Publications by authors named "Tonya Hansel"

Background: Many people who face adversity, such as disasters, demonstrate resilience. However, less is known about reactions to large scale disasters with longer recovery periods. The concern is that protracted disasters may result in more chronic or accumulated stressors with an uncertain or unknown end point and can exhaust the natural coping methods and ability to rebound.

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Health care workers (n = 71) completed an online survey or participated in one of five focus groups. Clinical cutoff scores revealed concerning levels of depression (16%), anxiety, and burnout (49%). Qualitative responses (n = 172) yielded two themes: work environment and well-being.

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The COVID-19 pandemic that spread throughout the globe has significantly altered our social and personal relationships. During the early phase of the pandemic, pharmaceutical interventions such as vaccine research and production were still in development, with international health agencies and governments promoting public health safety measures such as limiting mobility, school and work closures, lockdowns, economic incentives, mask-wearing, social distancing, quarantine, and hygiene to reduce the spread and flatten the curve regarding transmission and hospitalization. During the early wave (May 2020 through July 2020), we utilized a qualitative longitudinal research design coupled with weekly Zoom diary entries to investigate participant (n = 14) experiences.

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Objective: Currently, there is no single profile of mental health sequela in long-coronavirus disease (COVID) patients, impacting identification, treatment, and exacerbating stigma among this population. This article highlights the rationale for mental health professionals to consider a summary of mental health symptoms in long-COVID patients.

Method: This article provides an overview of the existing literature regarding the health and mental health impact of long COVID on patients and proposes an approach to conceptualizing mental health symptoms in individuals living with long COVID.

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Introduction And Purpose: The geographic location of the Gulf South leaves communities in continuous threat, response, and recovery disaster cycles. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 provided an opportunity to study disaster mental health. Less than 5 years after the storm, many Hurricane Katrina survivors were impacted again by the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill.

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Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) is an evolving methodology used in understanding the rich and in-depth experiences of individuals over time. QLR is particularly conducive to pandemic or disaster-related studies, where unique and rapidly changing environments warrant fuller descriptions of the human condition. Despite QLR's usefulness, there are a limited number of articles that detail the methodology and analysis, especially in the social sciences, and specifically social work literature.

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In addition to concern about physical health consequences of COVID-19, many researchers also note the concerning impact on behavioral health and quality of life due to disruption. The purpose of this paper is to explore pathways of COVID-19 behavioral health and quality of life. We found increased anxiety, depression, and alcohol misuse and that the pandemic exacerbated prior problems.

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While much research has focused on the relationship between duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and clinical outcomes in the first episode psychosis (FEP) patient population, little is known about the individual help-seeking episodes (HSE) that patients undergo before receiving appropriate care. The purpose of this project is to better understand how early referral to FEP-specific care and support system differences affect patients' DUP and engagement with treatment. Data from 50 patients was analyzed at the Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic of New Orleans (EPIC-NOLA) using a modified version of the Pathways to Care Assessments and data captured during clinical care.

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic remains a significant mental health crisis. Although empirical research works to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the general population, some groups remain at greater risk for adverse mental health consequences. The purpose of this study is to better understand how COVID-19 experiences, food insecurities, and social support are associated with mental health and well-being for aging populations.

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Communities of color in the United States have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies exploring the mental health implications of these disparities have only just begun to emerge. The purpose of this study is to better understand mental health concerns and test whether social determinants of health and COVID-19-related experiences influence these concerns.

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Objective: This brief report analyzes a first-episode psychosis (FEP) clinic's shift from in-person treatment to the provision of services through telemental health during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The feasibility of using this technology was examined by assessing client engagement.

Methods: The authors created and implemented procedures for the clinic's transition to telemental health.

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Natural and technological disasters cause long-term psychological trauma and increase substance use in adults. It is unclear whether these problems also occur in children and whether trauma influences long-term psychological outcomes due to developmental stages at the time of trauma. One community of interest is located in southeastern Louisiana, where, as children, many locals were exposed to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010.

