ABSTRACT
Issues faced by fathers coping with the mental illness of an adult child represent an unexplored dimension of service needs. A preliminary exploratory study found that a group of 25 such fathers manifested important indicators of emotional stress that were largely unrecognized and unacknowledged. They also demonstrated typical patterns of healing that were different from those experienced by their wives. The paper reports findings that suggest that fathers employ more isolating strategies, and suggests service approaches that might be more fruitful in responding to these serious needs.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Father-Child Relations , Mental Disorders , Stress, Psychological , Adult , Aged , Family Characteristics , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Social SupportABSTRACT
This paper describes the development and results of a method for capturing client outcomes of community services for persons with severe mental illness. Through the use of status scales, two major elements of community integration, independence of living arrangement and vocational independence can be continuously monitored. The initial results of the method include: unifying previously disparate agendas of state and local officials, enhanced vocational and living arrangement outcomes for clients, instigating program improvements, and the increased exchange of staff rewards. In addition, the method is economical whereby data on a worker caseload of 30-40 can be collected in about 20 minutes.
