RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ATTITUDES OF MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL AND ELDERLY AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE DEGREE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FEDERAL NURSING HOME REFORM ACT OF 1987.
Contributors: Wayne State University.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 220
Subjects: Health Sciences, Mental Health.; Education, General.
Description: A review of the literature indicated that negative attitudes of mental health professionals toward the mentally ill and elderly were continuous barriers in the mental health system. Sufficient research had not been conducted to determine if there was a relationship between the attitudes of mental health professionals toward the mentally ill and elderly, and the degree of implementation of the federal nursing home preadmission screening and annual resident review (PASARR) program.

This study was undertaken to examine the relationships between the attitudes of mental health PASARR evaluators in the state of Michigan and the degree of implementation of PASARR with the mentally ill elderly. The four variables associated with program implementation included workload, communication practices, effectiveness, and innovation.

The researcher combined six effectual instruments to meet the needs of this study, along with a set of demographic questions. The combined instrument was administered to mental health professionals responsible for the provision of PASARR in 30 Michigan county boards participating in the study.

Five hypotheses were tested by using the Pearson product moment correlation test of significance and a sixth hypothesis was tested by using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test of significance followed by univariate F's.

Conclusions were drawn from the findings and past research as follows: (1) Attitudes toward the mentally ill will be significantly related to attitudes toward the elderly, as perceived by mental health PASARR evaluators. (2) Worker communication practices will be significantly related to attitudes toward the mentally ill and elderly, as perceived by mental health PASARR evaluators.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: B, page: 1373.

Thesis (ED.D.)--WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY, 1994.

School code: 0254.