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Biomedical subjects

A B Hatfield

Publications and source records attributed to A B Hatfield.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Planning by older mothers for the future care of offspring with serious mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined permanency planning by older mothers for their adult offspring with long-term mental illness, including extent of residential and financial planning, desire for future family care, and perceived need for and use of services to assist with planning. METHODS: Mail surveys were completed by 157 mothers (mean age, 67 years) from 41 states who lived with and provided care to adult offspring with serious mental disorders (mean age, 38 years). The offspring were mostly males (76 percent) and had diagnoses primarily of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (60 percent), multiple diagnoses (20 percent), or bipolar disorder (16 percent). RESULTS: Only 11 percent of mothers reported definite plans for their offspring's future residence, and many had done little or no planning. Three-quarters of respondents hoped that another family member would assume care, yet only one-quarter thought such arrangements would definitely occur. Two-thirds of the respondents had completed financial plans. Although more than two-thirds expressed the need for services to help with planning, less than one-third had used such services. More than half reported awareness of age-related changes in themselves or their spouse as the primary reason for planning. CONCLUSIONS: Older parents of adults with long-term mental illness need professional help with planning for their offspring's future. This assistance should focus on mechanisms such as estate planning to enable case management and other services after parents' death. The involvement of nondisabled siblings in planning should also be encouraged.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Helping parental caregivers and mental health consumers cope with parental aging and loss.

As persons with severe and persistent mental illness age, large numbers continue to live with their elderly parents or receive substantial social and economic support from them. Prospective studies suggest that when caregivers die, individuals with mental illness experience housing disruptions and potentially traumatic transitions. This paper describes the scope of the problem and addresses pragmatic and psychological issues involved in preparing both caregivers and patients for parental aging and eventual loss. It outlines the practitioner's role in helping patients and families overcome specific psychological barriers to planning for continuing care management, appropriate residential alternatives for patients, and their timely placement. The discussion emphasizes helping patients control their own futures by proactively ensuring resources for maintaining or improving their quality of life. The Planned Lifetime Assistance Network (PLAN), now available in some states through the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, is described. PLAN, and similar organizations, provide lifetime assistance to disabled individuals whose parents or other family members are deceased or no longer able to provide care.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Families of adults with severe mental illness: new directions in research.

Challenges to the next generation of family researchers are enormous as they move beyond the more global concept of family and begin to address the great diversity among families with mentally ill relatives. Since most mental illnesses are chronic conditions, families must also be understood from the long-term perspective of the family life cycle.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Working collaboratively with families.

Research studies indicate that significant tension characterizes the relationships between providers and families whose relative is being treated in the mental health system. The author recommends that genuinely collaborative relationships be developed in order that people receiving treatment receive optimal care. Collaboration is defined, barriers identified, and ways to overcome these barriers suggested.

Communication↗
PubMed1996

Family members' ratings of the use and value of mental health services: results of a national NAMI survey.

OBJECTIVE: Data from a 1993 survey of families in the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) were analyzed to examine services used by consumers and families' perceptions of the services' value. Data from 1993 and 1976 were compared to document changes. METHODS: A total of 3,099 families responded to a mailed questionnaire that was first used in a 1976 local survey of 89 NAMI members. Respondents indicated which of 11 services had been used by their ill relative in the past two years and rated the services as having "no," "some," or "considerable" value. Chi square tests examined relationships between service use and value and key variables. RESULTS: In 1993 families reported nearly universal use of medications and rated them highest in value. More than 60 percent of the ill relatives had been hospitalized in the past two years, and hospitalization was rated second highest in value. Individual therapy, used by two-thirds of the consumers, also received high ratings. Community services were used by about a third of the consumers; these services were valued less highly than office-based services and medications. Respondents in 1976 reported less use of medication and residential services, more hospitalization, and more use of individual, group, and family therapies. In 1993 all services were valued more highly than in 1976. CONCLUSIONS: The 1993 survey findings showed that more consumers used office-based services and hospitalization than community-based alternatives, and that families rated the former services more highly. Value ratings of community services rose significantly between 1976 and 1993.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Developing collaborative relationships with families.

This chapter examines family-provider relationships that occur outside of planned educational programs and how they impinge on family wellbeing. It discusses and recommends collaborative approaches in work with families.

Caregivers↗
PubMed1991

The national alliance for the mentally ill: a decade later.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) was conceived a decade ago in the tradition of self-organized parents' groups for handicapped and chronically ill children. The character of the organization and its rapid growth are thought to be due to its clear identity as a "mental illness" group, its control and direction by parents and relatives of people suffering from mental illness, and its relationships with staff and professionals. The author believes that the NAMI movement is at an important juncture in its development and identifies factors that could influence its character in the next decade.

Health Education↗
PubMed1989

Patients' accounts of stress and coping in schizophrenia.

Many current approaches to the management of schizophrenia emphasize the influence of environmental stress on the course of the illness. Relatively neglected is the internal experience of schizophrenic patients as a source of stress and anxiety. The author draws on a wide range of first-person accounts by patients with schizophrenia to identify four internal sources of stress--altered perceptions, cognitive confusion, attentional deficit, and impaired identity--and to reveal the wisdom and creativity with which patients have come to terms with their illness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1987

Expressed emotion: a family perspective.

Although mental health professionals have shown much enthusiasm for the concept "expressed emotion (EE)," little critical analysis of the concept has appeared in the literature. Placing families in dichotomous categories of high EE and low EE amounts to stereotyping; such an approach does little to help professionals in understanding the complexities of family life with a mentally ill relative. High EE is seen as a factor that maintains mental illness in a relative. Once more, families feel hurt and alienated. Once more, families feel negatively labeled, but not empathically understood.

Emotions↗
PubMed1986

Semantic barriers to family and professional collaboration.

Mental health professionals have begun to show interest in working collaboratively with families of mentally ill people in the interest of the patient's well-being. Many professionals are aware, however, that considerable alienation exists. One source of difficulty may be the language used to describe families. Drawing from the field of general semantics, the author examines recent writings for examples of language that may appear confusing or offensive to families. It was found that difficulties result from professionals' tendencies to confuse fact with inference, to stereotype families by placing them in either/or categories, to use judgmental language, and to use language of control that contradicts their goals of collaboration or partnership.

Double Bind Interaction↗