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Given the complexity of the health care system and the prevalence of acute and chronic mental illnesses, multi-system interventions from an interdisciplinary team of health care providers are necessary to address the needs of individuals in psychiatric and mental health treatment venues. Despite claims that interdisciplinary practice is the norm, in reality it is difficult to accomplish (Martin-Rodriguez, Beaulieu, D'Amour, & Ferrada-Videla, 2005). Students must be taught the principles and elements of this way of providing care in order to succeed. This paper describes strategies for educating undergraduate nursing students to engage in interdisciplinary collaborative practice. Two case studies are used to illustrate how teaching collaborative skills can be integrated into a psychiatric undergraduate nursing course.

Among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people, the concept of mental illness has different meanings and is interpreted in various ways. This paper describes the realities of mental health care that confront AIAN people. Stigma is associated with mental illness, which can be a barrier for those individuals who are in need of mental health services. Within the context of the AIAN historical and contemporary experiences, the paper details domains that negatively influence the lives of AIAN people. Included are the failure of the U.S. government to fulfill its treaty agreements with AIAN people; the disparities in income and education, and the pervasiveness of poverty; and access to care issues. These domains help to set the stage for health disparities that frequently catapult AIAN people to early morbidity and mortality. Importantly, many of these conditions are preventable. The paper concludes with recommendations for a more diverse workforce that will include AIAN mental health professionals who are available to provide culturally competent care to AIAN people in a variety of settings.

This paper explicates the stigma of mental illness as it is experienced by four ethnic minority groups in the United States. Concerns about prejudice and discrimination among individuals who suffer burdens related to mental illness are delineated. It is proposed that ethnic minority groups, who already confront prejudice and discrimination because of their group affiliation, suffer double stigma when faced with the burdens of mental illness. The potency of the stigma of mental illness is one reason why some ethnic minority group members who would benefit from mental health services elect not to seek or adequately participate in treatment. The combination of stigma and membership in an ethnic minority group can impede treatment and well-being, creating preventable and treatable mortalities and morbidities. The article concludes with recommendations for research and health policy implications.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent or persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive or distressing (obsessions), and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) often performed in response to an obsession. Recent epidemiological studies have found lifetime prevalence of pediatric OCD to be approximately 1-4% in the USA. OCD begins before the age of 18 years for as many as 80% of cases and follows a chronic, unremitting course. Due to the distressing, time-consuming, and debilitating nature of OCD, impairments in academic, social, and family functioning are often substantial. Despite the relatively high prevalence rate of OCD, dissemination about effective assessment and treatment has lagged. Increasing the awareness of OCD symptoms and its treatment among nurses and other health professionals will enhance identification of children presenting with unrecognized or untreated symptoms of OCD and will stimulate appropriate referrals for treatment to improve children's psychological functioning and overall quality of life. This paper reviews the nature, etiology, assessment, and treatment of OCD, highlighting clinical implications for nurses involved in mental health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emphasis has been placed on understanding the mental health disparities that exist within minority populations in the United States. Disparities are of particular importance when examining access to services. This paper reports findings from a NINR-funded qualitative study that examined the barriers to mental health care service use in an African American low-income population. Barriers were identified at three levels -- Individual, Environmental, and Institutional. Fourteen barrier categories were identified within those levels with three categories common to the majority of participants. The identified categories provide insight into the process of seeking services within this population and provide direction for future investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term dual diagnosis is frequently used by mental health professionals to refer to people who have mental illness complicated by substance abuse. A less commonly recognized population are those individuals who have the dual diagnosis of mental retardation and mental illness. In this paper the author discusses (1) the mental health needs of persons with mental retardation and (2) the current state of services for them. There is a significant lack of appropriately trained professionals to help address the needs of this population. Traditionally, nurses have primarily been identified as providers of physical care. Advanced practice psychiatric nurses, however, are an underutilized group of professionals who have the capacity to assume a leadership role in clinical care, service coordination, and advocacy for individuals and families affected by mental illness and mental retardation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of forensic psychiatric nursing is a relatively recent addition to the specialty of psychiatric nursing. This paper provides an overview of forensic psychiatric care of adolescent patients. It describes the juvenile justice system, identifies various theoretical models useful for understanding youthful offenders, and explores risk and protective factors. Psychiatric comorbidities and treatment considerations also are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transgender population experience mental health disparities as a result of numerous environmental, sociocultural and personal factors. Health care-related discrimination plays an unfortunate role in these disparities. The institutional and informational erasure of transgender individuals in health care actively contributes to this discrimination. The lack of preparation of health care professionals to care for this population is a significant factor. There is an absence of education on transgender topics in nursing school and a lack of nursing research on this population. An awareness through education of culturally competent transgender terminology is crucial to ensure a transinclusive environment is created. The creation of a transinclusive environment in the mental health care setting will ultimately lead to improved patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Deaths of despair", deaths due to drugs, alcohol, and suicide, occur at higher rates in rural communities. The incidence of such deaths highlights underlying access and treatment disparities which result in poorer outcomes. Telehealth is a viable option for addressing rural mental healthcare needs as it enables more effective care management, provides expanded access to services, and fosters integrating primary and mental healthcare services. Implementing telemental health will involve overcoming coverage and reimbursement, licensure, broadband access and adequacy, and privacy and security barriers and advancing select policy changes. Telehealth diffusion will require changes in professional training and care delivery models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the challenge and developments in implementing integrative mental health in psychiatric mental health (PMH) nursing. Topics discussed include principles of integrative nursing like human beings as complete systems connected from their environments, nature having healing and regeneration capabilities and integration nursing as a person-centered service, and risk factors linked to using psychotropic drugs like side effects, cost and patient preferences.

