The limited health and social care infrastructure that existed in the 1970s in Cambodia was destroyed due to the Khmer Rouge. Mental Health service infrastructures have developed in Cambodia in the ...last twenty five years, however, they have been shaped significantly by very limited funding being made available for human resources, support services and research. The lack of research on Cambodia's mental health systems and services is a significant barrier to the development of evidence-based mental health policies and practice. In order to address this barrier, effective research and development strategies are needed in Cambodia, which are based on locally well-informed research priorities. There are many possibilities for mental health research in LMIC countries such as Cambodia, therefore focused research priorities in these areas are needed to guide future research investment. This paper is the result of the development of international collaborative workshops, which focused on service mapping and research priority setting in the field of mental health in Cambodia.
A nominal group technique was used to gather ideas and insights from a range of key mental health service stakeholders in Cambodia.
The key issues in service provisions for people with mental health issues and disorders, the interventions and programmes of support available, and currently needed, were identified. This paper also identifies five key mental health research priority areas which could form the basis for effective mental health research and development strategies in Cambodia.
There is a clear need for the Cambodian government to devise a clear policy framework for health research. This framework could focus on the five research domains identified in this paper and could be incorporated within its National Health Strategic plans. The implementation of this approach would likely lead to the development of an evidence base which would allow the development of effective and sustainable strategies for mental health problem prevention and intervention. This would also contribute to promote the Cambodian government's capacity to take the deliberate, concrete, and targeted steps necessary to address the complex mental health needs of its population.
Abstract Social workers worldwide experience high rates of depression, anxiety and deficits in well-being. Depression, anxiety or poor mental well-being can have a significant effect on the ...individual social worker, and the quality of care they can provide. There have been limited attempts to examine and understand the underlying psychological protective and risk factors for depression, anxiety and poor well-being amongst social workers. Using the clinically modified Buddhist psychological model (CBPM) as a theoretical framework, this cross-sectional study examined a range of potential psychological protective and risk factors for depression, anxiety and mental well-being of 121 social workers in Northern Ireland, using structural equation modelling, and conditional process analyses. Mindfulness, acceptance, attention regulation/decentering skills, self-compassion, non-attachment and non-aversion could act as protective factors against depression, anxiety and poor mental well-being in social workers. Results also indicate that each of these variables could reduce the extent to which social workers worry and ruminate, further reducing the risk that social workers might experience depression, anxiety, or poor mental well-being. This study offers promising preliminary evidence that the CBPM is a useful explanatory framework which helps to explain variation in depression, anxiety and mental well-being amongst social workers.
Compared to the general population, persons with disabilities are at increased risk of poor mental health. The aim of this study was to determine the rates and correlates of psychological ...distress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among persons with physical disabilities in Cambodia.
From July to December 2021 data were collected as part of a mental health screening programme for persons with physical disabilities who access prosthetic and orthotic services. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler-10 (K-10) and PTSD using the PC-PTSD-5. Bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with levels of psychological distress and PTSD among this population.
Our study found a high prevalence of psychological distress and PTSD in this patient cohort. Of the 213 participants, 31.5% were likely to be experiencing mild to moderate psychological distress indicative of a mental health disorder, with 13.6% likely to have a severe mental health disorder. Sixty-five percent of patients reported experiencing PTSD symptoms, with forty-six percent meeting the criteria for probable PTSD. Psychological distress was associated with pathological worry, rumination, and facets of mindfulness. Rumination and pathological worry were found to be significant predictors of psychological distress. PTSD symptoms were associated with pathological worry but not facets of mindfulness or rumination. Facets of mindfulness and pathological worry were found to be significant predictors of PTSD.
Integration of mental health services within the disability sector is required to address psychological distress and PTSD symptoms among people with physical disabilities in Cambodia. Health system interventions, such as screening, referral, and the training of health providers, need to be strengthened. Further studies focussing on the psychosocial determinants of mental health of persons with disabilities in Cambodia are required.
