Teresa L. Scheid

The author provides a description and a sociological analysis of mental health care work, emphasizing the interaction of professionally generated norms that guide the emotional labor of mental health care workers, and the organizational contexts within which mental health care is provided. She concludes with a discussion of emerging institutional forces that will shape the mental health care system in the future.

Ties that Enable is written for students, providers, and advocates seeking to understand how best to improve mental health care – be it for themselves, their loved ones, their clients, or for the wider community. The authors integrate their knowledge of mental health care as researchers, teachers, and advocates and rely on the experiences of people living with severe mental health problems to help understand the sources of community solidarity. Communities are the primary source of social solidarity, and given the diversity of communities, solutions to the problems faced by individuals living with severe mental health problems must start with community level initiatives. “Ties that Enable” examines the role of a faith-based community group in providing a sense of place and belonging as well as reinforcing a valued social identity. The authors argue that mental health reform efforts need to move beyond a focus on individual recovery to more complex understandings of the meaning of community care. In addition, mental health care needs to move from a medical model to a social model which sees the roots of mental illness and recovery as lying in society, not the individual. It is our society’s inability to provide inclusive supportive environments which restrict the ability of individuals to recover. This book provides insights into how communities and system level reforms can promote justice and the higher ideals we aspire to as a society.

Ties that Enable is written for students, providers, and advocates seeking to understand how best to improve mental health care – be it for themselves, their loved ones, their clients, or for the wider community. The authors integrate their knowledge of mental health care as researchers, teachers, and advocates and rely on the experiences of people living with severe mental health problems to help understand the sources of community solidarity. Communities are the primary source of social solidarity, and given the diversity of communities, solutions to the problems faced by individuals living with severe mental health problems must start with community level initiatives. “Ties that Enable” examines the role of a faith-based community group in providing a sense of place and belonging as well as reinforcing a valued social identity. The authors argue that mental health reform efforts need to move beyond a focus on individual recovery to more complex understandings of the meaning of community care. In addition, mental health care needs to move from a medical model to a social model which sees the roots of mental illness and recovery as lying in society, not the individual. It is our society’s inability to provide inclusive supportive environments which restrict the ability of individuals to recover. This book provides insights into how communities and system level reforms can promote justice and the higher ideals we aspire to as a society.

Reducing health disparities by increasing access to health information is a national health policy priority. Evidence exists that direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCA) is effective in educating consumers about health issues. However, racial disparities exist in such advertising. In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a report that included recommendations for enhancing the ability of DTCA to reach disadvantaged populations, including racial and ethnic minorities. Reducing Race Differences in Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising compares the pharmaceutical advertisements placed in five popular women’s magazines published prior to and following the 2009 FDA report to assess the impact of these recommendations on the content and appearance of advertisements placed in magazines of differing racial orientation. From a health policy perspective, the results are disappointing. The FDA recommendations had no impact on the frequency or content of the DTCA appearing in White-oriented versus Black-oriented magazines. In fact, far fewer drugs used to treat life-threatening conditions were advertised in Black-oriented magazines after the 2009 FDA recommendations. The book concludes that enhancing the educational and motivational value of DTCA will require more than a set of recommendations. The results shed light on the pharmaceutical industry’s compliance with both hard and soft regulation. Neither federal recommendations nor industry guidelines resulted in the changes to DTCA envisioned by the FDA. Regulatory action is necessary to ensure that pharmaceutical companies develop advertising campaigns that not only promote their products, but also positively impact the health outcomes of those who read their ads.

A comprehensive health care system consists of services that are coordinated and integrated along the full continuum of care. For HIV patients, this includes physical health care, infectious disease management, crisis care, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, and social support services including housing, transportation, subsistence, and supports for dealing with multiple sources of stigma. This book highlights the dilemmas faced in providing comprehensive, integrated care to individuals living with HIV, providing both an understanding of existing efforts to integrate diverse systems of care, as well as insight into ways in which systems of care must be challenged in order to meet the needs of people living with HIV. Comprehensive Care for HIV/AIDS is the result of collaborative work with the county Health Department, numerous community-based organizations, and several planning boards in a metropolitan area, which have sought to provide integrated care to people living with HIV. It will be a valuable resource to the diverse community of HIV researchers, advocates and providers.

A comprehensive health care system consists of services that are coordinated and integrated along the full continuum of care. For HIV patients, this includes physical health care, infectious disease management, crisis care, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, and social support services including housing, transportation, subsistence, and supports for dealing with multiple sources of stigma. This book highlights the dilemmas faced in providing comprehensive, integrated care to individuals living with HIV, providing both an understanding of existing efforts to integrate diverse systems of care, as well as insight into ways in which systems of care must be challenged in order to meet the needs of people living with HIV. Comprehensive Care for HIV/AIDS is the result of collaborative work with the county Health Department, numerous community-based organizations, and several planning boards in a metropolitan area, which have sought to provide integrated care to people living with HIV. It will be a valuable resource to the diverse community of HIV researchers, advocates and providers.

The author provides a description and a sociological analysis of mental health care work, emphasizing the interaction of professionally generated norms that guide the emotional labor of mental health care workers, and the organizational contexts within which mental health care is provided. She concludes with a discussion of emerging institutional forces that will shape the mental health care system in the future.