Herbert C. Schulberg

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 Scales 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 caregiving system in community mental health programs: An application of open-systems theory

The rapid expansion of community mental health programs is focusing increased attention upon the problems of organizing effective caregiving networks. Concepts drawn from open-systems theory are applied to this issue by exploring the primary task, the nature of inputs and outputs, environmental conditions, and subsystem interactions as they affect a community mental health program. The differences between programs organized according to a medical practice model and a human services model are also explored within this framework.

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

The Community Mental Health Ideology (CMHI) Scale, an abridged version of Rokeachs 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.

Disaster, Crisis Theory, and Intervention Strategies

“Crisis” is a concept that has been approached as 1) an environmentally produced situation, 2) an individuals perception of an event, 3) a characteristic clinical syndrome, 4) interaction between a subjective state and an objective environmental situation, and, more recently, 5) a critical role transition. Central to most views is the acute time factor, marked behavioral change, subjective sense of helplessness, generation of organismic tension, and the perception of threat in relativistic and unique terms. This paper suggests a probability formulation of whether or not individuals or groups will experience crisis and discusses both anticipatory and participatory strategies of disaster intervention.

Human Services Trends in the Mid-1970s

After many decades of geometric growth and expansion, the human services are stabilizing, even contracting, in the face of adverse economic conditions

The uses and misuses of data in assessing mental health needs.

Relatively little attention has been directed to the need-assessment procedures stipulated by the 1964 Federal Regulations for the Community Mental Health Centers Act. This paper considers the implications of the assumptions contained in these procedures and their significance for planners. It is concluded that in spite of inherent theoretical difficulties and methodological limitations the Federal Regulations ultimately will considerably broaden the planners definition of community need.

A review and preview of a training program in community mental health

Social change has had a great impact upon the mental health care-giving system and upon professional training programs as well. This paper describes the evolution of the community mental health training program at Harvard Medical School and the ways in which it has attempted to retain its commitment to the principles of relevancy and flexibility. Some of the issues affecting future directions are highlighted.Social change has had a great impact upon the mental health care-giving system and upon professional training programs as well. This paper describes the evolution of the community mental health training program at Harvard Medical School and the ways in which it has attempted to retain its commitment to the principles of relevancy and flexibility. Some of the issues affecting future directions are highlighted.

Future steps in implementing mental health plans

Nationwide planning efforts from 1963 to 1965 have created an almost evangelistic fervor. Aspirations and promises must now be converted into concrete deeds which will significantly benefit the mentally ill and promote mental health. Varying conceptions of community mental health programs are spelled out together with the unique implications of each. To achieve the goals toward which we are striving, major and minor changes will be needed in the deployment of available resources. These realignments will affect nonmental health as well as mental health caregiving agents. The role of citizen committees will assume fresh importance in helping to implement our goals.Nationwide planning efforts from 1963 to 1965 have created an almost evangelistic fervor. Aspirations and promises must now be converted into concrete deeds which will significantly benefit the mentally ill and promote mental health. Varying conceptions of community mental health programs are spelled out together with the unique implications of each. To achieve the goals toward which we are striving, major and minor changes will be needed in the deployment of available resources. These realignments will affect nonmental health as well as mental health caregiving agents. The role of citizen committees will assume fresh importance in helping to implement our goals.

State planning for community mental health programs: Implications for psychologists

Official planning bodies in every state are engaged in an intensive two-year analysis of public and voluntary mental health programs. This planning is an integral part of the national effort to provide community mental health services to regions of 75,000 to 200,000 persons. Experiences in establishing and operating the Massachusetts Planning Project are described. Particular attention is paid to the manner in which broad citizen and professional participation has been obtained. Implications for the future functioning of mental health professionals are highlighted. Specific reference is made to the profound crises confronting psychologists and their professional organizations.

Problems of a centralised department in a decentralised mental hospital

Abstract This paper deals with some of the issues and problems which arose in a state mental hospital, when in the course of becoming a more community-oriented facility, the hospital decentralized its clinical structure into geographically-based treatment units while retaining a centralized nursing department administration. The effects of unitization and a subsequent attempt to reoganize the nursing department on both the character of professional roles and the integration of parts of the hospital are discussed within the context of an open-systems conceptual model of hospital organization.