The Sociocultural Context Of Psychosocial Interventions

Across diverse academic fields, scholars and practitioners are engaged in developing interventions to promote outcomes like health and quality of life. Indeed, such is the apparent efficacy of such interventions, that there are many policy-led initiatives to implement these at national and international scales. However, few scholars or practitioners have thought in any systematic and critical way about the importance of contextualizing these interventions, i.e., considering how the impact of such interventions may be affected and mediated by specific sociocultural factors (from gender, to ethnicity and socio-economics). The aim of the Research Topic “The Sociocultural Context of Psychosocial Interventions” was to address this lacuna. As such, we tried to help bringing a more ‘contextual’ mindset to the implementation of health and wellbeing interventions. This may help to shift the way such interventions are designed and implemented, both at a granular local level (i.e., influencing individual practitioners) and at a large-scale macro level (e.g., influencing policy makers). Themes within this Research Topic have concerned both macro-sociocultural as well as meso-and micro-layers, and the peculiarities of implementing real world research based on these levels. There has been room for physical and mental health, for family relationships, for educational contexts and even for the effects of crime. Some works have included interesting methodological discussions on the integration of different ecological layers or the modal distribution of our interests. For us it has been very important to work giving a greater diffusion to these issues since, considering psychosocial interventions in the context in which they occur, goes beyond an epistemological or methodological discussion. Rather, these considerations seriously affect the ability of practitioners to really reach the people who need their interventions, listening to their needs and respecting their preferences. For the editors of this book, then, the contextualization of interventions means considering the people who receive them as full citizens immersed in complex societies where factors such as social justice and health or well-being do not float apart in space but affect each other dialectically. We therefore think that the duty of both academics and practitioners is not to forget that it is as important to evaluate the direct effect of our interventions as the influence we have in the society as a whole when we carry them out. We hope you enjoy reading these works and that their dissemination stimulates new lines of research committed to both good practise and social transformation.

Across diverse academic fields, scholars and practitioners are engaged in developing interventions to promote outcomes like health and quality of life. Indeed, such is the apparent efficacy of such interventions, that there are many policy-led initiatives to implement these at national and international scales. However, few scholars or practitioners have thought in any systematic and critical way about the importance of contextualizing these interventions, i.e., considering how the impact of such interventions may be affected and mediated by specific sociocultural factors (from gender, to ethnicity and socio-economics). The aim of the Research Topic "The Sociocultural Context of Psychosocial Interventions" was to address this lacuna. As such, we tried to help bringing a more 'contextual' mindset to the implementation of health and wellbeing interventions. This may help to shift the way such interventions are designed and implemented, both at a granular local level (i.e., influencing individual practitioners) and at a large-scale macro level (e.g., influencing policy makers). Themes within this Research Topic have concerned both macro-sociocultural as well as meso-and micro-layers, and the peculiarities of implementing real world research based on these levels. There has been room for physical and mental health, for family relationships, for educational contexts and even for the effects of crime. Some works have included interesting methodological discussions on the integration of different ecological layers or the modal distribution of our interests. For us it has been very important to work giving a greater diffusion to these issues since, considering psychosocial interventions in the context in which they occur, goes beyond an epistemological or methodological discussion. Rather, these considerations seriously affect the ability of practitioners to really reach the people who need their interventions, listening to their needs and respecting their preferences. For the editors of this book, then, the contextualization of interventions means considering the people who receive them as full citizens immersed in complex societies where factors such as social justice and health or well-being do not float apart in space but affect each other dialectically. We therefore think that the duty of both academics and practitioners is not to forget that it is as important to evaluate the direct effect of our interventions as the influence we have in the society as a whole when we carry them out. We hope you enjoy reading these works and that their dissemination stimulates new lines of research committed to both good practice and social transformation.

This volume provides multifaceted and multidisciplinary insights into the growing field of health studies. Providing inputs from the behavioural sciences as well as social sciences, it discusses the issues of recovery from illness, and growth and wellbeing, as situated in social and eco-cultural contexts, and addresses the modalities of health-related interventions in diverse contexts. The specific themes taken up by the contributors are post-trauma growth, resilience, gender and health, distress and wellness, indigenous healing, counselling and psychotherapy, disability-related interventions, self-healing, as well as health issues of special groups like adolescents and the elderly, cancer patients and those suffering from other chronic illnesses. Till recently, the medical model has prevailed as the chief form of understanding health and illness. This has led to marginalization of the context, localization of all health and wellness components within the individual, and to biological reductionism. The contributions to this volume propose corrective measures and provide diverse approaches in a balanced manner. This volume is useful for researchers and practitioners interested in health studies, including the behavioural sciences, social work, medical anthropology, and public health.

