Australian rural adolescents’ experiences of accessing psychological help for a mental health problem
- Boyd, Candice, Francis, Kristy, Aisbett, Damon, Newnham, Krystal, Sewell, Jessica, Dawes, Graham, Nurse, Sarah
- Authors: Boyd, Candice , Francis, Kristy , Aisbett, Damon , Newnham, Krystal , Sewell, Jessica , Dawes, Graham , Nurse, Sarah
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 15, no. (2007), p. 196-200
- Full Text:
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- Description: Objective: This study aims to explore Australian rural adolescents’ experiences of accessing help for a mental health problem in the context of their rural communities. Design and setting: A qualitative research design was used whereby university students who had sought help for a mental health problem during their adolescence were interviewed about their experiences. Interviews were conducted face-to-face at the university. Main outcome measures: A semi-structured interview schedule was designed around the study’s main research questions. Audio-taped interviews were transcribed and thematically coded using a constant comparative method. Participants: Participants were first-year undergraduate psychology students between the ages of 17 and 21 years who sought help for a mental health issue during their adolescence and who at that time resided in a rural area. Results: Participants highlighted various barriers to seeking help for mental health problems in the context of a rural community, including: social visibility, lack of anonymity, a culture of self-reliance, and social stigma of mental illness. Participants’ access to help was primarily school-based, and participants expressed a preference for supportive counselling over structured interventions. Characteristics of school-based helpers that made them approachable included: ‘caring’, ‘nonjudgemental’, ‘genuine’, ‘young’, and able to maintain confidentiality. Conclusions: The findings support previous research that reveals barriers to help seeking for mental health problems that are unique to the culture of rural communities. The study raises questions about the merit of delivery of primary mental health care to young people via GPs alone and suggests that school-based counsellors be considered as the first step in a young person’s access to mental health care.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005807
- Authors: Boyd, Candice , Francis, Kristy , Aisbett, Damon , Newnham, Krystal , Sewell, Jessica , Dawes, Graham , Nurse, Sarah
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Rural Health Vol. 15, no. (2007), p. 196-200
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: This study aims to explore Australian rural adolescents’ experiences of accessing help for a mental health problem in the context of their rural communities. Design and setting: A qualitative research design was used whereby university students who had sought help for a mental health problem during their adolescence were interviewed about their experiences. Interviews were conducted face-to-face at the university. Main outcome measures: A semi-structured interview schedule was designed around the study’s main research questions. Audio-taped interviews were transcribed and thematically coded using a constant comparative method. Participants: Participants were first-year undergraduate psychology students between the ages of 17 and 21 years who sought help for a mental health issue during their adolescence and who at that time resided in a rural area. Results: Participants highlighted various barriers to seeking help for mental health problems in the context of a rural community, including: social visibility, lack of anonymity, a culture of self-reliance, and social stigma of mental illness. Participants’ access to help was primarily school-based, and participants expressed a preference for supportive counselling over structured interventions. Characteristics of school-based helpers that made them approachable included: ‘caring’, ‘nonjudgemental’, ‘genuine’, ‘young’, and able to maintain confidentiality. Conclusions: The findings support previous research that reveals barriers to help seeking for mental health problems that are unique to the culture of rural communities. The study raises questions about the merit of delivery of primary mental health care to young people via GPs alone and suggests that school-based counsellors be considered as the first step in a young person’s access to mental health care.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003005807
Mental health problems in rural contexts : A broader perspective
- Boyd, Candice, Hayes, Louise, Sewell, Jessica, Caldwell, Kirra, Kemp, Evan, Harvie, Lisa, Aisbett, Damon, Nurse, Sarah
- Authors: Boyd, Candice , Hayes, Louise , Sewell, Jessica , Caldwell, Kirra , Kemp, Evan , Harvie, Lisa , Aisbett, Damon , Nurse, Sarah
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Psychologist Vol. 43, no. 1 (2008), p. 2-6
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- Reviewed:
- Description: The objectives of this article are to expand and comment upon a recent review in Australian Psychologist of the literature in relation to mental health problems in rural contexts by Jackson et al. (2007). In the present article we review recently published qualitative research on the help-seeking attitudes and experiences of rural Australian adolescents. While we agree on the utility of the Macintyre, Ellaway, and Cummins (2002) conceptual framework based on notions of health and place, we note that this framework specifically emphasises the importance of the collective dimension. We present a broader perspective on health and place than Jackson et al. (2007) by incorporating social geographic research. We argue that rural mental health research has been hampered by a simplistic view of social stigma of mental illness and that a more thorough conceptualisation of the phenomenon is needed. Finally, we make some further recommendations based on a broader perspective of mental health in rural contexts: one that incorporates an in-depth understanding of the help-seeking attitudes and experiences of rural adolescents as well as an appreciation of the collective social functioning of rural communities.
- Description: C1
- Authors: Boyd, Candice , Hayes, Louise , Sewell, Jessica , Caldwell, Kirra , Kemp, Evan , Harvie, Lisa , Aisbett, Damon , Nurse, Sarah
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Psychologist Vol. 43, no. 1 (2008), p. 2-6
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The objectives of this article are to expand and comment upon a recent review in Australian Psychologist of the literature in relation to mental health problems in rural contexts by Jackson et al. (2007). In the present article we review recently published qualitative research on the help-seeking attitudes and experiences of rural Australian adolescents. While we agree on the utility of the Macintyre, Ellaway, and Cummins (2002) conceptual framework based on notions of health and place, we note that this framework specifically emphasises the importance of the collective dimension. We present a broader perspective on health and place than Jackson et al. (2007) by incorporating social geographic research. We argue that rural mental health research has been hampered by a simplistic view of social stigma of mental illness and that a more thorough conceptualisation of the phenomenon is needed. Finally, we make some further recommendations based on a broader perspective of mental health in rural contexts: one that incorporates an in-depth understanding of the help-seeking attitudes and experiences of rural adolescents as well as an appreciation of the collective social functioning of rural communities.
- Description: C1
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