This paper describes a program that links a community mental health center and a rural education cooperative for the provision of psychological services to children experiencing emotional/behavioral problems. The program description provides background information and lists reasons for selecting a flexible problem-solving consultee-centered format…

This paper describes the Developing Interculturally Skilled Counselors (DISC) project, a three year training program designed to assess and articulate the need for cross-cultural counseling skills. A review of existing inservice or pre-service training programs is presented that suggests these programs are narrow in their approaches and…

The first research effort undertaken to document conditions of life of older Indian and Alaskan Native people (aged 45 and older) nationwide was completed by the National Indian Council on Aging in 1980. Data were derived from results of a detailed survey administered to a random sample of 712 older Indians and Alaskan Natives from urban and rural…

Such factors as values, traditions, customs, institutions, language, kinship systems, beliefs and skills are highly pertinent to the providing of mental health services. The report reveals allegations of serious abuse of cultural relevancy in serving Native Americans, questions what Native American mental health is and how it differs from…

Although researchers have investigated the chronological age-subjective age discrepancy in several ways, they have, for the most part, ignored where and how older persons live. The lifestyles of elderly Los Angeles residents (N=308), i.e., institutionalized, socially active in the community, or socially inactive in the community, were taken into…

This paper reports on the findings of an evaluation of a health and social services comprehensive care model project for the elderly residing in low-income urban public housing. The text contains a brief discussion of the previous research, the results of the present study, and comments on the applicability of previous research to the sample…

The second part of a study compared health and social service needs of older persons residing in public housing and older persons residing in the neighboring community. A survey was conducted of 461 residents in four buildings supported by the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) and 422 residents age 62 and older living within five blocks of one…

A conceptual model is presented to examine the hypothesis that androgyny is advantageous to the psychological well-being of both females and males in American society. A format for the multi-dimensional assessment of both sex-role components and indices of well-being is proposed, and possibilities for exploring the interface between these sets of…

Recently, Indian people from the United States and Canada recommended coping-skills training for American Indians, to help in handling stress, becoming self-determined, being assertive, problem solving, and redesigning social roles and support systems. Some 30 tribal groups and agencies participated in a cultural adaptation of an assertive…

The author supports the promotion of mental health for deaf individuals through improved and expanded mental health services. To illustrate the psychological, educational, vocational, and social implications of deafness, Chapter 1 presents a profile of the deaf individual with emphasis on the communication barriers which exist at each stage of…

This workbook provides a model for mental health professionals to use in developing and implementing a plan for their self-directed job-related learning and skill enhancement. The materials describe techniques for mastering a specific body of knowledge. Questionnaires are provided to help the user organize individual needs and goals; suggestions…

In addition to reporting on the technology of needs assessment and evaluation, these guidelines examine the context in which certain technologies should be employed, the opportunities/limitations of different methodologies, and the rationale for assessing needs and evaluating. The guidelines, intended for personnel at various levels and different…

The effective social worker or family counselor delivering health care services to the American Indian community will focus on the strengths rather than the weaknesses of the community and will recognize and use existing natural helping systems. The American Indian family network, for example, is unique in Western society and contains a variety of…

This collection of 7 bilingual papers on children with special needs is part of a series of papers on various aspects of day care published by the Canadian Department of Health and Welfare. Each paper is presented in both English and French. Paper I is a 2-page description of the nutrition program in a kindergarten for the trainable mentally…

Caring, as distinct from the physical surroundings and the social system in which it occurs, cannot be bought and cannot be professionalized. In addition, while caring is a vital element in dealing with psychiatric illness, it is both strenuous as well as unmeasurable, and thus more difficult to supply and finance than professional treatment or…