What I thought was so important isn\u27t really that important : international perspectives on making meaning during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the physical and mental health of people everywhere. The aim of the study is to understand how people living in 15 countries around the globe experience an unexpected crisis which threatens their health and that of loved ones, and how they make meaning of this disruption in their narratives. Methods: Data were collected through an anonymous online survey during May-September 2020, which was during or just after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, depending on the country. The questionnaire included demographic and three open-ended questions as prompts for stories about experiences during the initial months of the pandemic. The text was analyzed through inductive thematic content analysis and quantified for full sample description, demographic and subsequently international comparisons. Results: The final qualitative dataset included stories from n = 1685 respondents. The sample was 73.6% women and 26.4% men. The mean age of participants was 39.55 years (SD = 14.71). The identified four groups of overarching themes were: The presence and absence of others; Rediscovering oneself; The meaning of daily life; Rethinking societal and environmental values. We discuss the prevalence of each theme for the sample as a whole and differences by demographic groups. The most prevalent theme referred to disruptions in interpersonal contacts, made meaningful by the increased appreciation of the value of relationships, present in (45.6%) of stories. It was more prevalent in the stories of women compared to men (chi(2) = 24.88, p = .001). Conclusions: The paper provides a detailed overview of the methodology, the main themes identified inductively in the stories and differences according to select demographic variables. We identify several major ways of making meaning of the pandemic. The pandemic has impacted many aspects of people\u27s lives which give it meaning, no matter where they live

Evaluation and Impact of Trauma Informed Training on Child Professionals: UMMS Child Trauma Training Center (CTTC)

Childhood trauma is well established as a major public health issue: statistics show that each year in the United States, upwards of one million youth experience violence, trauma and maltreatment and that by age 16 more than 67.8% of children witness or are victims of some type of violence. Almost half of children with a history of trauma do not receive any services because of the wait time and lack of properly trained providers. In this brief researchers from the Child Trauma Training Center (CTTC) show how the training of professionals is a swift and efficient way to impact large numbers of children with trauma histories and ultimately to improve their lives, health, and well-being

There\u27s More to Young Adult Unemployment Than Mental Health: What Else to Look For [English and Spanish versions]

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under Additional Files below. High unemployment among young adults with serious mental health conditions (SMHCs) should not only be attributed to their mental health conditions. Research should take an intersectional approach where, in addition to looking at mental health condition factors, other indicators of social and demographic inequalities are also taken into account

Health Related Web Site Usage by Persons with Serious Mental Illness: Design and Use of a Heath Literacy Survey Tool

Objectives: A health literacy focused web site review survey was designed as an initial step in a multi-institutional project to build a website for persons with serious mental illness to help them better understand issues relating to their physical health. This presentation will describe the design, testing, implementation and results of this survey tool. Methods: The literature shows that persons with serious mental illness (SMI) approach the use of online health information differently than the general population. In 2015, the University of Massachusetts, in collaboration with other academic medical institutions, received a grant to build a new website for persons with SMI that will teach them how to find high quality online health information and will specifically guide them to information about their physical health. As a first step, the project team created a health literacy based survey tool to evaluate current health websites for their utility with an SMI audience. The survey was designed using and building upon an existing validated instrument. It was administered to experts on mental and physical disease. Results will be used to determine quality indicators of the new site and to selected sites to which it will link. Results: 13 reviewers were identified to complete the survey. Four of the identified participants did not complete the task and others were identified to take their places. Ten participants ultimately completed the surveys. Participants were asked to review between four and five websites focusing on four different topics – cardiovascular health, diabetes, obesity and smoking – all comorbidities with prevalence in the SMI community. The websites were chosen based on Google searches that were performed using examples of layperson searches observed in preliminary focus group activities. The top five non-advertiser-supported sites were included. The survey consisted of 61 questions. The questions were developed using existing open access survey tools (e.g., the DISCERN instrument) and findings on website usage by people with SMI that were discovered in the existing literature. Questions focused on format, navigation, usability and credibility of the sites. Questions were also asked about any etiologic, diagnostic, therapeutic or prognostic information contained in the sites. 65 responses were received. Conclusion: Results of the survey demonstrated a sampling of health websites that met the criteria for effective use with an SMI population. The authors believe that this survey could also be adapted and used as a general comprehensive health website evaluation tool. It will be made available as an open access document

The Development of a Standardized Tool to Evaluate Physical Health Websites through the Lens of Persons with Serious Mental Illness

In 2015, the Lamar Soutter Library and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School received a grant from the National Library of Medicine to design an online tool that will provide persons with serious mental illness a means to acquire resources that will assist them in learning about co-morbidities often faced by this population. One of the first steps in creating this tool is to identify health-related websites that will meet strict quality measures applicable for use by our target audience. To facilitate this process, subject experts with skills in both mental health and physical health have been identified and will be asked to complete a comprehensive survey that will evaluate the identified websites. The survey will address aspects of each website reviewed such as content and credibility, format, usability and interactivity plus the evaluation of etiologic, diagnostic, therapeutic and/or prognostic information contained on the site. This poster will describe the evidence-based methodology used in developing and testing this survey instrument. Preliminary results, discussion of evaluative data and next steps will also be discussed

eMental Health Bridges Project: A Web Site Development Project to Provide Needed Mental and Physical Health Information to People with Serious Mental Illness [English and Spanish versions]

