Community Mental Health Ideology,Dogmatism, and Political-Economic Conservatism

The Community Mental Health Ideology (CMHI) Scale, an abridged version of Rokeach's Dogmatism (D) Scale, and the five-item form of the Political-Economic Conservatism (PEC) Scale were administered to 140 members of the Massachusetts Citizen Mental Health Area Boards. The results indicate that degree of adherence to community mental health ideology as measured by the CMHI Scale is significantly negatively correlated with dogmatism and political-economic conservatism. The sample of nonprofessional citizens scored higher on the CMHI Scale than did groups of mental health professionals who had been previously studied. They also obtained scores on the D Scale and PEC Scale indicating that these lay members of mental health area boards are less dogmatic and less conservative than the groups with which these scales were originally developed.Dr. Schulberg is associated with United Community Services, Boston. The study reported in this paper was supported by NIMH Special Grant MH-09214.     

The development of a community mental health ideology scale

As psychiatric facilities move toward a community mental health orientation, it appears vital to understand and measure this new ideological perspective. A valid and reliable 38-item Scale has been developed for this purpose. The Community Mental Health Ideology Scale very effectively discriminates between groups known to be highly oriented to this ideology and random samples of mental health professionals. Other evidence of the Scale's construct validity is presented, and certain correlates of community mental health ideology are described. Further data on the validity of the Scale is required, and additional areas for future research are indicated.The study reported in this paper was supported by NIMH Small Grant MH 13318-01 and NIMH Special Grant MH-09214. The authors wish to thank Dr. Kenneth Jones for his statistical consultation and Dr. Gerald Caplan for his encouragement of this work. Printed copies of the CMHI Scale suitable for use in research studies, together with scoring templates, are available from theCommunity Mental Health Journal, 605 W. 115 St., Room 301, New York, N.Y.10025.     

Art as a community mental health tool

Community mental health programs are increasingly concerned with problems of communication. This paper will describe the various ways the communications arts were utilized within the context of a ghetto-based community mental health center. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of the arts in the training of nonprofessional mental health workers and in facilitating the community development aspects of the Center's program.This article was presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Conference, August 30–September 3, 1968 San Francisco, California.     

The study of attitudes about mental health in the community mental health center

The assumption that a common ideology is shared by the staff of a community mental health center was tested using the Community Mental Health Ideology Scale. The scores of three groups were analyzed—service directors, line staff, and student aides. Marked discrepancies or lack of consensus in beliefs were found to exist among professional disciplines, between service units, and within each category. The implications of these findings on center functioning are discussed, and recommendations for additional studies are suggested.     

Community mental health ideology presented in high school health textbooks: A content analysis

The present study examined the community mental health ideology presented in high school health textbooks. A content analysis of texts in national use revealed that a hygiene model of mental health predominated. Further, substantial attention was devoted to drugs and alcohols as central issues for high school students, with particular emphasis on prevention through consumer education. Community mental health approaches were largely ignored, with brief mention made of the community mental health center as place where one can go to receive individual treatment. Mental illness was consistently presented as an individual's internal problem, unrelated to the social or ecological context of the individual. The findings were discussed in terms of implications for the exposure to mental health received by high school students and in terms of the need for public education about community mental health issues.The authors thank M. Ellen Mitchell for her generous assistance in tabulating the data for this study.     

Community Mental Health Ideology Scale standing of paraprofessionals

Twenty-five paraprofessionals from five different community mental health centers in the inner city areas of Chicago individually completed the Community Mental Health Ideology (CMHI) Scale and a personal data sheet. The findings support the hypothesis that the paraprofessionals in these centers score lower than the group of community psychologists reported in the normative study on the CMHI Scale. No significant relationship was found between the practical experience of the paraprofessionals and their scores on the scale. The study provided data on the age, race, sex, educational level, and the salary scale of the group under investigation.Mr. Poovathumkal is about to finish his studies for a Ph.D. in psychology at Howard University, Washington, D.C.     

An assessment of physicians attitudes toward community mental health

The present study was an attempt to assess systematically the attitudes held by physicians in one county in northern Ohio toward the community mental health center in that county and toward community mental health in general. The results indicated a very wide range of activity in and attitudes toward community mental health. It was found that this variation was not a function of medical specialty or geographic location. Physicians held attitudes toward community mental health less favorable than one might expect on the basis of data from other populations sampled, and they were not involved in the community mental health programs.He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the counties community mental health centers.     

Disaster and mental health intervention

Major disasters offer an important opportunity for the community psychiatrist to put into practice many of the principles of community mental health. By reaching out to the victims and primary care givers during the crisis, the development of posttraumatic symptoms can be averted. This entails a major departure from the traditional role of the mental health professional. This paper explores the psychological reactions to a major school bus, train accident and the intervention techniques that were utilized by a community mental health center as a response to this disaster.     

Community attitudes about mental health services

Community attitudes toward a new mental health center were surveyed by calling 110 randomly selected residences. Drugs and alcohol were seen as the community's most pressing social problem. Respondents were favorable to mental health centers and public funding and had accurate information about many aspects of mental health problems, although misinformation about types of services, professional staffing, and length of treatment was present. The favorable community altitude is seen as providing a base for increased public education in areas of misinformation and more consultation and preventive programs in areas of community concern.     

The new role of the clinical psychologist in a community mental health center

As comprehensive community mental health centers begin to proliferate nationwide under the impetus of the Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963, it is imperative that the roles and functions of its staff members be redefined to meet the new demands that will be placed upon them by the community. These include participation in new programs concerned with welfare, education, rehabilitation, gerontology, and positive aspects of mental health and mental retardation. Several new roles for clinical psychologists in a community mental health setting are suggested; also a distinction is made between community mental health center psychologists and community psychologists. The roles that are cited are applicable to all mental health professionals and others who offer mental health services to the community.A version of this paper was presented at the American Psychological Association Meeting in New York City, September, 1966.     

