Suchergebnisse

Background: One integral way by which individuals in recovery pursue meaning and productivity in their lives is via employment. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) who express the desire to work remain unemployed. Families have the potential to play an important role in the domain of supported employment (SE), though may not have the knowledge or skills to do so. Aims: This quantitative study aimed to better understand the perspectives of family members on the role of employment in recovery and the barriers faced by their loved ones in pursuing work. Method: Participants included 86 family members of individuals with SMI who were affiliated with their state NAMI Chapter and agreed to take part in an online survey. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to determine meaningful differences between the highest and lowest ranked statements for each main research question. Results: Family members recognize that employment is important to recovery and offers individuals with SMI a valued social role. Relative to other factors, financial independence and being employed in a competitive job were viewed as less important to recovery. The most salient barriers to employment included stable housing, need for transportation, concerns about losing benefits, low self-esteem, and medication side effects. Conclusions: While family members can appreciate the importance of SE and their loved ones' desire to work, they still tend to rank other factors as more integral to recovery. This underscores the need for additional education about the potential for employment to facilitate these other factors in recovery.

This book takes the vision of "recovery" and of "a life in the community" for every adult with a serious mental illness promised by the U.S. President's 2003 New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and shows what is entailed in making this vision a reality. Beginning with the historical context of the recovery movement and its recent emergence on the centre stage of mental health policy around the world, the authors then clarify various definitions of mental health recovery and address the most common misconceptions of recovery held by skeptical practitioners and worried families. With this framework in place, the authors suggest fundamental principles for recovery-oriented care, a set of concrete practice guidelines developed in and for the field, a recovery guide model of practice as an alternative to clinical case management.

Background: Persons with serious mental illnesses (SMI) can lead productive lives, and the majority want to work. Mental health providers can play an important role in helping their clients gain and maintain employment. Aims: The Provider Survey was developed to shed additional light on providers' views toward employment and recovery, and the utilization of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) supported employment (SE) services for people with SMI. Methods: A total of 1,306 providers of the State of Connecticut participated in the survey. Four main questions were addressed in the survey: what do providers do, what do they view as most important regarding employment, what are their views when it comes to what promotes recovery and what barriers do providers face in attempting to refer their clients to IPS services. Results: Referring clients to additional supports was rated as the most important aspect of what providers do; encouragement was rated as the most important component to enable clients in gaining and maintaining employment; agency, belonging and medical care were rated as most important in promoting recovery; and expectations that clients would be discriminated against at work was the most important barrier to referring clients for SE. Also, employment and finances were seen as the least important factors in promoting the recovery of people with SMI. Conclusion: This survey suggests that one reason that more clients may not be referred to IPS programs is that clinicians do not view employment or financial self-sufficiency as important factors in recovery, further compounding the historical view that these persons are unable to, and uninterested in, working. Such findings call for a provider education and training campaign to highlight the fact that most persons with SMI – like most persons in general – do want to work and, with supports, most are capable of doing so.

Despite decreases in school violence over the past two decades, in‐school arrest rates are on the rise. This growing trend of school arrests is attributed in part to an increase in zero‐tolerance policies for disruptive behavior and exclusionary discipline practices such as suspensions, expulsions, and the involvement of law enforcement in school discipline matters. This article describes recent advancements made toward reducing the rates of in‐school arrests in the state of Connecticut through juvenile justice policy reform, advocacy and systems coordination efforts, and changes to school practice and policy from an interdisciplinary collaborative approach.Keypoints
Change happened because stakeholders were able to work together across systems.
Getting solid data was essential to defining the problem and to showing results.
Model memoranda of agreement helped define the role of police in schools.
The Judicial Branch began using discretion to push back unnecessary arrests.
Mental health professionals offered teachers training on behavioral health and connected schools to community resources.
The effort to reduce student arrests gained traction in Connecticut coming on the heels of other successful juvenile justice reforms. Whenever we get a "win," we should look for an opportunity to build on it.