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under Additional Files below. The eMental Health Bridges project will promote health literacy by developing, testing, and implementing: 1) eMH4me training modules to provide guidance for individuals with SMI on web-based information searching, judging source and site credibility, and interpreting data; and 2) web site prototypes that will serve as a connection to essential physical health information for individuals living with SMI. eMental Health Bridges will embrace user experience and design accommodations required for individuals with SMI to benefit fully from eHealth resources

Scoping Review: Digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war

Objective Over 200 million children and adolescents live in countries affected by violent conflict, are likely to have complex mental health needs, and struggle to access traditional mental health services. Digital mental health interventions have the potential to overcome some of the barriers in accessing mental health support. We performed a scoping review to map existing digital mental health interventions relevant for children and adolescents affected by war, examine the strength of the evidence base, and inform the development of future interventions. Method Based on a pre-registered strategy, we systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, APA PsychInfo, and Google Scholar from the creation of each database to 30th September 2022, identifying k=6,843 studies. Our systematic search was complemented by extensive consultation with experts from the GROW Network. Results The systematic search identified 6 relevant studies: one evaluating digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war and five for those affected by disasters. Experts identified 35 interventions of possible relevance. The interventions spanned from universal prevention to specialist-guided treatment. Most interventions directly targeted young people and parents/carers and were self-guided. A quarter of the interventions were tested through randomized controlled trials. Because most interventions were not culturally or linguistically adapted to relevant contexts, their implementation potential was unclear. Conclusion There is very limited evidence for the use of digital mental health interventions for children and adolescents affected by war at present. The review provides a framework to inform the development of new interventions

Social support and acceptance among rheumatoid arthritis patients: “learning how to live with chronic pain”

Chronic pain sufferers with diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) are a category of patients that feels stigmatized, lacking understanding and support from the surrounding social environment (Davison et al., 2000). The invisible and unpredictable character of RA makes it very difficult to be recognized and understood by family, friends, colleagues, and so on, and patients often complain of being treated with scepticism and distrust. In the last 25 years, the concept of social support and its relation to health has been studied by a burgeoning literature (see, inter alia, Krokavkova et al., 2008; Helgeson, 2003; Lee et al., 2004). There is strong empirical evidence that the support that chronic patients receive from their environment is fundamental for the way they cope with physical and psychological suffering. Nevertheless, in the case of RA, providing the right social support is still a challenge and such support proved to be often elusive and unreliable in helping patients to manage the disease (Kostova et al., 2014). Acceptance is an important component of pain management, being associated with improved quality of life and lower levels of pain and depression. According to McCracken (2005), acceptance is not a single belief but a psychological process, driven by the willingness to experience pain without trying to control and avoid it. Patients able to pursue their life goals and the activities that matter to them, regardless of the pain, have better quality of life and better physical, social and emotional functioning (Geiser, 1992; McCracken and Eccleston, 2005; Viane et al., 2003). There is therefore ample reason to suppose that, in facing and accepting the implications of a disease like RA, patients need access to a satisfying social context on which they can rely for both emotional and practical support (McCracken, 2005; Revenson, 1993). However, specific evidence on the link between social support and acceptance, especially in a context like RA where that social support is harder to realize, is as yet missing. This dissertation is a collection of three papers that aim to overcome the aforementioned challenges, giving both breadth and depth to explanations of the relationship between social support and acceptance among RA patients. With the first paper, we defined a ‘key moments’ model of acceptance, exploring five moments or phases that RA patients experience in order to accept and accommodate the pain in their selves and lives. We identified the diagnosis, the first phase, as a particularly difficult step among RA patients that shapes the whole process of acceptance. The second paper is focused on the concept of social support, comprehending its multifaceted character. We identified the main social support sources from patients’ point of view and the circumstances under which the reactions from these sources may hinder rather than help acceptance. While we were able to link each source of support to particular phases of acceptance, identifying in which key moments the different sources do most to foster acceptance, the results were more holistic than that: the most effective sources can be helpful throughout the process. In the third paper, building on the insights of the first two, we describe and evaluate an online tool designed to be an alternative way of providing social support to chronic pain patients. Identifying both where this tool was and was not effective, we pinpoint the factors – at the level of design and at the level of the individual patients – that moderate the efficiency of online social support. This dissertation provides theoretical and clinical advances to research on the concepts of acceptance and social support and the link between the two. A qualitative approach allows us not only to consider the richness and variety of patients’ perspectives but also to do justice to the multidimensionality of both concepts. The findings of the dissertation have practical implications, providing health professionals with insights into the kind of support needed to help sufferers down the difficult path towards acceptance. From a theoretical point of view, the dissertation contributes to the field of health communication in two ways. First, via a grounded theory approach we build on existing understandings of the multi-phasic and complex process of acceptances. Second, we ground the concept of social support in the model of Health Empowerment (Schulz & Nakamoto, 2005), identifying it as a fundamental factor that affects patients’ self-management behaviour

Linking Kids with Trauma to Evidence-Based Treatment: Implementation of a Centralized Referral System at the Child Trauma Training Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

At a time when the general standard of child welfare and mental health provision has been improving, some important groups in Massachusetts remain under-served. One such is children suffering from trauma. Despite various state-wide efforts to educate professionals about the evidence-based treatments available, trauma sufferers have typically faced long waits to receive these treatments, with average waiting times at some larger mental health agencies stretching to four or even six months. In this brief, we are presenting the implementation of a highly innovative Centralized Referral System – LINK-KID – developed at the Child Trauma Training Center (CTTC) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. LINK-KID referral system connects children in need of evidence-based trauma treatment with mental health providers who have been trained in these treatments