Storylines as a Neglected Tool for Mental Health Service Providers and Researchers
- PDF / 153,015 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 118 Downloads / 200 Views
Storylines as a Neglected Tool for Mental Health Service Providers and Researchers Khary K. Rigg & John W. Murphy
Published online: 11 January 2013 # The New York Academy of Medicine (outside the USA) 2013
Abstract Mental health service providers and researchers usually explain psychological/ behavioral problems in terms of risk and protective factors. Although such an approach may seem empirical, and thus accurate, the manner in which patients interpret these factors is often overlooked. The result is that practitioners and researchers draw conclusions and make possible causal attributions that do not take into account the perspective of those who are studied or in care. Storylines, however, are a promising strategy to understanding mental health problems that is sensitive to the experiences and situations of people, and can bring into view more relevant details of patients’ lives. This paper provides a theoretically grounded justification for the use of storylines in both mental health practice and research. Storylines are defined, while suggestions are provided for how this framework might be put into practice. A discussion is offered on how storylines might improve the design and implementation of health interventions by requiring these services to become more attuned to the lived experience of patients and the meanings they attach to common risk factors. Keywords Mental health practice and research . Etiology . Storylines . Community-based approach . Risk and protective factors Insights into the origins and development of mental health problems are the foundation for designing effective treatments and interventions. But mental health service providers are often faced with the difficult challenge of trying to determine disease etiology or the cause(s) of people’s problems during the course of a single clinical visit. To facilitate in this endeavor, clinicians commonly create frameworks for understanding patient behaviors and health conditions. K. K. Rigg (*) Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia VA Medical Center, 4100 Chester Ave, Suite 202, Philadelphia, PA, USA e-mail: [email protected] K. K. Rigg Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA J. W. Murphy Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
432
Int J Ment Health Addiction (2013) 11:431–440
Psychologists and social workers, for example, commonly use devices such as the case method to explore causation and identify the underlying etiologies of persons in their care. The case method, which has become a cornerstone of clinical training (Jones 2003), calls for clinicians to establish apriori criteria that are thought to typify a particular condition. Cases or patients that fit these criteria are then handled according to the appropriate protocol for that clinical situation. Additionally, physicians are trained typically to fit patient complaints into preconceived rubrics or templates that call for specific medical interventions. The burgeoning use of so-ca
Data Loading...
