UTILIZATION PATTERNS IN A COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER.
Item
-
Title
-
UTILIZATION PATTERNS IN A COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER.
-
Identifier
-
AAI8314827
-
identifier
-
8314827
-
Creator
-
ZALCMAN, TSILA.
-
Contributor
-
Samuel W. Bloom
-
Date
-
1983
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Sociology, Public and Social Welfare
-
Abstract
-
The primary aims of this study have been to chart how a predominantly minority client population utilizes the service of a community mental health center (CMHC) and to account for variations occurring in patterns of utilization. The data used in the study were derived from two sources--a survey conducted among former patients of an urban CMHC, fictitiously referred to as "City," and patient charts.;The growing complexity of mental health service delivery and the fact that the CMHC movement has greatly enlarged and diversified its potential clientele required that we rethink the issue of utilization behavior. We, therefore, began by discerning four prototypes of users at City-CMHC: low, sporadic, intensive, and high. The typology of low and high represents the traditional dichotomy which views use of mental health services on a linear continuum. In contrast, we believe that the sporadic and intensive patterns of use offer useful alternatives to the dominant middle-class and professional model of long-term insight therapy, with special reference to the poor and minorities.;Our data reflect the grinding effects of poverty among users of City-CMHC. The most consistent finding points to an association between unemployment and high use of mental health services. Moreover, clients who are recipients of welfare checks also constitute the "highest" utilizers of City services. Another important, yet serendipitous finding, uncovered the high use of medication as either a supplement to or as the sole mode of treatment for emotional and mental problems. Other noteworthy results point to the predisposing implication of sociodemographic factors upon utilization behavior, and to the importance of accessibility--geographical, financial and psychological.;Finally, we feel that the major determinants of utilization in the type of population we have studied are beyond the policy-maker's short-term attainments. If the CMHC is to be successful, it should get away from the medical model and embrace more fully the social model.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
-
Program
-
Sociology
