Advances in Mental Health Reseach

Implications for Practice

Social workers are strategically positioned to provide the full range of preventive, treatment, and rehabilitative mental health services in today’s rapidly changing health and human services systems. Social work practitioners provide a very large proportion of mental health services within the formal mental health care system and across the spectrum of health and human services. They also compose a significant proportion of the administrative personnel who manage public and private mental health services agencies. Health and social services systems are increasingly held accountable for the human and cost outcomes produced by their services. These intersecting factors spurred the development of this book, which is aimed at providing social workers (and other health care practitioners) with a readily accessible and practitioner-relevant resource on advances in mental health research for diverse populations and service systems.

The National Institute of Mental Health commissioned us to prepare this volume to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the National Mental Health Act. The book is divided into two major sections: "Research on Psychopathology" and "Mental Health Treatment and Services Research." The chapters discuss recent findings that we hope will enhance the extent to which social work practice is based on empirical data and sound knowledge.

The ultimate purpose of research and of social work is to help people solve and deal with complex and difficult human problems—including mental illnesses. Children, adolescents, adults, and families have a right to the most effective treatment and services that can be provided. The purposes of research, and of this book, are to help individuals, families, and communities in need make use of what is known and to challenge all of us to help in developing and applying the knowledge we need to help people.

We would like to thank the chapter authors and other professional colleagues who have supported this effort to further the extent to which social work contributes to research and bases its practice and education on sound empirical knowledge. We would also like to thank our families for supporting us through the many hours we spent putting this volume together.

Janet B. W. Williams, DSW
Kathleen Ell, DSW