Global Position Statement: Religion and Spirituality in Mental Health Care

Careif is an international mental health charity that works towards protecting and promoting mental health and resilience, to eliminate inequalities and strengthen social justice. Our principles include working creatively with humility and dignity, and with balanced partnerships in order to ensure all cultures and societies play their part in our mission of protecting and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We do this by respecting the traditions of all world societies, whilst believing traditions can evolve, for even greater benefit to individuals and society. Careif believes that knowledge should not only be available to those with wealth or those who live in urban and industrialised parts of the world. It considers knowledge sharing to be a basic human right, particularly where this knowledge can change lives and help realise true human potential. Furthermore, there is substantial knowledge to be found in low and middle income countries and within rural and poorer areas of the world and this knowledge is just as valuable to the wellbeing of people in areas which are wealthier. This Position Statement aims to highlight the current position and need for understanding the role of culture, spirituality and religion in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Globalisation has created culturally rich and diverse societies. During the past several decades, there has been a steadily increasing recognition of the importance of cultural influences on life and health. Societies are becoming multi-ethnic and poly-cultural in nature worldwide, where different groups enrich each other's lives with their unique culture/s. Cultural transition and acculturation is often discussed as relevant to migrants and the need to integrate, when in fact it is of relevance to all cultures in an ever-interconnected world. It is indeed necessary to be equipped with knowledge about cultures and their influence on mental health and illness. Until the early 19th century, psychiatry and religion were closely connected. Religious institutions were responsible for the care of the mentally ill. A major change occurred when Charcot and his pupil Freud associated religion with hysteria and neurosis. This created a divide between religion and mental health care, which has continued until recently. Psychiatry has a long tradition of dismissing and attacking religious experience. Religion has often been seen by mental health professionals in Western societies as irrational, outdated, and dependency forming and has sometimes been viewed as resulting in emotional instability

Global Position Statement: Stigma, Mental Illness and Diversity

Careif is an international mental health charity that works towards protecting and promoting mental health, wellbeing, resilience and resourcefulness with a special focus towards eliminating inequalities and strengthening social justice. Our principles include working creatively with humility, dignity and balanced partnerships in order to ensure that all cultures and societies play their part in our mission of protecting and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We do this by respecting the traditions of all world societies, whilst believing that culture and traditions can evolve for even greater benefit to individuals and society. Globalisation has created culturally rich and diverse societies. During the past several decades, there has been a steadily increasing recognition of the importance of societal and cultural influences on life and health. Societies are becoming multi-ethnic and poly-cultural in nature worldwide, where different groups enrich each other's lives with their unique culture/s. Cultural transition and acculturation is often discussed as relevant to migrants and mentions the need to integrate, when in fact it is of relevance to all cultures in an ever interconnecting world. It is indeed necessary to be equipped with knowledge about cultures and their influence on mental health and illness. Culturally informed mental health care is rapidly moving from an attitudinal orientation to an evidence-based approach, therefore understanding culture and mental health care becomes greater than a health care issue

Oh Baltimore: Incarceration and Re-entry in Marginalized Communities

After years of decay, Baltimore City’s urban poor face disparities within an economic and political climate that demands austerity and personal responsibility. This qualitative research project aimed to identify the impact of deindustrialization on the socioeconomic changes within the community, the subsequent disparate incarceration rates, and burden on affected individuals, communities, and organizations. We also theorized the best practices for advocacy and community organizing. The findings suggest that in many communities, the nature of social capital has transformed in relation to local and national processes, such as recession, unemployment, declines in industries, and exposure to surveillance. Though fragile, the existing community cultural and social capitals, networks critical to family functioning and daily survival, must be reappraised and integrated in participatory collaboration with stakeholders. Traditional community organizing tools must be re-examined and reframed to reach larger audiences and to build alliances

Constructing Taxonomies: Identifying Distinctive Class of HIV Support and Risk Networks among People Who Use Drugs (PWID) and Their Network Members in the HPTN 037 Randomized Controlled Trial

Injection drug use is a significant mode of HIV transmission. Social networks are potential avenues for behavior change among high-risk populations. Increasing knowledge should include a classification or taxonomy system of networks’ attributes, risks, and needs. The current study employed 232 networks comprising 232 indexes, with 464 network members enrolled in Philadelphia. LCA revealed a three-class solution, Low-Risk, Paraphernalia Risk, and High Sex/Moderate Paraphernalia Risk class, among participants. The analysis found receiving money or drugs for sex and employment status increased the odds of belonging to PR and PSR classes. Homelessness and incarceration increased the odds of belonging to the PR class when compared to the LR class. Our findings suggest that classes of risk among PWID comprise clusters of information concerning their members. These findings add depth to our understanding while extending our knowledge of the contextual environment that nurtures or exacerbates the problem

The Road Home: Predictors of Health Care Utilization Among Older Returning African American Men

Black or African American men face disproportionate rates of incarceration and poor health outcomes. Recent changes in sentencing policy have allowed individuals to return to communities after substantial periods of incarceration. Returning citizens often reenter with numerous challenges: housing, employment, medical assistance, and transportation. Analyses were conducted using multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationship between health care utilization for returning men and need (chronic health conditions), predisposing (age, race, marital status, education, and housing situation), enabling (income, health coverage, employment status, and education) factors. Findings indicated that men 50 and above years (odds ratio [OR] = 1.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.04, 3.24]), Black or African American men (OR = 4.66, 95% CI = [2.35, 9.22]), those with college education (OR = 1.97, CI [1.07, 3.63]) and those having health coverage (OR = 3.34, CI [2.18, 5.11]) were more likely to utilize health care. These findings suggest the need for a greater need to establish linkages to community-based care during reentry planning. This is particularly relevant for reentering citizens who are not eligible for Medicare due to age or whose linkage to employer bases insurance is limited due to work history, employment discrimination, or education

Careif Global Position Statement: Mental Health, Human Rights and Human Dignity "Magna Carta for people living with Mental Illness".

Careif is an international mental health charity that works towards protecting and promoting mental health and resilience, eliminating inequalities and strengthening social justice. Our principles include working creatively with humility and dignity, and with balanced partnerships in order to ensure all cultures and societies play their part in our mission of protecting and promoting mental health and wellbeing. We do this by respecting the traditions of all world societies, whilst believing traditions can evolve, for even greater benefit to individuals and society. Careif believes that knowledge should not only be available to those with wealth or those who live in urban and industrialised parts of the world. It considers knowledge sharing to be a basic human right, where this knowledge can change lives and help realise true human potential regardless of their geographical location. Furthermore, there is substantial knowledge to be found in the less developed, rural and poorer areas of the world and this is valuable to the wellbeing of people in areas which are wealthier