Preventing Mental Illness in Practice

Jennifer Newton describes real life examples of good practice in preventative mental health. Five areas covering the life span have been identified and promising strategies are described in detail: what is provided, how the target group is engaged, resources required, management problems and the evidence of effectiveness. Interviews with both clients and providers help to bring to life the descriptions and demonstrate how the support came to be needed and what benefits clients themselves feel have been reaped.

In this follow up to Preventing Mental Illness, Jennifer Newton describes real life examples of good practice in preventive mental health. Five areas covering the life span have been identified and promising strategies are described in detail: what is provided, how the target group is engaged, the resources required, management problems and evidence of effectiveness. Interviews with both clients and providers help to bring to life the descriptions as we learn how the support came to be needed and what benefits they themselves feel have been reaped. These descriptive studies, together with criteria for judging the efficacy of interventions, provide an excellent resource for planners and policy makers. The book will also be invaluable to those who seek to implement preventive policies in their day to day work - lives - such as social workers, clinical psychologists, health visitors, community psychiatric nurses and general practitioners.

Introduction; Disease models and transitionary periods; Chapter 1 Preventive work with under-fives and their families; Chapter 2 Adolescence to independence; Chapter 3 Supporting people through crises; Chapter 4 Preventing relapse in schizophrenia; Chapter 5 Preventing mental illnesses among elderly persons; Chapter 6 Conclusions;

Jennifer Newton, PhD, is a research psychologist and was commissioned by MIND to review the prospects for prevention. Her first book, the highly successful Preventing Mental Illness, was a review of relevant research and received critical acclaim. She is currently Research Fellow at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.