Co-occurring disorders and learning difficulties: client perspectives from two community-based programs.

Objective: This study explored the experiences of adults with learning disabilities in the mental health system.

Methods: Thirty-seven participants were clients at one of two community-based mental health agencies. Participants completed a standardized tool for assessment of a possible learning difficulty.

The effects of years lived in the United States on the general health status of California's foreign-born populations.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of immigrant status and years lived in the United States on the general health status of California's foreign-born populations. Two models were constructed using California's aggregate adult population and the adult foreign-born population. A binary logistic regression was conducted using data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey.

Mechanisms of support: coping with loss in a major children's hospital.

Employment in a children's hospital of a major medical center can be stressful for healthcare providers, especially when faced with potential losses of pediatric and adolescent patients. Although it seems natural to believe that emotional distress following the death of a patient would be addressed, this is not always the case. The current manuscript presents results of a survey of healthcare providers at Shands Children's Hospital at the University of Florida, a not for profit teaching hospital.

Validation of the Strengths and Stressors Tracking Device with a child welfare population.

The Strengths and Stressors Tracking Device (SSTD) is a rapid assessment measure of family well-being that assesses the particular strengths and needs of families at intake to help guide case planning and evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. The device assesses families from an ecological perspective in the domains of environmental conditions, social support, caregiver skills, and child well-being, and may be used at multiple points during treatment to assess change. SSTD has high internal consistency in all domains, distinguishes between physical abuse and neglect, and is sensitive to specific changes made by families across the duration of treatment.