A profile of the rural community mental health center

This paper-part of a national study of community mental health worker role activism-compares community mental health centers with their counterparts in other geographic areas. Rural workers were most likely to view their centers as being most like social agencies. Their encorsement of community mental health ideology was also significantly higher. Role was measured from two perspectives: organizational and personal. Again, staff at rural community mental health centers were significantly different: They endorsed the highest levels of both organizational and personal activism and showed the least discrepancy between the two. It is concluded that rural community mental health centers and their staff represent an important and unique response to the problem of community mental health services delivery.An expanded version of a paper presented to the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Country Life Association, July 1974, Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are most grateful for the continuing help and suggestions of Miss Dorothea Dolan, Rural Mental Health Specialist, Mental Health Services Development Branch, NIMH. This paper is part of the study. Emerging Roles of Community Mental Health Workers, funded by grant MH18958 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

An evaluative paradigm for community mental health centers using an automated data system

A methodology is presented for the evaluation of community mental health centers using data routinely collected by an automated patient management system (Multistate Information System). Four community mental health centers whose catchment areas were widely diverse in composition participated in the study. A generalized evaluation paradigm was developed with measures and objectives formulated to analyze various stages of care as patients progressed through the community mental health center system. The stages covered were admission, initial modality of service, service delivery in terms of types and amounts of services rendered and termination. Each center was analyzed independently of the others and it was ascertained that the methodology produced useful and informative evaluative data across all four centers.     

Social congruence and empathy in paraprofessional and professional mental health workers

The use of indigenous nonprofessionals as mental health workers has become an increasingly widespread practice. A frequently cited rationale for such useage is that nonwhite, nonmiddle-class clients, frequently a majority in community clinics, are likely to relate more readily to helpers of similar socioeconomic or cultural background. This study examines the empirical basis for this rationale by interviewing 102 community mental health center clients. Three attitude measures (perceived social congruence, perceived understanding, and perceived helpfulness) are utilized to assess Ss'perception of both paraprofessional and professional mental health personnel. Although Ss' were accurate in their judgments of social congruence, the expected correlations of social congruence with perceived empathy and helpfulness did not occur.This study was supported in part by an NIMH grant number 5 SO1 RRO5654-03.     

Behavior therapy techniques as a fulfillment of community mental health ideology

Due to value orientations, lack of knowledge, or exposure, the behavioral approach has been avoided by many professionals in the community mental health field. This is unfortunate, because many concepts of behavior analysis are identical to some of the guiding principles of the community mental health movement. Furthermore, the methods derived from a behavioral framework can help implement the community mental health ideology. This paper identifies possible linkages in the areas of treatment, client population, and evaluation.     

Expectations for the comprehensive mental health center: The community

The process of developing community support for a comprehensive mental health center in a rural and an urban setting is described. The more limited the community in existing services, manpower and economic potential, the more radical the realignment of such resources must be before a center can emerge. In his efforts to obtain community commitment, the mental health professional must be aware that idiosyncratic expectancies of what the center will accomplish are held by the sponsoring agencies. Shaping such diverse aspirations into a realistic program of services is a hazard and a strength of the community mental health movement.     

Evaluation of priorities in a community mental health center

In an academic department of psychiatry that undertook the operation of a community mental health center, the ideal allocation by program heads of priorities for change in service, education, and research was investigated. It was hypothesized that a productive solution required (a) equal priorities for change in service and education and (b) leadership that had minimal conflict with the different program heads. The department leaders and the heads of programs in service, education, research, and community completed a 90-item structured Q sort on ideal priorities. There was support for both hypotheses. Special consideration was given to a discussion of community involvement in departmental policy making.This investigation was supported by Grant MH 15087 from the National Institute of Mental Health, United States Public Health Service.     

Physical environment and job satisfaction in a community mental health center

Relocation of professional staff in a community mental health center provided a setting in which to evaluate the effects of physical environment on job satisfaction. Two mental health teams moved from an old, drab central clinic building to new satellite clinics while a third team remained in the old building. Relocated staff reported significant increase in satisfaction with physical surroundings as compared to staff that did not move. Furthermore, satisfaction with physical surroundings had some impact on overall satisfaction ratings. Physical surroundings in a community mental health center may be a mediating variable for staff morale and effectiveness.     

Learning style preferences of community mental health professionals

Programs of continuing education in mental health are increasing at a rapid pace. This study examines selected personal and occupational characteristics of enrollees in one such program and classifies the nature of enrollee motivation for participating in specialized programs of community mental health training. The learning-style preferences of these highly experienced professionals are also explored and recommendations are made concerning the design of similar educational programs under development elsewhere.He has frequently served as a preceptor and guest lecturer in postgraduate programs of continuing professional education in mental health. Research for this paper was supported in part by funds from the California Department of Mental Hygiene and the National Institute of Mental Health. The staff and director of the Health Training Resources Center (Berkeley) are graciously acknowledged for their cooperation with this study.     

Measuring agency investment in community mental health

This paper reports a study of the extent to which essential elements of community mental health are part of mental health agencies' practices. A sample of 263 social workers reported on the nature of programming and services of 19 mental health facilities ranging from city and state community mental health centers to inpatient psychiatric hospitals. All agencies were found to be engaged primarily in diagnosis and treatment, and such community mental health components as primary prevention, coordination, continuity of care, and use of community boards were virtually nonexistent. Possible explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.The paper is based on a project supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (USPHS 5-TO 1 MH 12008) and the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (SRS-98-P-0050015).