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Biomedical subjects

E L Bassuk

Publications and source records attributed to E L Bassuk.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Is homelessness a mental health problem?

Seventy-eight homeless men, women, and children staying at an emergency shelter were interviewed. The vast majority were found to have severe psychological illnesses that largely remained untreated. Approximately 91% were given primary psychiatric diagnoses: About 40% had psychoses, 29% were chronic alcoholics, and 21% had personality disorders. Approximately one-third had been hospitalized for psychiatric care. The authors discuss the relationship of mental health policy to the homeless and suggest that shelters have become alternative institutions to meet the needs of mentally ill people who are no longer cared for by departments of mental health.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

The use of videotape programs to teach interpersonal skills.

Interpersonal skills training evolved rapidly in recent years as teachers began to exploit the distinct advantages of "live" and simulated presentations in videotapes and films as teaching aids. At the same time, psychologists and psychiatrists started to define the basic aspects of interpersonal relations. Many used prepared scripts to produce videotape programs that modeled human interactions. While clinical experience and formal studies clarified some characteristics of effective visual training programs, the impact of dramatic and technical elements in these productions was not fully explored. In the present paper, the authors review the nature of interpersonal skills and the current status of visual aids for teaching human relations and show how videotape productions with characters, a story line, and action sequences can enhance learning. The experience of producing a series of videotapes about prehospital emergency care is used as a paradigm for discussing how theatrical techniques, applied through discrete production steps, can reinforce training goals and appeal to a wide range of students with diverse learning styles.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1983

Cross-cultural comparison of British and American psychiatric emergencies.

The authors compare patient characteristics in a psychiatric emergency setting in the United States with a similar service in the United Kingdom. They found that despite many significant differences in nonclinical variables, the severity of clinical symptoms did not differentiate between the two groups. In both countries, it was not the degree of psychopathology but the lack of an available support network, an inability to engage the patient in the system, and a history of serious chronic maladjustment that led to the majority of "emergency" visits. The authors conclude that use of an emergency service sensitivity mirrors the gaps in health care delivery.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Geriatric emergencies: psychiatric or medical?

To determine how the elderly use the emergency room, the authors compared emergency patients 65 years old and older with younger patients in terms of demographics, clinical factors, patterns of emergency room use, and clinicians' responses. They found that, like younger patients, the elderly had scanty social supports but, unlike younger patients, came for care repeatedly with somatic complaints. Despite coexisting medical and psychiatric illnesses, these patients were generally managed by one service without consultation from the other. The authors, who found no differences in physicians' attitudes toward younger and older patients, emphasize the need for a holistic, psychobiologic approach to the care of the elderly emergency patient.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Deinstitutionalization and the private general hospital inpatient unit: implications for clinical care.

Deinstitutionalization has led to a rapid shift from reliance on state hospitals to use of community-based inpatient psychiatric services. While these inpatient units were initially envisioned as an integral part of the community mental health system, a number of sociopolitical and clinical pressures have caused general hospitals to respond to their new responsibilities in different ways. The authors review trends in deinstitutionalization, the diverging interests of public and private general hospitals, and problems in patient care that result. Based on a discussion of how Beth Israel Hospital, a nonprofit private general hospital in Boston, has dealt with such issues, they describe adaptive responses in four areas: admission criteria, patient management approaches, aftercare planning, and staff training.

Aftercare↗
PubMed1981

The private general hospital's psychiatric emergency service in a decade of transition.

The psychiatric emergency ward of the private general hospital is faced with increasing demands for services and a changing role as a result of the progression of deinstitutionalization and shifts in the relationships between public and private facilities. Ten years ago the psychiatric emergency ward operated primarily as an evaluation and referral unit, triaging patients to primary sources of care; today the public facilities that serve as the primary caregivers frequently turn referrals away. Thus the referral model of service delivery is no longer viable for a psychiatric emergency ward, but it is yet to be replaced by other programs within the ward that will enable the chaos of the current system to be bypassed and prevent further deterioration of patient care. The authors discuss the dilemmas facing the emergency ward staff in the management and treatment of involuntary, psychotic, and chronic crisis patients.

Boston↗
PubMed1980

The impact of deinstitutionalization on the general hospital psychiatric emergency ward.

To delineate the role of a general hospital emergency ward in the treatment of deinstitutionalized patients, the author analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of a systematic sample of 663 patients appearing for emergency ward treatment over a four-year period between 1972 and 1976. Yearly comparisons of the data were made to identify changing trends in the patient population. Variables studied generally remained constant from 1972 through 1975, but by 1976 several important changes were noted, among them an increase in the number of patients previously hospitalized in state facilities, a marked decrease in patients with no previous hospitalizations, and an increase in patients exhibiting psychotic behavior. The author considers the factors that may have contributed to the delay in the arrival of deinstitutionalized patients at the emergency ward. She also emphasizes the need for general hospitals to develop and implement comprehensive programs for the management of the increasing numbers of sicker patients appearing for treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Into the breach: emergency psychiatry in the general hospital.

In its position at the interface between the community and the general hospital, the emergency ward (EW) serves to reconcile the complex needs of the local population with the traditional organizational structure of the hospital. In recent years, the EW has been faced with the dilemma of managing increasing numbers of psychotic patients with chronic illness and psychosocial problems. In response to this impressive growth in the utilization of psychiatric emergency services, a variety of general hospitals have developed model programs of service delivery and methods for the evaluation of their effectiveness. This paper is an overview of utilization patterns, organization of services, and assessment of the evaluation and referral model. This issues facing general hospitals in the development of emergency care are clarified. The need for further research, program development, and clinical implementation is discussed.

Crisis Intervention↗