The understanding of how to reduce risk factors for mental disorders has expanded remarkably as a result of recent scientific advances. This study, mandated by Congress, reviews those advances in the context of current research and provides a targeted definition of prevention and a conceptual framework that emphasizes risk reduction. Highlighting opportunities for and barriers to interventions, the book draws on successful models for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, injuries, and smoking. In addition, it reviews the risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse and dependence, depressive disorders, and conduct disorders and evaluates current illustrative prevention programs. The models and examination provide a framework for the design, application, and evaluation of interventions intended to prevent mental disorders and the transfer of knowledge about prevention from research to clinical practice. The book presents a focused research agenda, with recommendations on how to develop effective intervention programs, create a cadre of prevention researchers, and improve coordination among federal agencies.

Despite the growing emphasis on a population-based training and service delivery model for school psychology, few resources exist to provide guidance concerning how such services might be conceptualized and put into place. In this book, the authors propose a public health model for comprehensive children’s mental health services that expands, rather than replaces, the traditional model of school psychology. The background and theoretical perspective for this public health model are discussed as an important way to solve problems and accomplish goals in schools, after which the authors outline and develop a clear, practical procedure for implementing and evaluating programs based on public health ideas. A case study in one elementary school walks readers through the stages of applying a public health model, detailing the key steps of each stage. Finally, the authors consider the changes to the role of school psychologist that will be required to practice a public health problem-solving model. Accompanying downloadable resources contain sample forms, handouts, and other valuable materials that will be of use to school psychologists implementing this public health model in their schools.

Here is a unique and important volume that pays tribute to the contributions of the National Mental Health Association to the field of prevention.For more than 80 years, the National Mental Health Association has been a major force in the advancement of the field of prevention. It has pursued an impressive three-pronged mission of promoting health, preventing mental illness, and improving the care and treatment of persons with mental illnesses through advocacy at all levels of state and national government and the development of prevention programs.The National Mental Health Association: Eighty Years of Involvement in the Field of Prevention traces the history of the association’s involvement in prevention back to the first decade of the century. Mental health professionals from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, South Carolina, New York, and Illinois describe some of the diverse activities relating to prevention in which local associations are involved, such as public education, direct intervention, and legislative advocacy. In addition, a large part of the volume is devoted to in-depth descriptions of seven programs of sufficient distinction and merit to have received the association’s prestigious Lela Rowland Prevention Award, which recognizes outstanding prevention programs in the area of mental health.This volume should be read by the hundreds of thousands of Mental Health Association members, as well as community psychologists, social workers, and professionals in mental health centers and state mental health departments.

Community Psychology was the first undergraduate text available that gave students an understanding of the content, approach, and philosophy that characterizes community psychology. It focuses on the importance of and strategies for producing social change and treating community problems with community psychology interventions. The text examines the role of community settings such as the mental health system, the educational system, the criminal justice system, and the social service system, and helps students understand that the principles of prevention and empowerment can be transferred from one community arena to another.