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Social support plays a key role in well-being, yet one of the major preventative efforts for reducing the spread of COVID-19 involves social distancing. During times of crisis, social support is emphasized as a coping mechanism. This requires many people to change their typical ways of connectedness and assumes that people have existing healthy relationships or access to technology.

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Research from financial stress, disasters, pandemics, and other extreme events, suggests that behavioral health will suffer, including anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Furthermore, these symptoms are likely to exacerbate alcohol or drug use, especially for those vulnerable to relapse. The nature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and vast reach of the virus, leave many unknows for the repercussions on behavioral health, yet existing research suggests that behavioral health concerns should take a primary role in response to the pandemic.

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Standard evaluation practice in public health remains limited to evaluative measures linked to individual projects, even if multiple interrelated projects are working toward a common impact. Enterprise evaluation seeks to fill this policy gap by focusing on cross-sector coordination and ongoing reflection in evaluation. We provide an overview of the enterprise evaluation framework and its 3 stages: collective creation, individual data collection, and collective analysis.

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The Mental and Behavioral Health (MBH) Capacity Project had a mission shared among 4 states to support MBH sustainability along the Gulf Coast. Integration of mental health into undersourced primary health clinics was an important goal of the project. The findings from the collaborative evaluation demonstrate long-term outcomes including the following: community has greater capacity and sustainability for quality health care; better informed and connected communities; and individuals are more informed, connected, and resilient.

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Objective: Theorists and researchers have linked resilience with a host of positive psychological and physical health outcomes. This paper examines perceptions of resilience and physical health symptoms in a sample of individuals exposed to multiple community disasters following involvement in integrated mental health services.

Methods: A multiwave naturalistic design was used to follow 762 adult clinic patients (72% female; 28% minority status), ages 18-92 years (mean age=40 years), who were evaluated for resilience and physical health symptoms prior to receiving services and at 1, 3, and 6 months' follow-up.

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Background: The Youth Leadership Program (YLP) was created as a school community-university partnership after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. The YLP goal was to support youth and improve by engaging them in disaster recovery initiatives.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to describe the development of the St.

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Objective: The Mental and Behavioral Health Capacity Project in Louisiana has been addressing health disparities by increasing accessibility and availability through integrating services into primary care clinics. Integrated health is becoming the standard of care, providing an opportunity to address the trauma-specific needs of communities, and allowing for informed and less stigmatized services. The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the Mental and Behavioral Health Capacity Project in Louisiana model in the primary care settings to reduce posttraumatic stress symptoms and physical health complaints.

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Objective: Integrating behavioral health services into primary and pediatric health care settings is important to increase availability and access to quality mental and behavioral health care for children and adolescents. The Mental and Behavioral Health Capacity Project implemented models of pediatric integrated health care at Federally Qualified Health Clinics covering largely rural communities in Louisiana and impacted communities on the Florida Panhandle. The objectives of this article are to describe the programs and demonstrate sustainability and effectiveness of services provided.

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Introduction: Addressing life stressors is an important function for integrated care, especially for health care homes located in disaster prone environments. This study evaluated trajectories of change for patients with postdisaster posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who were seen in integrated care. In addition to describing the results, this article provides the methods of subgroup analyses as this may be useful for others working in real-world practice.

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Objective: This paper provides a report of an academic department of psychiatry's journey into the change process associated with addressing the new requirements in health-care delivery, the emphasis on person-centered treatment models, and the implications for residency training programs. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Department of Psychiatry's experience is based on responding to real-world shifts in which academic departments can play a leadership role.

Methods: Importantly, methods are based on person-centered collaboration being central to a successful change process and include a description of the training, with data supporting implementation of the model.

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Objective: For close to a decade, the Gulf Coast of the United States has been in almost constant disaster recovery mode, and a number of lessons have been learned concerning disaster recovery and behavioral health. The purpose of this report was to describe the natural development of a Gulf Coast Resilience Coalition (GCRC).

Methods: The GCRC methods began with state-specific recovery goals following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and transitioned to a shared multistate and multidiscipline coalition.

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