Studies in Social and Community Psychiatry – serie

This book is a study of schizophrenia in a modern psychiatric hospital. Its purpose is to develop a contextual understanding of schizophrenia by studying the clinical setting in which this disorder is experienced, diagnosed and treated. It arises from an anthropological investigation of the day-to-day work of clinical staff. The author offers a penetrating analysis of the language used by hospital staff as they write and talk about their patients and traces the evolution of the concept of schizophrenia, showing how contemporary theoretical constructs are applied by clinical staff. In its analysis of the schizophrenia team and of those experiencing the disorder, this book will reveal to mental health professionals many of the unspoken assumptions of their role. It will also confirm to social scientists and clinicians the power of the ethnographic approach in psychiatric research.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of our understanding about the provision of emergency mental health services in an era of community-orientated care. Major research findings and theoretical models which will shape future services are described and illustrated by detailed descriptions of successful services both from Europe and North America. A multidisciplinary team of contributors detail the full range of community-based services including acute respite care, home-based care, day hospitals and family placement schemes, as well as the use of Accident and Emergency Departments and acute in-patient wards. The major factors which influence service development are also explored, including the costs of acute care, the legal framework for emergency mental health work and the views of service users. All those with an interest in or responsibility for mental health will find this insight of value.

As homelessness becomes an increasingly visible problem, the health care of homeless people is beginning to appear on the agenda of politicians, health care workers, and policy makers. In contrast with the popular stereotype of elderly alcoholic males or bag ladies which the word homeless tends to trigger, homelessness affects families as well as young single people. The health needs of these various groups are not homogeneous. This book brings together the experience of mental health care teams around the world in addressing the problems of mental illness in the homeless. The difficulties in assessment and service delivery are discussed at length with an emphasis on application of existing knowledge in health care. In addressing social policy implications as well as clinical management, models, and definitions of homelessness in different cultures, this volume will offer a practical support for all those working with the homeless on a day-to-day basis.

This second volume, in a series looking at the social dimensions of mental illness, collates and critically examines the information currently available on social support as it impacts on mental health. The international team of contributors, each actively involved in both clinical and research work in this field, collectively covers the whole range of perspectives from biological mechanisms through to psychological and social theory. An overview of the latest published evidence and a description of the nature and origins of social support are followed by evidence from observational studies and specific interventions and trials. The text concludes with a summary which will act as a valuable resource for practitioners in their evaluation of social and psychological treatments, and should also serve to stimulate further research and intervention trials. Practitioners and researchers in psychiatry, psychology and social work are certain to welcome this timely guide.

With the international consensus towards community care of the mentally ill, there came a growing need for meaningful evaluation of services. Redressing the lack of guidance this book describes how to do mental health service research. It comprehensively reviews developments in research design, method and measurement at the level of both whole service systems and individual programmes within mental health services. Each of the issues is adeptly illustrated with practical descriptions of comprehensive evaluation projects. The important advances already achieved in knowledge about effective services are highlighted along with descriptions of future work that will further develop our understanding of meeting patient requirements. This volume will appeal to all who are involved in mental health service research as well as those who make use of their results.

This second volume, in a series looking at the social dimensions of mental illness, collates and critically examines the information currently available on social support as it impacts on mental health. The international team of contributors, each actively involved in both clinical and research work in this field, collectively covers the whole range of perspectives from biological mechanisms through to psychological and social theory. An overview of the latest published evidence and a description of the nature and origins of social support are followed by evidence from observational studies and specific interventions and trials. The text concludes with a summary which will act as a valuable resource for practitioners in their evaluation of social and psychological treatments, and should also serve to stimulate further research and intervention trials. Practitioners and researchers in psychiatry, psychology and social work are certain to welcome this timely guide.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of our understanding about the provision of emergency mental health services in an era of community-orientated care. Major research findings and theoretical models which will shape future services are described and illustrated by detailed descriptions of successful services both from Europe and North America. A multidisciplinary team of contributors detail the full range of community-based services including acute respite care, home-based care, day hospitals and family placement schemes, as well as the use of Accident and Emergency Departments and acute in-patient wards. The major factors which influence service development are also explored, including the costs of acute care, the legal framework for emergency mental health work and the views of service users. All those with an interest in or responsibility for mental health will find this insight of value.

With the international consensus towards community care of the mentally ill, there came a growing need for meaningful evaluation of services. Redressing the lack of guidance this book describes how to do mental health service research. It comprehensively reviews developments in research design, method and measurement at the level of both whole service systems and individual programmes within mental health services. Each of the issues is adeptly illustrated with practical descriptions of comprehensive evaluation projects. The important advances already achieved in knowledge about effective services are highlighted along with descriptions of future work that will further develop our understanding of meeting patient requirements. This volume will appeal to all who are involved in mental health service research as well as those who make use of their results.

Personality disorders have been recognized as categories of psychiatric illness, and still need to be better defined. This book interprets the personality disorders as products of the interaction between social influences and other aetiological factors as part of a broad biopsychosocial model, and explains how personality traits develop into personality disorders. Strongly oriented towards recent empirical findings, the author argues that although biological, psychological and social factors are all necessary, none of them is by itself sufficient to produce a personality disorder. This basic model is also a model of treatment, in which biological, experiential and social factors should all be addressed in therapy and his treatment recommendations focus particularly on social adjustment through the adaptive use of personality traits.