nurses who were interviewed. Following this, a story is punctuated, which is referred to as the structural synthesis. It is the heartbeat of the investigation. The dissertation concludes by reflecting on the paradox of how the invisibility of the child psychiatric nurses allowed for the visibility of the dissertation and encourages the reader to ask pivotal questions about the important role of the child psychiatric nurse, working as part of a multidisciplinary team, in order to improve patient care. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical psychology)

A descriptive survey to identify factors influencing relapse of psychiatric outpatients in the rural communities of the Eastern Cape was undertaken. A questionnaire was used to collect data from family caregivers who were relatives of psychiatric patients receiving their monthly medications from two rural clinics. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. A total number of 92 family caregivers participated. Respondents reported side effects of psychotropic drugs, poor family role, poor referral system, lack of home visits, non-compliance and stigmatization as major factors contributing to relapse of psychiatric outpatients. Active involvement of caregivers in follow up care of their relatives is effective in fostering collaboration between the psychiatric hospitals and patients with the common goal of relapse avoidance. It is recommended that adequate provision of resources in conjunction with health education is effective in enhancing collaboration towards prevention of relapse in psychiatric patients. This would promote team work among patients, caregivers and health care providers. / Public Health / M.A. (Public Health)

The basic helix-loop-helix PAS domain transcription factor gene NPAS3 is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders. A knockout mouse model also exhibits behavioural and adult neurogenesis deficits consistent with human illness. To define the location and mechanism of NPAS3 aetiopathology immunofluorescent and transcriptomic approaches were used. Npas3 was co-localised with Dcx, but not other neurogenesis markers, in the hippocampal subgranular zone - the site of adult neurogenesis. This implied that NPAS3 might be involved in maturing, rather than proliferating, neuronal precursor cells. Microarray analysis revealed that the transcriptional activities of NPAS3 and its truncated form (C-terminal deletion) in the HEK293 cell line are sensitive to circadian rhythm context. The most highly up-regulated NPAS3 target gene, VGF, encodes secretory peptides with established roles in neurogenesis, depression and schizophrenia. VGF was one of many NPAS3 target genes also shown to be regulated by the SOX family of transcription factors, suggesting an overlap in neurodevelopmental pathways. The transcriptional repression of multiple glycolytic genes indicated that NPAS3 has a second role in metabolic regulation. This finding was also confirmed by collaboration with a metabolomics research group at the University of Strathclyde. SOX11, a transcription factor known to play a role in neuronal and glial cell differentiation, was shown to be down-regulated by NPAS3. The set of genes targeted by SOX11 and their ontologies were deduced by a microarray analysis in a SOX11 overexpressing HEK293 cell line. Regulated genes include a previously established SOX11 target, known markers of neurogenesis as well as genes implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders. Multiple histone and zinc finger genes are regulated by SOX11, many of which were located in two clusters on chromosomes 6 and 19. The chromosome 6 cluster lies within a region of the genome showing the strongest genetic association with schizophrenia. SOX11 may alter localised expression competence and its targets induce a complex programme of chromatin remodelling and downstream gene expression changes to achieve the mature neuronal phenotype. This thesis details how transcription factors are involved in biological processes linked to psychiatric illness. The dual neurodevelopmental and metabolic aspects of NPAS3 activity described here increase our understanding of aspects of neurogenesis relevant to mental illness and may explain the innate and medication-induced susceptibility to diabetes reported in psychiatric patients.

