Women's Mental Health Services: A Public Health Perspective / Edition 1

by Bruce Lubotsky Levin, Andrea K. Blanch, Ann Jennings

Overview

In this volume, authorities from around the United States and from a variety of perspectives analyze and discuss key topics in women's mental health, including empowerment, substance abuse, severe mental illness and interpersonal violence.

Issues examined in the first part focus on service delivery - for example, the organizational structure of service delivery, gender and racial service disparities, and challenges women face as mental health administrators. Contributors to Part Two explore special issues and populations, including women who have survived trauma such as sexual abuse, and women with mental disorders who are in prison.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761905080
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	04/21/1998
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Levin, Bruce Lubotsky, DrPH, FABHM (Univ of South Florida); Blanch, Andrea K., PhD (Maine Dept of Mental Health); Jennings, Ann, PhD (Maine Dept of Mental Health)

Table of Contents

ABRIDGED CONTENTS: Part I: Service Delivery Issues
Part II: Special Issues
Section A: Empowermen
Section B: Severe Mental Illness & Survivors of Trauma
Section C: At-Risk Populations

Editorial Reviews

3 Stars from Doody

Filling a void in the research literature on women's mental health and the services that address it, contributors take on such topics as empowerment, substance abuse, severe mental illness, and interpersonal violence, as they relate to women. Topics include service delivery organization; gender and racial service disparities; challenges for women as mental health administrators; empowerment issues; severe mental illness and trauma; and at-risk populations among women. The text also includes chapters that examine the experiences of women who have confronted illnesses and survived. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

Reviewer: Cynthia Breaux, PhD (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This is an opportune book on the current status of women's mental health services with special emphasis on severely mentally ill women and women who are trauma survivors. The book is written from a multidisciplinary, public health perspective with nationally recognized contributors.
Purpose: The primary purpose is to fill a gap in the behavioral health services literature by focusing on behavioral health issues pertinent to women and to draw attention to women who are making contributions to mental health services. A secondary purpose is to approach the above from a multidisciplinary, public health perspective.
Audience: Although written for an inclusive audience of professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, and policymakers in a variety of health settings, this book seems particularly useful for policymakers and practitioners because of its visionary approach to the future of healthcare for women. Contributors to the book are credible, nationally recognized authorities in their respective areas of expertise.
Features: Part I lays the foundation by giving an overview of mental health service delivery and service use. Part II provides an in-depth, comprehensive consideration of mental health services for severely mentally ill women and gives special attention to trauma survivors. The book does an excellent job of drawing attention to women who are the least likely to receive adequate services due to their relative position in society or by virtue of the environmental etiology of their problems.
Assessment: In light of the fact that there are virtually no texts that give an overview of public mental health issues affecting women, this book is a very important contribution to the area of behavioral health. It successfully highlights the needs of arguably the least understood, most underserved women in the U.S. The book's multidisciplinary, public health framework fittingly mirrors the inclusive, collaborative style attributed to women leaders and should serve to capture the attention of future policymakers in public health.

Doody's Review Service