BACKGROUND: In England, although some studies report better health among rural populations, few have examined social inequalities in health within rural areas and how they compare to inequalities observed in urban settings. The objectives of this study are to examine (i) whether living in rural, in more affluent and in more socially cohesive areas is […]
We examine adequate mental health treatment, emergency room (ER) use, and early treatment dropout for Haitian, African American and White youth with a psychiatric diagnosis treated in community health centers in the United States. We present associations with possible socioeconomic determinants of care. Adequate treatment was less likely among Haitian youth from areas with greater […]
Racial/ethnic minority populations are underserved in the American mental health care system. Disparity in treatment between whites and African Americans has increased substantially since the 1990s. Racial/ethnic minorities may be disproportionately affected by limited English proficiency, remote geographic settings, stigma, fragmented services, cost, comorbidity of mental illness and chronic diseases, cultural understanding of health care […]
OBJECTIVE: Treatments are needed for smokers with serious mental illness (SMI) who are not ready to quit. METHODS: This article describes a 20-session group wellness treatment (Learning About Healthy Living [LAHL]) designed to provide information on tobacco use and other issues to enhance healthy living—nutrition, physical activity, and stress management. Goals are to increase awareness […]
People with mental health and addictive (MHA) disorders smoke at high rates and require tobacco treatment as a part of their comprehensive psychiatric care. Psychiatric care providers often do not address tobacco use among people with mental illness, possibly owing to the belief that their patients will not be able to quit successfully or that […]
OBJECTIVES: Forty-one percent (41%) of persons in the U.S. who reported having recent mental illnesses also smoke cigarettes. Tobacco use among this population is associated with up to 25 less years of life and excess medical comorbidity compared to the general population. While research demonstrates that tobacco interventions can be effective for persons with mental […]
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe mental healthcare providers’ attitudes about tobacco use, their personal smoking status, their confidence in offering smoking cessation support to clients living with severe mental illness, and the extent to which they incorporated smoking cessation interventions into their practice. The study also aimed to determine whether the providers’ attitudes, smoking […]
The National Institute of Mental Health convened a meeting in October 2005 to review the literature on obesity, nutrition, and physical activity among those with mental disorders. The findings of this meeting and subsequent update of the literature review are summarized here. Levels of obesity are higher in those with schizophrenia and depression, as is […]
OBJECTIVES: Chronic medical and mental illness and disability increase vulnerability to disasters. National efforts have focused on preparing people with disabilities, and studies find them to be increasingly prepared, but less is known about people with chronic mental and medical illnesses. We examined the relation between health status (mental health, perceived general health, and disability) […]
OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of exercise in a national sample of veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) and the association of exercise with quality of life, including physical health, mental health, and participation restriction. DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort study linking computerized medical records to mailed survey data from 1999. SETTING: Veterans Health Administration. PARTICIPANTS: Veterans with […]