What are the assessments and evaluations for mental illness treatment?
Dec 01, 2002 · Introduction. This document presents a set of criteria to be used in evaluating treatment guidelines that have been promulgated by health care organizations, government agencies, professional associations, or other entities. 1 Although originally developed for mental health interventions, the criteria presented are equally applicable in other ...
Are the scales and measures listed here designed to assist clinicians?
A mental health assessment is designed to: diagnose mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, postnatal depression, eating disorders and psychotic illnesses. differentiate between mental and physical health problems. assess a person referred because of problems at school, work or home.
What is the criteria for evaluating treatment guidelines?
The scale is used as an initial evaluation, as a record of patient progress, and as a means of communicating the evaluation, progress, and treatment to other hospital departments. Ratings of patients that indicate improvement and readiness for discharge are supported by the evaluations of other disciplines.
How do we evaluate the efficacy of treatments?
These include Behavior Therapy, Cognitive and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Humanistic-Experiential Therapies, Psychodynamic Therapies, Couples and Family Therapy, and biological treatments (psychopharmacology). Of course, for any mental disorder, some of the aforementioned therapies will have greater efficacy than others.
What is treatment guidelines?
That is, treatment guidelines are patient directed or patient focused as opposed to practitioner focused, and they tend to be condition or treatment specific (e.g., pediatric immunizations, mammography, depression).
What is the most common classification system?
The most common classification system is the International Classification of Diseases ( ICD-10; World Health Organization, 1992) and, for mental disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994).
What are the different types of pain scales?
Pain scale results can help guide the diagnostic process, track the progression of a condition, and more. There are at least 10 pain scales in common use, which are described below. They tend to fall into certain categories: 1 Numerical rating scales (NRS) use numbers to rate pain. 2 Visual analog scales (VAS) typically ask a patient to mark a place on a scale that aligns with their level of pain. 3 Categorical scales use words as the primary communication tool and may also incorporate numbers, colors, or relative location to communicate pain.
Why use pain scales?
There are several well-designed pain scales that are used to help assess the extent of one's pain, all of which help improve communication between healthcare providers and patients. Some of these tools are most suited for people of certain ages, while others are more useful for people who are highly involved in their own health care .
How many pain scales are there?
There are at least 10 pain scales in common use, which are described below. They tend to fall into certain categories: Numerical rating scales (NRS) use numbers to rate pain. Visual analog scales (VAS) typically ask a patient to mark a place on a scale that aligns with their level of pain.
What does 0 mean on a pain scale?
Zero indicates the absence of pain, while 10 represents the most intense pain possible. 1 .
How many words are in the McGill Pain Questionnaire?
The McGill Pain Questionnaire consists of 78 words that describe pain. 6 A person rates their own pain by marking the words that most closely match up to their feelings. Some examples of the words used are tugging, terrifying, cold, sharp, and wretched.
How many questions are asked on the Pain Inventory Scale?
The brief pain inventory scale uses a worksheet with 15 questions that ask you to numerically rate the effect of your pain on categories such as how you relate with other people, walking, and sleep over the last 24 hours. 9
Do doctors use pain scales?
Some doctors regularly use a pain scale with patients. Some hospital rooms even have them posted on their walls, prompting staff to have a discussion about pain each time they pay a patient a visit.
What is the purpose of mental health assessment?
The purpose of a mental health assessment. Having a mental health assessment gives your doctor a picture of the way you think, feel, reason and remember. The mental health test assesses your emotional wellbeing via a series of questions and also includes a physical examination. As a priority your doctor will determine if you are at risk ...
What do doctors look for when they ask about mental illness?
While your doctor is asking about your mental illness symptoms, they will be paying attention to how you look, the way you speak and your mood to see if this gives any clues to explain your symptoms . This will be subtle and you probably will not notice they are doing it.
What to do if you are worried about mental health?
If you or someone you know is worried about a mental health issue, the first step is talking to a healthcare professional. Your local doctor (general practitioner or GP) can conduct an initial mental health assessment and may refer you to a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist depending on your needs.
Can a GP diagnose mental health issues?
Some mental health conditions are hard to diagnose so your GP may not be able to find the cause of your symptoms. Even for specialists, more than one mental health assessment or other tests may be needed to accurately identify your condition. Your GP may refer you to a mental health specialist such as a psychiatrist.
What are the different types of mental health disorders?
mental health disorders such as anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder and bipolar disorder. developmental problems such as learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. alcohol and other drug issues. other problems such as thyroid disease and brain tumours.
What is the ACIS?
For people who need immediate mental health help in a crisis, the police, ambulance staff or a doctor might call the Acute Community Intervention Service (ACIS) to help. Previously referred to as a crisis and assessment (or ‘CAT’) team, the ACIS can provide:
What does a GP do?
Summary. Read the full fact sheet. Your GP can do a basic assessment of your mental health and may refer you to a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist depending on your needs. A mental health assessment usually involves a mix of questions and a physical examination. Your GP may refer you to a mental health specialist, such as a psychiatrist, ...
What is neuropsychological evaluation?
Neuropsychological Evaluation: A test battery designed to measure a child’s cognitive skills and brain functioning in areas such as intelligence, attention, memory, learning, and visual perceptual. Tests typically given include an intelligence measure, such as the WISC-V; achievement/academic tests, such as the WIAT-III or Woodcock-Johnson ...