Mental health and substance use disorders affect approximately 20 percent of Americans and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although a wide range of evidence-based psychosocial interventions are currently in use, most consumers of mental health care find it difficult to know whether they are receiving high-quality care. Although the current evidence base for the effects of psychosocial interventions is sizable, subsequent steps in the process of bringing a psychosocial intervention into routine clinical care are less well defined. Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders details the reasons for the gap between what is known to be effective and current practice and offers recommendations for how best to address this gap by applying a framework that can be used to establish standards for psychosocial interventions. The framework described in Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders can be used to chart a path toward the ultimate goal of improving the outcomes. The framework highlights the need to (1) support research to strengthen the evidence base on the efficacy and effectiveness of psychosocial interventions; (2) based on this evidence, identify the key elements that drive an intervention's effect; (3) conduct systematic reviews to inform clinical guidelines that incorporate these key elements; (4) using the findings of these systematic reviews, develop quality measures - measures of the structure, process, and outcomes of interventions; and (5) establish methods for successfully implementing and sustaining these interventions in regular practice including the training of providers of these interventions. The recommendations offered in this report are intended to assist policy makers, health care organizations, and payers that are organizing and overseeing the provision of care for mental health and substance use disorders while navigating a new health care landscape. The recommendations also target providers, professional societies, funding agencies, consumers, and researchers, all of whom have a stake in ensuring that evidence-based, high-quality care is provided to individuals receiving mental health and substance use services.

"The Athletic Trainer's Guide to Psychosocial Intervention and Referral provides appropriate intervention strategies and referral techniques specific to the role of an athletic trainer to initiate recovery for any patient/client experiencing a variety of psychosocial problems such as: eating disorders, anxiety issues, substance abuse, response to injury, catastrophic injuries, ergogenic aids, peer pressure, and depression."--Jacket.

This new edited volume seeks to meet the growing need for ways to support people with dementia across the whole course and trajectory of dementia care, with a wide scope of expertise. The book addresses how practitioners and carers can apply psychosocial interventions - which take into consideration the individual, social and environmental aspects of a person's life - across this trajectory, right from the earliest stages through to practice in care home settings. Divided into four sections, each covers a different context in which people with dementia can be supported: at home; in community settings; family and carer support; and those in care homes and hospitals. In addition, there is a distinct focus throughout on evidence-based practice and its implementation in real-world settings. This book is essential reading for any practitioner and caregiver wanting to support people with dementia.

For the increasing number of people diagnosed with dementia each year, treatment in the early stages can make a significant difference to their quality of life. This book provides examples of psychosocial interventions: taking into consideration the individual, social and environmental aspects of the person's life. It looks at ways of providing support at the time of diagnosis and goes on to explore a variety of interventions and services for the treatment of early dementia. Bringing together the knowledge and experiences of professionals from both the UK and Europe, the contributors describe interventions for both psychological and practical problems with case examples such as memory support groups, art therapies and assistive technologies for use in the home. This accessible book will be essential reading for practitioners and carers working with those with early dementia and will be extremely useful in both professional development and for those new to dementia care.

Mental illness is an enormous burden worldwide, as reflected in the number of individuals who suffer from a mental disorder, the personal pain and suffering they and their families experience, the exorbitant costs of providing but also of failing to provide services, and the spillover of mental health problems into physical health (e.g., many physical maladies and earlier-than-expected deaths associated with mental illness) and functioning in everyday life (e.g., in social relations, employment, happiness, and quality of life). We have many interventions that can help, but they are not brought to the many people in need of psychological services. There are many novel models of delivering these interventions that could be scaled to reach people in need and surmount the many barriers to providing and receiving services. Promising models of delivery are drawn from physical health care, public health, business, social policy, and other disciplines and can serve to illustrate what can be done now. This book conveys new ways of delivering treatment as well as new ways of developing and investigating treatments so that they are much more likely to reach people in need. The overall goal is, or ought to be, reducing the burdens of mental illness. This book conveys novel ways of providing treatment if we adopt that goal more explicitly and draw on the best science available to achieve that. --