An analysis of patient views toward very brief interventions (counseling consisting of three or fewer sessions) indicates that counseling termination should not be viewed as a failure or a patient drop-out, but rather that the original expectations of the patient are met in a relatively brief contact. (MB)

The Pathways to Prevention (PTP) initiative was designed to help selected Early Head Start (EHS) programs enhance their mental health services for infants and toddlers by learning to work with infant mental health consultants. PTP engaged the author to provide support to the infant mental health consultants through regular group consultation via…

We present the results of an evaluation of the implementation and short-term effects of "Zippy's Friends," a school-based 24-week mental health promotion program to teach children coping skills. The evaluation was conducted in Denmark (322 children in 17 first grade classes) and Lithuania (314 children in 16 kindergartens classes) with…

An evaluation was conducted to compare the impact of an 8-week cardiovascular disease risk reduction group teaching program for 92 individuals with mental retardation (MR; IQ less than 70) and 97 normal learners. The curriculum emphasized exercise, nutritional choices, and stress reduction. Body Mass Index (BMI; weight in kilograms, divided by…

The rate of youth with mental health needs is disproportionately high in juvenile justice. Wraparound planning involves families and providers in coordinating juvenile justice, mental health, and other services and supports. This study compares data from two groups of juvenile offenders with mental health problems: 106 youth in a juvenile justice…

This National Council on Disability (NCD) report defines or describes financial incentives affecting people with disabilities and presents research findings in key areas of people's lives, such as education and health care. It also describes selected state-level innovations affecting asset development and wealth accumulation. In addition, the…

Due to a variety of internal and external events the Student Affairs Committee of Colby College (Maine) studied alcohol use on campus and recommended solutions in two major areas, educational and social. Five educational strategies were recommended: (1) development of clear policies regarding alcohol and other drugs; (2) enforcement of…

Recent smoking treatment programs have shifted emphasis from initial cessation rates to long-term abstinence, with aversion therapy and coping response training having had the most success. A smoking cessation treatment consisting of rapid smoking and behavioral counseling was supplemented with two maintenance treatments. After completing the…

Veterans' policies and programs are examined by a task force of the Twentieth Century Fund. Part 1, the report of the task force, includes sections on the rationale for veterans benefits, recommendations for further benefits and programs, and a dissenting opinion by one task force member. Recommendations are summarized into five basic areas: (1)…

There were four relevant objectives of this study: (1) describe the extent and nature of school case-oriented and program consultation as currently practiced, and to evaluate its impact; (2) evaluate the congruence of the local consultee's and consultant's expectations of consultation and the degree to which their expectations are attained; (3)…

There were four relevant objectives of this study: (1) describe the extent and nature of school case-oriented and program consultation as currently practiced, and to evaluate its impact; (2) evaluate the congruence of the local consultee's and consultant's expectations of consultation and the degree to which their expectations are attained; (3)…

Successful corporate fitness programs contain several elements: participant compliance, program models and program elements that are applied systematically, and organizational commitment to the concept. Guidelines for observing effectiveness of health programs are given. (DF)

This paper critiques current models for evaluation of mental health services provided to children and adolescents with emotional disturbances and offers an alternative model. The most popular model, Donabedian's tripartite model, is described. This model separately evaluates three domains: (1) structure (characteristics of the care providers,…

To function well, every system has to fully understand and manage its resources. Mapping is a first step toward enhancing essential understanding, and done properly, it is a major intervention in the process of moving forward with enhancing systemic effectiveness. In schools and community agencies, there is redundancy stemming from ill-conceived…

This paper describes a six-month service-coordination pilot project (SCPP) designed to improve coordination activities among mental health service providers in a Canadian city. The aim of the project was to improve information sharing and joint treatment planning. Data show no effect of the SCPP, but service providers perceived improvements. (TJH)