Selection of nonprofessional child aides for a school mental health project

Cowen, Emory L.; Dorr, Darwin; Pokracki, Francine

doi:10.1007/bf01435084

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The Primary Mental Health Project intervention is thus not equally well suited to all children; it seems most appropriate for shy-anxious subjects. This is understandable since child aides were selected initially on the basis of warm, mothering characteristics (Cowen, Dorr, & Pokracki, 1972) and were given nonspecific training that heavily emphasized the establishment of a "committed human relationship" with children (Cowen et al, 1971). Although this approach conceptually "fits" shy-anxious children, it is relatively less effective for acting-out and learning subjects who, by definition, have significantly different needs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problem types of children referred to a school-based mental health program: Identification and outcome.

Lorion¹,

Cowen²,

Caldwell³

1974

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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A methodology is reported by which primary-grade children experiencing school maladjustment problems are classified according to specific problem types. Evidence is presented that the methodology reliably differentiates among children with acting-out, shy-anxious, and learning difficulties. An intervention program using nonprofessional child aides was found to be most effective in reducing the problems of shy-anxious children. The methodology is proposed as a paradigm for identifying problem types, an important step in individualizing helping interventions. The findings suggest that a generalized helping approach is likely to be differentially effective with different problem types. Implications for more traditional treatment approaches such as psychotherapy are considered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problem types of children referred to a school-based mental health program: Identification and outcome.

Lorion¹,

Cowen²,

Caldwell³

1974

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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“…Teachers are the prime referral agents. The directhelp agent is the nonprofessional (housewife) child aide, selected for personal helping, facilitating qualities rather than for prior specialty training or advanced professional degrees (Cowen, Dorr, & Pokracki, 1972;Sandier, 1972). Aides are given focused timelimited training, and they work under professional supervision.…”

Section: The Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowing, liking, and judged problem severity in relation to referral and outcome measures in a school-based intervention program.

Cowen¹,

Lorion²,

Wilson³

1976

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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Teachers, as referral agents, and nonprofessional child aides, as interventionists, rated 709 children seen in a school-based mental health program for how well they were known, how much they were liked, and how serious their problems were. Several interconnected studies describe the ratings' properties and stability, how they differed across demographic groups, and how they related to indexes of referral status, termination status, and improvement in program. Better liked children and those seen initially as having less severe problems had healthier referral and termination profiles and were judged to have improved more in the program by both rater groups.Psychological diagnosis and treatment should theoretically be objective and impartial. Identifiable "realities" of a person's psychological status (e.g., symptom patterns, personality makeup) should largely determine how he is diagnosed, what is done for him, and with what effects. But things do not always happen that way! Goldstein and Simonson (1971), for example, argued that however special therapy may be, it is still fundamentally a personal interaction, shaped by many of the subtle, sociopsychological variables that influence all interpersonal behavior. These sociopsychological variables are much broader than the specific clinical indicants usually cited in justifying judgments about patients and actions taken with them.

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“…Since much has already been written about PMHP, including a full-length volume (Cowen, Trost, et al, 1975), only a brief capsule summary is provided here. A key point to emphasize is that PMHP offers a genuine alternative for conceptualizing and delivering school mental health services, based on four structural emphases: a focus on very young (primary grade) children; a systematic use of screening and detection procedures to identify early school adjustment problems (Cowen, Dorr, et al, 1973;Gesten, 1976;Lorion, Cowen, & Caldwell, 1975); the use of nonprofessional help agents to expand the reach of effective services (Cowen, 1969;Cowen, Dorr, & Pokracki, 1972;Cowen, Trost, & Izzo, 1973;Zax & Cowen, 1967); and a changing role for school mental health professionals, emphasizing selection, training, and supervision of nonprofessionals and consultation and resource functions to support geometric expansion of helping services to children (Cowen, Lorion, Kraus, & Dorr, 1974).…”

Section: Pmhp Background Information and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Program dissemination and the modification of delivery practices in school mental health.

Cowen¹,

Davidson²,

Gesten³

1980

Professional Psychology

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This report examines dissemination practices and findings for the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP), an innovative program for early detection and prevention of school adjustment problems. After 15 years of program development and research demonstrating PMHP's effectiveness, a systematic dissemination effort was undertaken with three main features: intensive workshops to describe the model; on-site visits by PMHP staff for districts moving toward implementation; and short-term internships in PMHP laboratory-demonstration schools for line personnel from implementing districts.A systematic survey designed to measure the impact of PMHP dissemination practices identified more than 30 school districts nationally that had developed similar programs in over 200 schools, serving 120,000 children. In -1977 those programs brought 100,000 helping services to 3,250 young children in need. Although participating districts preserved PMHP's main structural components, literal program practices varied with districts' needs, resources, and operating styles.Factors that facilitated dissemination were considered in the context of the broader question of how best to translate new knowledge into constructive social change.

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Selection of nonprofessional child aides for a school mental health project

Cited by 23 publications

References 4 publications

Problem types of children referred to a school-based mental health program: Identification and outcome.

Problem types of children referred to a school-based mental health program: Identification and outcome.

Knowing, liking, and judged problem severity in relation to referral and outcome measures in a school-based intervention program.

Program dissemination and the modification of delivery practices in school mental health.

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