An exploratory survey indicated that the depression prevalence among Chinese Americans is 17.4 percent. Of 516 respondents, 34.9 percent preferred seeking advice from friends or relatives, followed by 30.2 percent not showing any preference when facing a mental health problem. Logistic regression results pointed to three contributing factors:…

Community-based mental health services are increasingly challenged by waiting lists for individual counseling. A strengths-based, brief solution-focused counseling (BSFC) model was used to increase the number of clients served while maintaining high-quality services. Clients who participated in BSFC experienced both shorter wait times than did…

At best, mainstream mental health services are often ineffective with Native American clients, and, at worst, they are a vehicle for Western colonization. As such, the authors explore the notion of abandoning the Western therapeutic project and rebuilding the helping process on the basis of indigenous knowledge foundations. To this end, they…

Women disadvantaged by poverty, as well as racial or ethnic minority status, are more likely to experience depression than the rest of the U.S. population. At the same time, they are less likely to seek or remain in treatment for depression in traditional mental health settings. This article explores a therapeutic, psychosocial engagement strategy…

A successful demonstration project that used social work students as case managers for the chronically mentally ill is described. An exploratory design was used and the results were positive for clients, students, and the system. (Author/BL)

Mental health workers are critically examining modes of service delivery. Crisis intervention offers a way to apply to mental health problems some concepts of primary prevention that have been successful in the public health field. (Author)

Institutionalization, as is widely recognized, has undesirable effects on many sexual offenders, and it often increases the likelihood that they will offend again after discharge. The outpatient program described here combines group interaction with behavioral engineering and may indeed represent an effective alternative. (Author)

Discusses attempts of study groups of women in mental health professions that was instrumental in developing thearetical formulations concerning feminist therapy. From experiences both in the group and with clients, concludes that the profession as a whole must increase its responsiveness to concerns of women and issues of feminist therapy.…

Reviews aftercare for schizophrenic individuals who have been discharged as a result of deinstitutionalization. Focuses on the nature of the problems caused by deinstitutionalization, the professional response, various aftercare milieus, family treatment modalities, and the clinical process. (Author/ABB)

Examined mental health service providers' (N=80) evaluation of deaf patients in various programs. Found staff at specialized inpatient mental health programs for the deaf had more positive attitudes than staff serving the general population. Found mental health staff evaluated some deaf patients differently from hearing patients with respect to…

Findings suggest there are significant systemic relationships between major demographic trends in the United States and the rate of mental hospitalization. Macrosocial trends and changes can have important impacts on social work practice, and these impacts can make an important contribution to social policy and social work program planning.…

Describes the implementation of a collaborative discharge planning program for a chronic psychiatric population. Emphasizes the importance of good communication between patient and professionals. Presents a case example. Findings suggest more substantial involvement of patients in after-care programs is needed. (Author/JAC)

Reviews literature on alternatives to hospitalization for mentally ill. Describes mutual-help organizations which, if successful, involve individually tailored, assertive, and long-term support. Presents one mutual-help organization which has been observed for five years as an example. (Author/ABL)

After discharge from the hospital, many mental patients go back to the kind of environment that contributed to their breakdown. In the belief that new options should be available to mental patients when discharged, a hospital in New York City developed--with marked success--a plan for group living. (Author)

An appreciation of the environmental, economic, and cultural stresses in black communities should lead community mental health programs to try to change adverse social conditions as well as treat the symptoms of ill health. (Author)