Mental Health in a Multi-Ethnic Society: A Multi-Disciplinary Handbook. – book reviews
As services in the community continue to replace institution-based care there is an increasing need for professionals from medical, social work, clinical psychology, nursing, and other backgrounds to address the diverse needs of a multi-ethnic society using a common frame of reference. Those who provide mental health services must now face up to challenges from service users and strive for a closer, more effective working relationship with voluntary organization. This book attempts to address all these issues. It offers an approach to the meaning of mental health and suggests constructive and imaginative ways of providing care for people with mental health problems.
Contributions from a multi-ethnic team of professionals are organized in three parts: “Current setting” describes the background to contemporary mental health services, the legal framework, and the role of the voluntary sector and examines the experience of black people. “Confronting issues” considers practical problems in delivering services to a multi-ethnic society and offers some innovative approaches. The final part, “Seeking change,” draws together the various issues in order to indicate a way forward, with suggestions for change on both a practical and theoretical level.
Intended primarily as a handbook for practitioners working in the mental health field, it is also suitable for multidisciplinary, basic, and in-service postgraduate trainings in a variety of professions, including social work, psychology, psychiatry, and nursing.
COPYRIGHT 1997 U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