Bakgrund: Specialistsjuksköterskans profession omfattar kompetens och kunskap som förvärvats genom studier i ämnet på avancerad nivå. För att synliggöra det förvärv ingår det att sjuksköterskan ser på sig själv och sin profession som självständig. Tidigare studier tyder på att trots att specialistsjuksköterskan har sin utgångspunkt i det egna kunskapsområdet är det inte alltid tydligt i möten med andra professioner. Det finns även ett synsätt som lever kvar beträffande sjuksköterskans profession som ett bihang till läkaren vilket gör utgör ett hinder till att arbeta självständigt. Syfte: Att beskriva specialistsjuksköterskans erfarenhet av att självständigt utöva sin professionella kompetens inom psykiatrisk slutenvård. Metod: Halvstrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med sex kvinnliga specialistsjuksköterskor inom sluten psykiatrisk vård på en och samma klinik. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys valdes som metod vid analysen av materialet. Resultat: Specialistsjuksköterskorna upplevde att de hade möjligheter att påverka sin situation och således kunna utföra ett självständigt arbete. De beskrev att samarbetet med de övriga professionerna upplevdes oftast som stärkande och att det främjade patientarbetet. Respondenterna beskrev också specialistutbildningen som en bidragande faktor till ökad självständighet. Diskussion: Resultatet diskuteras utifrån det vårdvetenskapliga konsensusbegreppet vårdande som teoretisk referensram samt utifrån relevant vetenskaplig forskning. / Background: Specialist nurse profession includes skills and knowledge acquired through the study of the subject at the advanced level. In order to highlight the acquisition include the nurse looks at herself and her profession as an independent. Previous studies suggest that although the specialist nurse has its starting point in their own field of knowledge, it is not always clear in meetings with other professions. There is also an approach that persists regarding nursing profession as an appendage to the doctor which is an obstacle to work independently. Aim: To describe the specialist nurse experience to independently exercise their professional skills in psychiatric inpatient care. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six females specialist nurses in inpatient psychiatric care at the same clinic. Qualitative content analysis was chosen as the method in the analysis of the material. Results: Specialist nurses felt that they had the opportunity to influence their situation and thus be able to carry out and independent work. They described the cooperation with the other professions often perceived as strengthening and it promoted the work with patients. Respondents also described the specialized training as a contributing factor to increased independence. Discussions: The results are discussed from the health scientific consensus term care as a theoretical framework and on the basis of relevant scientific research.

The incidence of smoking among mentally ill people is very high. Smokers have a 50%, rate of mental illness diagnosis compared with 23% rate for general population. To address this problem, the purpose of this project was to plan a smoking cessation program for patients in a mental health facility. The theoretical foundation for this project was based on the theory of planned behavior, which identifies the predictive nature of smoking and the benefits that can be derived from implementing a systematic approach for change. The project question examined the effectiveness of smoking cessation program using educational support, pharmacological strategies, and bi-weekly meetings to help patients in a mental health hospital to decrease smoking behavior. The project design was based on use of smoking questionnaires, the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC), effective pharmacological strategies, educational support, and counseling treatments to evaluate symptoms of dependency. The key results of this project included the creation of a plan that could foster reduction in illness, improved quality of life, and reduced costs related to the onset of major illness in this vulnerable population. This data collection process focused on a qualitative design in which selected professionals were asked to review the materials and answer questions. This project could increase awareness of the issue of smoking; in addition, this project could equip nurses with the tools to deliver evidence based interventions for tobacco dependence that may significantly reduce tobacco use. This project has the implications for positive social change through its potential to improve the health of people with mental illnesses. It also creates a safe and healthy environment in mental health facilities for patients who do not smoke.

This investigation examined several dimensions of personality functioning in a longitudinal sample of females. These data are part of an existing project evaluating female development across 3 different time points starting in adolescence and transitioning into adulthood. Subjects were categorized into a clinical group (females with a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity) and a normal control group. All participants were initially recruited when they were between 14-18 years of age, and were followed up twice when they were 19-23, and 24-28. In an attempt to explore possible heterogeneity in personality trait development, the research is presented as three separate studies examining the following: (1) fluctuations in mean-level and rank order stability estimates across time; (2) the validity of established personality trends relative to their association with antisocial behavior; and (3) mechanisms that may contribute to personality trait consistency across development such as neighborhood context. This is the first study to investigate personality functioning across time in females who are disturbed in multiple areas of social and psychological functioning. Results highlight the importance of considering distinct subgroups of the general population when exploring developmental trends in personality.