Using the FIELD Model to Prepare Social Work Students and Field Instructors on Sexuality and Intimacy for Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities

Behavioral Health Provider Attitudes and Beliefs about Sexuality and Intimacy: Findings from a Mixed Method Design

Recovery-oriented services overlook a crucial health domain for persons with severe mental illnesses (SMI): sexuality and intimacy. Though this aspect of social recovery correlates with improved life quality and treatment outcomes, behavioral health (BH) providers avoid such topics. The study's purpose was to obtain an updated snapshot of their attitudes and beliefs about sexuality and intimacy communication. Utilizing a community advisory board, we adapted the Sexual Attitudes and Beliefs Survey (SABS) and distributed it via survey link to a national listserv. We used independent samples t-tests to examine differences on SABS mean scores by gender, age group, educational attainment, and previous training on sexuality and intimacy. We asked open-ended questions and coded responses using content analysis. Participants with more education and previous exposure to training on sexuality and intimacy were more likely to hold open views on communication. Findings offer directions for addressing this neglected aspect of recovery.

How Adults With Serious Mental Illness Learn and Use Wellness Recovery Action Plan's Recovery Framework

This study was conducted to investigate how adults with serious mental illness learn and utilize an illness self-management framework for pursuing recovery through a program called Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). The researchers employed an interpretive descriptive methodology with thematic analysis. Data were collected from three focus groups (n = 26) and in-depth interviews with follow-up member checks with 10 participants (n = 20 interviews). Findings aligned with main constructs of self-determination theory (SDT) to explain how an autonomy-supportive environment created opportunities for participants to build competency, implementing personalized recovery strategies that are socially endorsed by peers, resulting in internalized motivation for continued application of WRAP's framework. SDT appears to explain mechanisms of change for WRAP. Recommendations for mental health organizations include broadly ensuring autonomy-supportive environments and services that maximize opportunities to build competence in recovery strategies in collaboration with peers. Future research may utilize SDT as the theoretical basis for investigating self-management programs.

An exploratory investigation of sexual health screening in the first 12 weeks of case management in populations with severe mental illness

The sexual health of people with mental illness is commonly overlooked, neglected or inadequately addressed in mental health care, despite evidence showing that people with severe mental illness are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), sexual side-effects, and sexual dysfunction than the general population. This article reports a study that investigated sexual health screening in five community mental health clinics within a large a regional health service in Victoria, Australia. The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which sexual health screening is currently undertaken on newly admitted case-managed consumers, and to identify the types of screening undertaken. An exploratory design using retrospective file audit was used in the study. A total of 186 medical records met the study inclusion criteria. The study found that less than 40% of consumers were provided with sexual health screening during their first 12 weeks of case management. The study also found that sexual side-effects, issues of fertility, sexual self-esteem, safe sexual practices, and sexual dysfunction were rarely screened for. Poor sexual health screening has implications for the safety and quality of mental health care and requires targeted research to improve understandings and approaches to care.

Motivational Interviewing: Creating a Leadership Role for Social Work in the Era of Healthcare Reform

To better address the needs of individuals with a range of complex health conditions, the Affordable Care Act has shifted the focus from acute care to prevention through behavior change and promoted the integration of physical and behavioral healthcare systems. Central to healthcare reform is delivering person-centered care, which means actively engaging people in their treatment decisions and managing their wellness. Motivational Interviewing (MI) is perhaps the most widely used intervention to promote behavior change. Although MI is utilized across most health disciplines, social workers are uniquely positioned to lead dissemination and on-going training efforts in this area.