No abstract

The ALIP appears to have good reliability and may be useful as a clinical and research tool.

There is a growing commitment to evidence-based practices in mental health. There is no well-articulated evidence base for interventions for mothers with mental illnesses. Parenthood is common among women with mental illnesses. Women themselves report motherhood is an important role. The risks of parental mental illness to children have been demonstrated; the challenges that motherhood brings to people with mental illnesses have been described. Because outcomes for both children and adults are multiply determined, there are many intervention opportunities. Recommendations for intervention are drawn from a focus group study and from the existing literature on parent training and support, exemplary programs for mothers with mental illnesses, and other evidence-based psychosocial interventions. The value of a psychiatric rehabilitation approach is highlighted. Challenges in documenting and testing interventions for mothers with mental illness include resource allocation and research innovation.

BACKGROUND: The employment rate among persons with disabilities is less than half the rate among persons without disabilities. Broad innovations are needed to reduce this disparity. OBJECTIVE: We examined employers' perspective related to: a) challenges they face when hiring people with disabilities, b) advantages (i.e. the business case) to employing people with disabilities, and c) their recommendations for innovations in both the public disability employment services systems and their own hiring practices to increase employment of people with disabilities. METHODS: We conducted four focus groups with a total of 74 participants. Participants were purposively sampled among Massachusetts private and public sector employers. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Employers identified stigma, uncertainties about applicant abilities, and the complexity of the public disability employment service system as hiring challenges, and increasing diversity, expanding talent and increasing brand loyalty as advantages to employing people with disabilities. Employers recommended establishing business-to-business networks and improving coordination across the disability employment service system to increase job opportunities for people with disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Service system innovations and changes in employer hiring practices may increase employment among people with disabilities and have benefits to employers and companies, especially those looking to diversity their workforces.

This article describes the development of the Occupational Performance History Interview, an instrument designed to gather an accurate and clinically useful history of an individual's work, play, and self-care performance from psychosocially and/or physically disabled adolescents, adults, and older persons. Following the identification and validation of content and the development of format, the instrument was field-tested and revised. An examination of reliability across time and raters indicated that although part of the instrument ratings met or exceeded levels of acceptable stability, further development and testing is indicated.