Contextual determinants of family-driven care implementation in juvenile justice settings.

Introduction: Engaging families in behavioral health services is a high priority for juvenile justice (JJ) systems and family advocacy groups. Family-driven care (FDC) enhances family engagement and decision-making power in youth behavioral health services, ultimately, improving youth and family mental health and substance abuse outcomes. Despite the benefits, there is limited guidance on how to integrate FDC into behavioral health care within the JJ system.

A mixed methods evaluation of family-driven care implementation in juvenile justice agencies in Georgia.

Background: Improving family engagement in juvenile justice (JJ) system behavioral health services is a high priority for JJ systems, reform organizations, and family advocacy groups across the United States. Family-driven care (FDC) is a family engagement framework used by youth-serving systems to elevate family voice and decision-making power at all levels of the organization. Key domains of a family-driven system of care include: 1) identifying and involving families in all processes, 2) informing families with accurate, understandable, and transparent information, 3) collaborating with families to make decisions and plan treatments, 4) responding to family diversity and inclusion, 5) partnering with families to make organizational decisions and policy changes, 6) providing opportunities for family peer support, 7) providing logistical support to help families overcome barriers to participation, and 8) addressing family health and functioning.

Global appropriateness of pain drawings: blind ratings predict patterns of psychological distress and litigation status.

Previous studies examining pain drawings of low back pain patients have shown conflicting results in predicting elevations of MMPI scores. A study of 82 patients whose drawings were rated only for overall, anatomical appropriateness was conducted using the SCL-90 rather than the MMPI as the psychological assessment instrument. Significant differences were found between appropriate and inappropriate drawings; however, these differences seem to reflect differences in cognitive style of coping with pain as opposed to psychopathology.

A chronic emergency room visitor with chest pain: successful treatment by stress management training and biofeedback.

The successful treatment of a patient with chest pain who at baseline visited the emergency room (ER) up to 20 times monthly is described. Treatment consisted of re-education, stress management training and biofeedback. The importance of conceptualizing multiple ER visitations as an interaction of physiological, psychological, social and iatrogenic factors is discussed, and suggestions are made for recognizing such behavior and effectively referring patients for appropriate treatment.