Talanoa is an established format for generating discussion about complex topics used throughout the Pacific. Pacific researchers use talanoa to gather data with migrant Pacific Island populations, in countries such as the United States of America, Australia, and Aotearoa/New Zealand (A/NZ). Using talanoa in this way, changes the way that the approach is used as, on the one hand it is out of its original context, and on the other hand, extends its use to gather data with Pacific Islanders. In this article, we discuss the implementation of talanoa in an explorative qualitative research project, and discuss its effectiveness and usefulness for getting to the heart of the story about Tongan interpretations of mental illness and distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to synthesize research on female street level prostitutes for application in mental health practice and identification of future research needs. The data were from reports conducted in Westernized countries on female street level prostitutes between the years 2000 and 2014. Street level prostitutes are at high risk for HIV/STIs, chronic and acute physical/mental health problems, and violence, but there is a paucity of research on resilience and coping skills. We conclude that street level prostitutes suffer severe health disparities, yet they do not seek health care on a consistent basis. It is important for mental healthcare providers to offer women a safe, non-judgmental environment while providing assessment and referral. Future research on mental health consequences as well as resilience and coping skills would support effective interventions that address the women holistically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health providers in the USA encounter the challenge and opportunity to engage the rapidly growing population of Hispanic older adults in evidence-based mental health treatments. This population underutilizes mental health services, despite comparable or slightly higher rates of mental illness compared with non-Hispanic White older adults. This review identified barriers and facilitators of mental health service use by Hispanic older adults in the USA to identify practice, policy, and research implications. Hispanic older adults face multiple compounding barriers to mental health service use. Issues related to identification of needs, availability of services, accessibility of services, and acceptability of mental healthcare treatment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of promoting health literacy in vulnerable behavioral health clients. According to the article homeless individuals in the U.S. are among the most vulnerable health clients because they often have both medical and behavioral health issues. The article describes research indicating that the homeless are five times more likely to be hospitalized and once hospitalized, stay admitted for longer periods of time, than members of other vulnerable populations. The author notes that there is a paucity of research into the health literacy of homeless individuals. The author argues that health literacy needs to be promoted by psychiatric and mental health practitioners.

Community-based participatory research bridges the gap between academic researchers and the real-life issues of communities and offers promise for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care. The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to identify factors that affect access, use, and perception of mental health services by a Latino population at individual, organizational, and community levels. Individual level factors included health beliefs about mental illness and care, suspicions of providers, financial concerns, and culturally determined gender roles. Organizational factors included problems with access to care related to cost, lack of bilingual providers, and culturally competent care; and community level factors included distance between resources and the need for services to be provided in community sites. Immigration status and acculturation were identified as factors at all levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This literature review examines the evolution of psychiatric nursing case management in the United States. Various models, both inpatient and outpatient, are described, along with the roles of the case manager in each setting. The development of clinical pathways to monitor and document outcomes in acute settings is examined, along with the difficulties in adapting them specifically to psychiatric nursing case management. The types of data collected and the use of outcomes to support programs for the mentally ill are reviewed. Finally, recommendations for psychiatric nursing case management are made to provide guidelines for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editor tackles the issue of hate crime and the medical care and mental health care for transgender individuals in the U.S. Data presented shows hate crime against transgenders such as harassment, physical attacks and discrimination. Studies are cited that provide evidence of high rates of substance abuse and suicide attempts among transgenders and it challenges people to show compassion and become trans-affirmative role models for psychiatric-mental health and medical care providers.

Discusses mental disorders and syndromes among people from Asia who are residing in the United States. Culturally-based syndromes; Culturally appropriate interventions; Guidelines for mental health care professionals; Importance of physiological differences between people from Asia and other cultural groups on mental health care planning.