Abstract
Stress and burnout can have several negative effects on the individual social worker’s work performance, along with their mental health and well-being. We are still unclear on how these ...negative effects play out, as no studies have examined what the relationships are between stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and well-being in social workers. This cross-sectional study attempted to identify the rates and correlates of stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and mental well-being of 121 social workers, using bivariate and multiple regression analyses. This study highlighted a significant proportion of social workers who reported mild to severe issues in anxiety, depression and mental well-being. This study highlighted that perceived stress is likely to be a universal risk factor for anxiety, depression, and mental well-being in social workers. Emotional exhaustion was also identified as a potential risk factor for anxiety, with personal accomplishment being a potential protective factor against depression and for positive mental well-being. This study provides promising preliminary evidence that if social workers who are experiencing issues with anxiety, depression and mental well-being are supported to reduce feelings of stress, emotional exhaustion, and increase feelings of personal accomplishment, they are likely to experience improvements in their mental health and job performance.
Social work can be a very stressful profession to work in, and many social workers can experience burnout and issues with their mental health and well-being due to their social work role. We still don’t know much about the relationships between experiencing stress, burnout and how these might impact social worker’s mental health and well-being. This study examined if stress and burnout might have a role to play in the development of mental health and well-being issues in a sample of social workers. This study found that if a social worker experiences higher levels of stress, they are at risk of developing issues with anxiety, depression and mental well-being. This study also found that emotionally exhausted social workers are at risk of developing issues with anxiety. This study also found that if social workers feel a sense of personal accomplishment from their social work role, they are less likely to experience depressive symptoms and issues in well-being. Our findings indicate that if social workers are supported to reduce feelings of stress, emotional exhaustion, and increase feelings of personal accomplishment, they are likely to experience improvements in their mental health and job performance.
Background Mental health issues and disorders are major public health challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia, where chronic shortages in mental health services ...and human resources exist. The development of effective and accessible mental health systems in Southeast Asia will require evidence based psychological and social interventions. This systematic review provides a narrative synthesis of the evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions for mental health issues and disorders in Southeast Asia. Methods A comprehensive literature search of 7 electronic databases (PsycINFO, Medline (Ovid), Cochrane library, EMBASE, SCOPUS, APA PsycArticles, and Social Care Online) was undertaken. Results Thirty two studies employing RCT designs to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of psychological and social mental health interventions on a number of different mental health outcomes were included in this review. The disparate intervention programmes reviewed were categorised as: lay delivered, yoga, aerobic and/or meditation based, cognitive behavioural therapy oriented, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing based (EMDR), health worker delivered, and hybrid programmes. The majority of the studies included in this review were of low to moderate quality due to the variability in the quality of the study design. The highest quality, and most promising evidence came from the evaluations of lay delivered interventions. This evidence demonstrates the feasibility and potential sustainability of implementing such interventions in resource constrained contexts. Conclusions The review findings indicate that a disparate array of mental health interventions can be implemented effectively in a range of Southeast Asian mental health and health settings. There is a clear need for significantly more research however, through higher quality and larger scale RCTs before it will be known more definitively, if these interventions are effective, and for whom they are most effective in different Southeast Asian contexts. Keywords: Mental health, Disorder, Psychological and social, Intervention, Mental health system, Review
It is clear from the international social work literature that social workers experience high levels of stress and burnout due to the cognitive, emotional and physical demands of the profession. ...There are however no integrative theories, developed by social workers, on how this stress, burnout and its impact on the emotional and psychological well-being of social workers can be ameliorated and then improved. This article makes an original contribution to this literature by proposing the use of the clinically modified Buddhist psychological model, as a beneficial lens for understanding how to improve reflective practice in social work along with the feelings of stress, burnout, anxiety, low mood and well-being deficits that can result from social work practice. This paper will outline the rationale for the development of the clinically modified Buddhist psychological model, before outlining the theory itself and how it might support stress coping processes and reflective social work practice. This paper has significance for all social workers, social work students and social work educators, as it provides a theory which could help to inform improved reflective social work practice and self-care.