Who is Ellen Braaten?
Ellen Braaten, PhD, is executive director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, and former co-director for the MGH Clay Cente...
Who is Arielle's mother?
Arielle’s mother, Adele , was confused. She had taken Arielle, an active first grader who was struggling to learn how to read, to her pediatrician for guidance. Arielle’s teacher was complaining that Arielle seemed impulsive and hyperactive, and of course Adele was worried about Arielle’s struggles with reading.
What is a psychological assessment?
Psychological tests assess the client’s personality, social skills, cognitive abilities, emotions, behavioral responses, or interests. They can be administered either individually or to groups in paper or oral fashion.
What are the three critical concepts of assessment?
The assessment process involves three critical concepts – reliability, validity, and standardization . Actually, these three are important to science in general. First, we want the assessment to be reliable or consistent. Outside of clinical assessment, when our car has an issue and we take it to the mechanic, we want to make sure that what one mechanic says is wrong with our car is the same as what another says, or even two others. If not, the measurement tools they use to assess cars are flawed. The same is true of a patient who is suffering from a mental disorder. If one mental health professional says the person suffers from major depressive disorder and another says the issue is borderline personality disorder, then there is an issue with the assessment tool being used (in this case, the DSM and more on that in a bit). Ensuring that two different raters are consistent in their assessment of patients is called interrater reliability. Another type of reliability occurs when a person takes a test one day, and then the same test on another day. We would expect the person’s answers to be consistent, which is called test-retest reliability. For example, let’s say the person takes the MMPI on Tuesday and then the same test on Friday. Unless something miraculous or tragic happened over the two days in between tests, the scores on the MMPI should be nearly identical to one another. What does identical mean? The score at test and the score at retest are correlated with one another. If the test is reliable, the correlation should be very high (remember, a correlation goes from -1.00 to +1.00, and positive means as one score goes up, so does the other, so the correlation for the two tests should be high on the positive side).
What is MRI imaging?
Images are produced that yield information about the functioning of the brain. Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI provides 3D images of the brain or other body structures using magnetic fields and computers. It can detect brain and spinal cord tumors or nervous system disorders such as multiple sclerosis.
What is the purpose of a CT scan?
Finally, computed tomography or the CT scan involves taking X-rays of the brain at different angles and is used to diagnose brain damage caused by head injuries or brain tumors. 3.1.3.5. Physical examination.
What is clinical diagnosis?
Clinical diagnosis is the process of using assessment data to determine if the pattern of symptoms the person presents with is consistent with the diagnostic criteria for a specific mental disorder outlined in an established classification system such as the DSM-5 or I CD-10 (both will be described shortly). Any diagnosis should have clinical utility, meaning it aids the mental health professional in determining prognosis, the treatment plan, and possible outcomes of treatment (APA, 2013). Receiving a diagnosis does not necessarily mean the person requires treatment. This decision is made based upon how severe the symptoms are, level of distress caused by the symptoms, symptom salience such as expressing suicidal ideation, risks and benefits of treatment, disability, and other factors (APA, 2013). Likewise, a patient may not meet the full criteria for a diagnosis but require treatment nonetheless.
When was the DSM 5 published?
3.2.2.1. A brief history of the DSM. The DSM-5 was published in 2013 and took the place of the DSM IV-TR (TR means Text Revision; published in 2000), but the history of the DSM goes back to 1944 when the American Psychiatric Association published a predecessor of the DSM which was a “statistical classification of institutionalized mental patients” and “…was designed to improve communication about the types of patients cared for in these hospitals” (APA, 2013, p. 6). The DSM evolved through four major editions after World War II into a diagnostic classification system to be used psychiatrists and physicians, but also other mental health professionals. The Herculean task of revising the DSM began in 1999 when the APA embarked upon an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the DSM in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) Division of Mental Health, the World Psychiatric Association, and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). This collaboration resulted in the publication of a monograph in 2002 called A Research Agenda for DSM-V. From 2003 to 2008, the APA, WHO, NIMH, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) convened 13 international DSM-5 research planning conferences “to review the world literature in specific diagnostic areas to prepare for revisions in developing both DSM-5 and the International Classification of Disease, 11th Revision (ICD-11)” (APA, 2013).
When was the DSM revised?
The Herculean task of revising the DSM began in 1999 when the APA embarked upon an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the DSM in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) Division of Mental Health, the World Psychiatric Association, and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
What is the purpose of psychological testing?
Common purposes for psychological testing include: screening for the presence or absence of common mental health conditions; making a formal diagnosis of a mental health condition; assessment of changes in symptom severity;
What is screening measure?
Screening measures are often questionnaires completed by clients. Screening tends are quick to administer but results are only indicative: if a positive result is found on a screening test then the screening test can be followed up by a more definitive test.
When to use a rating scale?
Researchers use a rating scale in research when they intend to associate a qualitative measure with the various aspects of a product or feature. Generally, this scale is used to evaluate the performance of a product or service, employee skills, customer service performances, processes followed for a particular goal etc.
What is ordinal scale?
An ordinal scaleis a scale the depicts the answer options in an ordered manner. The difference between the two answer option may not be calculable but the answer options will always be in a certain innate order. Parameters such as attitude or feedback can be presented using an ordinal scale. Learn more: Ordinal Data.
