This book addresses the high cost of mental illness, the organisation of care, changes and future directions for the mental health workforce, indicators for mental health care and quality, and tools for better governance of the system.

This volume studies joint decision making in mental health care contexts through an in-depth examination of the negotiations of power and authority at the level of turn-by-turn sequential unfolding of interaction. Bringing together research at the intersection of mental health, discourse and conversation analysis it examines a wide range of settings including chronic psychiatric visits, rehabilitation meetings, occupational therapy encounters and cognitive behavioral therapy appointments. It presents a series of studies which reveal in close detail the joint decision-making processes in these critical encounters by using naturally occurring video-recorded interactions from a range of health service settings as data. In so doing, it sheds light on the interactional practices of health care workers that may facilitate or discourage client participation in joint decision-making processes. The book will provide important insights for academics and practitioners working in the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, applied linguistics, nursing, social work and rehabilitation; and in particular for those specializing in psychiatry and mental health.

Bringing together treatment and referral advice from existing guidelines, this text aims to improve access to services and recognition of common mental health disorders in adults and provide advice on the principles that need to be adopted to develop appropriate referral and local care pathways.

"When it comes to ministry related to mental health concerns, prayer and Scripture are not enough. Beginning with the biblical motif of going to the village well for the waters that sustain life and exploring the communal significance of that well, pastor, professor, and clinical psychologist Jessica Young Brown calls on the Black Church to rally its historic resilience and creativity to acknowledge and engage those in its pews who are struggling with mental health concerns. Using the acronym of SPACE, the author discusses: Silencing the Stigma ... naming the negative attitudes and mistaken assumptions about mental illness, especially in the African American community Presence & Persistence ... identifying the importance of authentic relationships in healing mind and spirit Application & Action ... highlighting practical steps to address the needs as they emerge Cautions ... being real about the fears and risks related to mental health crises, including the importance of referrals Expression & Exhortation ... calling on the cultural power of testimony to encourage the entire congregation to access the healing power of God Rev. Dr. Young Brown concludes with a practical exploration of "Now What? Digging the Well and Drawing from It." The book's appendix features a brief primer on common mental disorders that frequently affect members of our family, neighborhood, and church"--

“Filled with insights into the social, historical, and economic forces responsible for the overmedicalization of human unhappiness and distress.” —George Graham, Metapsychology In this surprising book, Allan V. Horwitz argues that our current conceptions of mental illness as a disease fit only a small number of serious psychological conditions and that most conditions currently regarded as mental illness are cultural constructions, normal reactions to stressful social circumstances, or simply forms of deviant behavior. “Thought-provoking and important . . . Drawing on and consolidating the ideas of a range of authors, Horwitz challenges the existing use of the term mental illness and the psychiatric ideas and practices on which this usage is based . . . Horwitz enters this controversial territory with confidence, conviction, and clarity.” —Joan Busfield, American Journal of Sociology “Horwitz properly identifies the financial incentives that urge therapists and drug companies to proliferate psychiatric diagnostic categories. He correctly identifies the stranglehold that psychiatric diagnosis has on research funding in mental health. Above all, he provides a sorely needed counterpoint to the most strident advocates of disease-model psychiatry.” —Mark Sullivan, Journal of the American Medical Association “Horwitz makes at least two major contributions to our understanding of mental disorders. First, he eloquently draws on evidence from the biological and social sciences to create a balanced, integrative approach to the study of mental disorders. Second, in accomplishing the first contribution, he provides a fascinating history of the study and treatment of mental disorders . . . from early asylum work to the rise of modern biological psychiatry.”— Debra Umberson, Quarterly Review of Biology

This book applies the theory and research of decision analytics to the field of mental health, with particular focus on how to improve clinical decision making.

Each year, more than 33 million Americans receive health care for mental or substance-use conditions, or both. Together, mental and substance-use illnesses are the leading cause of death and disability for women, the highest for men ages 15-44, and the second highest for all men. Effective treatments exist, but services are frequently fragmented and, as with general health care, there are barriers that prevent many from receiving these treatments as designed or at all. The consequences of this are seriousâ€"for these individuals and their families; their employers and the workforce; for the nation's economy; as well as the education, welfare, and justice systems. Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions examines the distinctive characteristics of health care for mental and substance-use conditions, including payment, benefit coverage, and regulatory issues, as well as health care organization and delivery issues. This new volume in the Quality Chasm series puts forth an agenda for improving the quality of this care based on this analysis. Patients and their families, primary health care providers, specialty mental health and substance-use treatment providers, health care organizations, health plans, purchasers of group health care, and all involved in health care for mental and substanceâ€"use conditions will benefit from this guide to achieving better care.

