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Biomedical subjects

R H Dana

Publications and source records attributed to R H Dana.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Cultural competence in three human service agencies.

This paper summarizes findings from applications of the Agency Cultural Competence Checklist in three human service agencies. This checklist was developed on the basis of published literature and culture-specific agencies were chosen to document checklist findings in settings known to be culturally competent. As anticipated, all three agencies were culturally competent in attitudes, although the range of services differed. This paper provides some baseline data for using the checklist in mainstream agencies in which predominantly Euro-American providers serve minority populations.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

Problems with managed mental health care for multicultural populations.

Managed mental health care has developed a system of care-giving that does not recognize that acceptable and effective services must acknowledge individual differences and cultural or racial identities. This approach is unacceptable in an era when a psychology of differences is necessary to provide services for nearly one-third of the population. This paper suggests that the adequacy of contemporary psychoparmacological and psychological interventions for multicultural populations is either unknown or unsatisfactory. Historically, interventions in the United States were designed primarily for Euro-Americans and thus were culture-specific in derivation. Managed care has reduced the availability and quality of these interventions for all patients and further limited the range of possible options. Culturally competent mental health services are described and related to quality of care. A societal agenda for implementing cultural competence is suggested.

Community Mental Health Services↗
PubMed1998

Projective assessment of Latinos in the United States: current realities, problems, and prospects.

This article discusses the current status of projective assessment with Latino populations in the United States and suggests improvements in the quality of these services and in assessor cultural competencies. Major issues have included assessor bias, culturally inappropriate service delivery etiquette, psychometric inadequacies of many methods, and ignorance of relevant cultural issues in assessment practice, particularly cultural identity descriptions for personality study and cultural formulations to increase accuracy of clinical diagnoses. A rationale for projective assessment is followed by descriptions of several tests. Suggestions for reduction of bias include guidelines for projective assessment practice and recommendations for resources to improve reliability of interpretations. A research method that combines training with validation of the outcome of the entire assessment process is described.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed1997

Professional psychology in Portugal.

This paper describes the history and current status of professional psychology in Portugal where a unique perspective combines training, research, and practical contributions from Europe and the Americas with their own history of psychological tradition and expertise. Training in professional psychology includes Social Psychology and Educational and Vocational Guidance specializations in addition to Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy and Counseling for the professional degree, Licenciatura. Advanced degrees are offered in Environmental Psychology, Career Development, Social Cognition, and other areas, primarily for academic positions. Research in all of these areas is expected to have applied outcomes that contribute to individual well being and an improved quality of life for the entire population. The result has been a rapid development of an indigenous professional psychology to address mental health, social, and environmental concerns that compel psychological attention and resources worldwide as well as those problems of local and national origins.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1996

Quality of care and cost-containment in managed mental health: policy, education, research, advocacy.

Managed mental health care cost-containment practices of risk-benefit analysis, provider usage, manipulation of supply and demand, gate keeping, medical necessity, and formulation have adversely affected quality of care. Improved mental health services are dependent upon redefining mental health problems and understanding inequities created by medicalization as means to limit access to services. This dilemma can be addressed by development of mental health policy, public education, and political advocacy. An immediate role for professional psychology is found in the creation of a research agenda that documents empirically supported interventions for specific mental health problems, mechanisms of effective and acceptable service-delivery, and identification of providers with demonstrated clinical skills, including cultural competencies.

Cost Control↗
PubMed1991

When does a difference make a difference? MMPI scores and African-Americans.

The group difference MMPI literature relevant to African-Americans was reexamined for major methodological issues including the criteria used for ethnic/racial group membership and socieconomic status. These issues are of sufficient magnitude to question the traditional scientific methods used in MMPI research and the current interpretations of African-American MMPI profiles. This cultural variance can be identified in item content and consistent scale elevations for African-American samples. The magnitude of cultural variance has been found to vary across samples. Recent empirical data indicate that such variance may be appreciable and significant for African-Americans who are in process of realizing a distinct cultural identity as evidenced by racial consciousness and moderator variables.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1988

An update of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI).

Reviews, commentary, and recent research on the MCMI are examined. There has been controversy over the impact on research of delayed availability of hand scoring materials, the discrepancies between Millon's diagnostic conceptualizations and DSM-III, and MCMI construction idiosyncrasies. MCMI use for clinical diagnosis continues to be suspect, but clinicians now have an augmented awareness of DSM limitations as a result of this version of the Millon instrument.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1987

Use of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) as a screening instrument at a community mental health center.

Comparison of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and clinician-generated DSM-III diagnoses for a sample of psychiatric outpatients (N = 72) indicated only chance agreement. The MCMI was of limited use as a screening device because of overdiagnosis and failure to identify individuals who prematurely terminated treatment. Other potential problems with the instrument included substantial intercorrelation among scales and possible pathologizing of stereotypic feminine traits. The characteristic structure of the MCMI appeared stable across patient samples; there was evidence for identification of a mean profile for psychiatric patients who voluntarily seek treatment for subjective distress.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

16PF source traits associated with DSM-III symptoms for four diagnostic groups.

Provided evidence of 16PF validity by meta-analysis of source-trait profiles from nine studies for four psychiatric groups (N = 916) (nonparanoid schizophrenics, major depressives, anxiety disorders, alcoholics). All groups had mean sten profiles that deviated markedly from normal personality, and there was considerable convergence between salient traits and diagnostic criteria except for alcoholics.

Humans↗
PubMed1983

A comparison of six MMPI short forms: code type correspondence and indices of psychopathology.

Compared six MMPI short forms for their ability to identify code-types and indices of psychopathology obtained from the full length MMPI for samples of renal dialysis patients (N = 53) and paranoid schizophrenics (N = 58). Results suggest that the accuracy of the short forms fluctuates for different patient populations and diagnostic criteria. The longer abbreviated forms are generally more accurate, especially the MMPI-168 and the FAM.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

The validity of the Draw-A-Person Test as an anxiety measure.

This review examines the current status of research on indicators of anxiety in the Draw-A-Person Test (DAP). Experimental studies have used stress induction while correlational studies have typically employed the Manifest Anxiety Scale as criterion. Three scoring systems (Engle-Suppes, Handler, Royal) have included most of the available anxiety indices. Methodological problems with this research include failure to control for drawing quality and intelligence, confounding anxiety measurement with defensive response style, and inadequate validation of the scoring systems. Results of the review are summarized in eight specific conclusions.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1982

An evaluation of three Bender-Gestalt scoring systems as indicators of psychopathology.

Quantified Bender-Gestalt protocols of 120 clients using the Hutt, Pascal-Suttell, and Pauker scoring systems. Scores were correlated with two criteria of psychopathology, diagnosis of psychiatric disability and self-reported anxiety, and age and IQ. The results suggest that: (a) Ratings of B-G protocols are highly reliable; (b) B-G scores are not predictive of global psychopathology; and (c) B-G scores are correlated moderately with age and IQ. This evidence does not support the validity of B-G scoring systems as indicators of psychopathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Feedback of client-relevant information and clinical practice.

Feedback refers to client-relevant information that is communicated directly to the client. A review of the literature suggests that how one reacts to feedback is influenced by the kind of feedback, the conditions under which feedback is presented, and a variety of relevant subject variables. The most frequent design has resulted in acceptance of false feedback by college students leading to derogation of instruments and assessors. Honest feedback has led to a variety of positive effects in both research studies and clinical examples. The beginnings of a human science rationale for honest feedback are presented.

Attitude↗