Objectives
Growing evidence suggests that mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) can reduce stress and burnout among social workers. How MBPs support changes in these outcomes is unclear. This study ...attempts to identify what some of these mechanisms might be, using the clinically modified Buddhist psychological model (CBPM) as a guiding framework.
Method
This study used data from two randomised controlled trials investigating the impact of MBP participation on social worker stress and burnout. The data from participants (
n
= 94) who completed a Mindfulness-based Social Work and Self-Care (MBSWSC) programme, or a mindfulness and self-compassion programme (MSC) were combined. Structural equation models were constructed, and conditional direct and indirect effect models of changes in the CBPM domains (mindfulness, self-compassion, attention regulation, acceptance, non-attachment, non-aversion), mediating variables (rumination and worry) and outcomes (stress and burnout) were tested.
Results
The results suggest that CBPM models, through mediated effects on stress, depersonalisation, and personal accomplishment, as well as direct and mediated effects on stress, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalisation, can provide useful frameworks for explaining how MBPs reduce stress and burnout among social workers. This study also found several other significant conditional direct and indirect effects. The pattern of these relationships indicate that multiple outcomes could be improved through different CBPM domains.
Conclusion
This study provides initial evidence on the potential mechanisms through which MBP participation acts to reduce stress and burnout in social workers.
Preregistration
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT05519267 and NCT05538650.
Abstract Social work professionals experience high levels of stress and burnout. Stress and burnout can have a negative impact on the individual social worker, the organisations they work for, and ...perhaps most importantly, the quality of care that marginalised groups that are supported by social workers receive. Several work-related predictors of stress and burnout have been identified; however, no studies have examined the underlying psychological protective and risk factors which might help to explain changes in social worker stress and burnout. Using the clinically modified Buddhist psychological model (CBPM) as a theoretical framework, this cross-sectional study attempted to identify psychological protective and risk factors for stress and burnout in 121 social workers in Northern Ireland, using structural equation modelling, and conditional process analyses. This study provided promising preliminary evidence for a mediated effect CBPM as being a potentially useful explanatory framework of variation in social worker stress, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalisation. This study also provided evidence that several CBPM domains could have a direct effect on personal accomplishment. This study provides preliminary evidence that support programmes, which have the capacity to improve each CBPM domain (mindfulness, acceptance, attention regulation/decentering, self-compassion, non-attachment, and non-aversion) and reduce experiences of worry and rumination, are likely to support social workers to experience reduced stress, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation of service users, and improvements in personal accomplishment.
This study aimed to systematically review studies which conducted a controlled mediation analysis in order to examine the potential mechanisms which underlie mindfulness-based programme’s (MBPs) ...effects on anxiety, depression and psychological distress in any health or mental health population. Searches of six databases (Medline (Ovid), PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, Cinahal Plus and Cochrane Reviews) were undertaken in September 2020. After removing duplicates, 2052 records were screened, of these 1822 were excluded based on the abstract and 230 were further assessed for eligibility against the full study inclusion criteria. Full texts were acquired for the 11 studies which met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the methodologies of each of these 11 studies were assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (Higgins et al.,
2011
). The quality of the findings from each study relating to the hypothesised mechanisms of action of the MBP reviewed were evaluated using Alsubaie et al. (
2017
)’s framework for abstracting and interpreting mechanistic study quality, derived from recommendations made by Kazdin (
2007
,
2009
). We found preliminary evidence that MBCT/MBSR treatment effects on anxiety and depression may be mediated by hypothesised mechanisms, such as mindfulness, rumination, worry, self-compassion, cognitive reactivity, aversion, attention regulation skills and positive affect. An overall lack of methodological rigour does preclude us from making any definitive conclusions on causality. The results from this study do however provide some insights into what the potential causal pathways connecting MBPs with improved anxiety and depression might be.
PDF
