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KANSAN.COM
University researchers revise strengths-based approach to treat mental health issues in children
▶ SAMANTHA SEXTON
@Sambiscuit
An associate professor of social welfare at the University found a strengths-based approach to treat mental healths issues in children, according to a University press release.
The professor, Amy Mendenhall, is also director of the Center for Children and Families. Her research was done in an effort to implement a formal model to how researchers and case managers treat children with mental health illnesses and said she thinks it may have a more positive effect than traditional models.
The strengths-based model is one that focuses on what the individual is good at and what his or
her unique strengths are, rather than focusing on the illness," Mend enhall said. "We believe that
when the focus is put on what is going wrong and all the negative in the individual's life, that he or she is more likely to focus on the illness rather than the positives."
After surveying different focus groups, Mendenhall and her team found that there was a lack of structure to how the situations were being handled in case management. Instead, a more crisis-management approach was being used, putting out fires from week-to-week as they appeared.
"We wanted to implement a formal model," Mendenhall said. "And once they knew about this model that focused on building goals and skills and empowering the individual, they were very exciting to start focusing on more positive strengths so they didn't have to always be in a crisis."
The Strengths Model is not a wholly new concept, having been developed in the mid 1980s and now being used by mental health professionals across Kansas, according to the press release. It has only been used to treat adult patients rather than children and adolescents
as seen in Mendenhall's research, the release said.
Mendenhall and Whitney Grube, the project coordinator and a graduate student at the University's School of Social Welfare, were faced with the challenge of adapting the model to best suit the needs of younger patients.
"In the first year of the adaptation, we had to think about how the youth is cognitively in a very different place than adults," Mendenhall said. "We had to take into consideration the individual's developmental process, where they were emotionally, and how they processed their identity."
In both models, goal development is an imperative part of the process and with the adults, the focus may be put on careers or something specific in the workforce. To meet the goals of children and adolescents, the focus is moved to include sports, after-school activities or any constructive focus best for the individual.
"We also had to include a focus on the family," Mendenhall said. "When working with adults you don't have to include the family unit but when you're working with kids, that's not an option; when you're working with kids, you're working with a family.
She added: "Of course we want to focus on the individual and say that this is about your life and your treatment and your goals but we also need to figure out how that fits in with
"The strengths-based model is one that focuses on what the individual is good at and what his or her unique strengths are, rather than focusing on the illness."
AMY MENDENHALL University Professor
what parents want out of the treatment and helping the parents become apart of the process as well."
The third change to the model was how the individual fit into his or her system. School is a large part of what children have to go through and is a system wholly unique to their demographic.
"There are a few systems that are very different between the adult and child world," Mendenhall said. "We have to account for the welfare system if the child is
in a family in the Welfare system and of course even within the mental health system there is a wide divide between how adults and children are treated so we have to figure out how the adaptive model works within each system."
After making the changes, the team began its research by measuring the children's grades, school attendance, socialization and overall health. In a few months, the team found the students were performing at higher levels in each field and more so than if they had been working within the parameters of another model.
"We want to focus on what the child can do to help their situation rather than what the situation is," Mendenhall said. "What do you want to get out of this process? How can you be more fulfilled in your life and what do you already have that we can expand upon?"
While the children seem to be having a positive reaction to the model, the case workers have also been benefitted by the change.
"When there's a model and that model works, there's less time spent being frustrated and brainstorming
for
a
solu-
tion and
more time
spent actually
fixing the problems," Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall said she feels the model would work outside of Kansas and could eventually be integrated into other youth systems, as the model doesn't only work for one illness or a handful of situations. It is an approach she said she hopes could be used within the welfare system and even child delinquency programs.
"Adolescents who go to mental health treatments see a very 'problem-focused' approach by the professionals, focusing on negative symptoms and behaviors," Mendenhall said. "We want people to feel empowered, feel as though they are going to succeed, and point them on the way to recovery."
- Edited by Vicky Diaz-Camacho
HONORS FROM PAGE r
ment rather than an inclusive one.
Cornelius Baker, a senior from Wichita, said he had negative experiences with a high school program that discouraged him from joining the University honors
program. However, during the two University honors courses that he did take, Baker said he felt tokenized because he is a black male.
"I took [the classes] to get closer to professors so I could get I could research with them in the future, and I felt like most of that time, for me, wasn't spent
Although Baker said tokenization is something that is present across all classes, he said he feels it is more pronounced in honors classes because, as far as students of color, he said
discussing these topics or learning more, it was spent educating other people," Baker said.
it's usually just him.
The meeting wrapped up after an hour and a half of discussion and suggestions. The group plans to establish core members and continue meeting to develop a plan to address the issues
"And it's not really an environment people want to be in,"Baker added.
presented.
Young said he hopes over time, the group can make some concrete changes that make the program more welcoming to all students.
"I want every student to feel like they're welcome in this space and to feel that they have access to the honors program," Young said.
"For a student who has demonstrated merit, I want them to feel very welcome regardless of background, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation."
- Edited by Deanna Ambrose