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Biomedical subjects

C A Rapp

Publications and source records attributed to C A Rapp.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Families' perceptions of community mental health programs for their relatives with a severe mental illness.

Realization that families are providing a major portion of the care for people with a severe and persistent mental illness has led to attempts to form an alliance with such families. Many professionals are aware that there is much cognitive distance between families and the professional community. Bridging this gap requires knowledge of the subjective experience of families. This paper reports the results of a study of the families' perspective of their experience with community mental health programs. Attention is given to the families' experience and needs; to changes in practice which address those needs; and to a variety of curriculum strategies for more adequately preparing future cadres of mental health professionals.

Adaptation, Psychological

Factors related to successful goal attainment in case management.

Goal planning is fundamental to the case management process. Manager and client identify specific long-term goals and then systematically break them down into the incremental behaviors needed to be accomplished to achieve each goal. The goal-setting process may fail as a result of four types of factors: (1) behavioral, (2) cognitive, (3) affective, and (4) environmental. To decrease the likelihood of failure, case managers must be knowledgeable about goal planning. They must help the client set goals that are expressed positively, that are client focused, realistic and achievable, measurable, and easily understood, with one observable outcome per goal. For both case manager and client, setting and attaining goals must be viewed as part of a continuing learning process, rather than a success-failure dichotomy.

Goals

Improving client outcomes: the Kansas technical assistance consultation project.

A central problem in the design and implementation of mental health services is how to transfer relevant information to the active practitioner. Traditional methods of knowledge transfer, such as professional journals and workshops, appear to have uneven results at best. Outreach consultation services, here described as technical assistance, holds promise as an effective and efficient vehicle for transferring relevant knowledge necessary to improve professional practice. This report describes the technical assistance consultation project jointly sponsored by the University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare and the Kansas State Department of Mental Health and Retardation. It is argued that an important function of this project was symbolic as well as substantive. State departments of mental health and major public universities can work in consort to assist professionals and programs perform at a maximum level. Such an effort re-casts the manner in which these institutions are traditionally viewed by those engaged in direct practice. A case example is provided.

Combined Modality Therapy

A decade of case management: a methodological review of outcome research.

The last decade has witnessed a burgeoning interest in case management services to people with severe mental illness. While the literature on case management is proliferating, there remains a paucity of rigorously designed outcome research. This paper provides a methodological review of that outcome research on case management, which found that the term case management is used to describe a diverse array of interventions that yield differing client outcomes. Suggestions for the direction of future inquiry are described.

Adult

Towards a model social work curriculum for practice with the chronically mentally ill.

Social work is well-positioned to mount a major curriculum initiative focused on practice with the chronically mentally ill. The profession's historical legacy, conceptual compatibility with current service needs, and its significant contribution to practice and research are a firm base upon which to build. This paper suggests the content needed to adequately prepare future cadres of professionals and proposes a variety of curriculum strategies for organizing such content. In addition, attention is devoted to the preparation of management personnel.

Chronic Disease

Client outcome reporting: the status method.

This paper describes the development and results of a method for capturing client outcomes of community services for persons with severe mental illness. Through the use of status scales, two major elements of community integration, independence of living arrangement and vocational independence can be continuously monitored. The initial results of the method include: unifying previously disparate agendas of state and local officials, enhanced vocational and living arrangement outcomes for clients, instigating program improvements, and the increased exchange of staff rewards. In addition, the method is economical whereby data on a worker caseload of 30-40 can be collected in about 20 minutes.

Community Mental Health Centers