The Social Determinants of Mental Health aims to fill the gap that exists in the psychiatric, scholarly, and policy-related literature on the social determinants of mental health: those factors stemming from where we learn, play, live, work, and age that impact our overall mental health and well-being. The editors and an impressive roster of chapter authors from diverse scholarly backgrounds provide detailed information on topics such as discrimination and social exclusion; adverse early life experiences; poor education; unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity; income inequality, poverty, and neighborhood deprivation; food insecurity; poor housing quality and housing instability; adverse features of the built environment; and poor access to mental health care. This thought-provoking book offers many beneficial features for clinicians and public health professionals: Clinical vignettes are included, designed to make the content accessible to readers who are primarily clinicians and also to demonstrate the practical, individual-level applicability of the subject matter for those who typically work at the public health, population, and/or policy level. Policy implications are discussed throughout, designed to make the content accessible to readers who work primarily at the public health or population level and also to demonstrate the policy relevance of the subject matter for those who typically work at the clinical level. All chapters include five to six key points that focus on the most important content, helping to both prepare the reader with a brief overview of the chapter's main points and reinforce the "take-away" messages afterward. In addition to the main body of the book, which focuses on selected individual social determinants of mental health, the volume includes an in-depth overview that summarizes the editors' and their colleagues' conceptualization, as well as a final chapter coauthored by Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States, that serves as a "Call to Action," offering specific actions that can be taken by both clinicians and policymakers to address the social determinants of mental health. The editors have succeeded in the difficult task of balancing the individual/clinical/patient perspective and the population/public health/community point of view, while underscoring the need for both groups to work in a unified way to address the inequities in twenty-first century America. The Social Determinants of Mental Health gives readers the tools to understand and act to improve mental health and reduce risk for mental illnesses for individuals and communities. Students preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will also benefit from this book, as the MCAT in 2015 will test applicants' knowledge of social determinants of health. The social determinants of mental health are not distinct from the social determinants of physical health, although they deserve special emphasis given the prevalence and burden of poor mental health.

Ask for a definition of primary care, and you are likely to hear as many answers as there are health care professionals in your survey. Primary Care fills this gap with a detailed definition already adopted by professional organizations and praised at recent conferences. This volume makes recommendations for improving primary care, building its organization, financing, infrastructure, and knowledge baseâ€"as well as developing a way of thinking and acting for primary care clinicians. Are there enough primary care doctors? Are they merely gatekeepers? Is the traditional relationship between patient and doctor outmoded? The committee draws conclusions about these and other controversies in a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion that covers: The scope of primary care. Its philosophical underpinnings. Its value to the patient and the community. Its impact on cost, access, and quality. This volume discusses the needs of special populations, the role of the capitation method of payment, and more. Recommendations are offered for achieving a more multidisciplinary education for primary care clinicians. Research priorities are identified. Primary Care provides a forward-thinking view of primary care as it should be practiced in the new integrated health care delivery systemsâ€"important to health care clinicians and those who train and employ them, policymakers at all levels, health care managers, payers, and interested individuals.

Artificial Intelligence in Behavioral and Mental Health Care summarizes recent advances in artificial intelligence as it applies to mental health clinical practice. Each chapter provides a technical description of the advance, review of application in clinical practice, and empirical data on clinical efficacy. In addition, each chapter includes a discussion of practical issues in clinical settings, ethical considerations, and limitations of use. The book encompasses AI based advances in decision-making, in assessment and treatment, in providing education to clients, robot assisted task completion, and the use of AI for research and data gathering. This book will be of use to mental health practitioners interested in learning about, or incorporating AI advances into their practice and for researchers interested in a comprehensive review of these advances in one source. - Summarizes AI advances for use in mental health practice - Includes advances in AI based decision-making and consultation - Describes AI applications for assessment and treatment - Details AI advances in robots for clinical settings - Provides empirical data on clinical efficacy - Explores practical issues of use in clinical settings