Promotion of children's early psychosocial development through primary health care services. Improving mental health among people living with HIV: a review of intervention trials in low- and middle-income countries Myofeedback training and intensive muscular strength training to decrease pain and improve work ability among female workers on long-term sick leave with neck pain: a randomized controlled trial Workplace strength training prevents deterioration of work ability among workers with chronic pain and work disability: a randomized controlled trial. The Effects of Physical Activity on Health and Quality of Life in Adolescent Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review Regenerate: assessing the feasibility of a strength-training program to enhance the physical and mental health of chronic post stroke patients with depression. Resource factors for mental health resilience in early childhood: An analysis with multiple methodologies
The paper presents the study design of the development and organisation of an EU/WHO multicentre study on the promotion of children 's early psychosocial development through primary health care services . The aim of the programme is to develop training for primary health care workers ( PHCWs ) that improves their ability to assess factors relevant to psychosocial development and gives them preventive approaches to foster that development , building on families ' strengths . The focus is on the period from conception to the end of the second year of the child 's ' life . Two main components are the training of the PHCWs and the semi-structured interviews that guide the workers in practice . The training has content and structure that is feasible within primary health care re sources working in collaboration with mental health services . The programme is evaluated in terms of ( a ) the impact of training on both the PHCWs ' knowledge and attitudes with regard to infant behaviour and development , and on practice as assessed by the delivery of the semi-structured interview ; and ( b ) the effect of the intervention on maternal well-being , infant language development and behavior , home environment and mother-infant interaction . The programme is taking place in Cyprus , Greece , the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , Portugal , Slovenia and Turkey People living with HIV ( PLWH ) experience greater psychological distress than the general population . Evidence from high-incomes countries suggests that psychological interventions for PLWH can improve mental health symptoms , quality of life , and HIV care engagement . However , little is known about the effectiveness of mental health interventions for PLWH in low- and middle-income countries ( LMICs ) , where the large majority of PLWH reside . This systematized review aims to synthesize findings from mental health intervention trials with PLWH in LMICs to inform the delivery of mental health services in these setting s. A systematic search strategy was undertaken to identify peer- review ed published papers of intervention trials addressing negative psychological states or disorders ( e.g. depression , anxiety ) among PLWH in LMIC setting s. Search results were assessed against pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria . Data from papers meeting criteria were extracted for synthesis . Twenty-six papers , published between 2000 and 2014 , describing 22 unique interventions were identified . Trials were implemented in sub-Saharan Africa ( n = 13 ) , Asia ( n = 7 ) , and the Middle East ( n = 2 ) , and addressed mental health using a variety of approaches , including cognitive-behavioral ( n = 18 ) , family-level ( n = 2 ) , and pharmacological ( n = 2 ) treatments . Four r and omized controlled trials reported significant intervention effects in mental health outcomes , and 11 preliminary studies demonstrated promising findings . Among the limited mental health intervention trials with PLWH in LMICs , few demonstrated efficacy .  Mental health interventions for PLWH in LMICs must be further developed and adapted for re source -limited setting s to improve effectiveness The theoretical framework is that muscle tension in the neck is related to insufficient muscular rest and is a risk factor for chronic pain and reduced work ability . Promoting muscle strength and muscle rest may increase work ability and reduce neck pain . Objectives To test whether myofeedback training or intensive strength training leads to decreased pain and increased work ability in women on long-term sick leave . Methods This is a r and omized controlled trial of two 1-month interventions with myofeedback or muscular strength training in the home environment . Female human service organization workers ( n = 60 ) on long-term ( > 60 days ) sick leave and with chronic neck pain were followed with self-reported and laboratory-observed data of health , pain , muscular activation , and work ability , at baseline , immediately after the intervention and 3 months after baseline . Results For both intervention groups , pain was lowered over time compared with the control group . Decreased pain and muscular activity was associated with increased self-rated work ability and with laboratory-observed work ability at 3-month follow-up . Decreased pain was also associated with increased self-rated work ability at 1-month follow-up . Muscular strength training was associated with increased self-rated work ability and mental health . Myofeedback was associated with increased observed work ability and self- rated vitality . Conclusions The two interventions showed positive results , suggesting that they could be developed for use in health care practice to address pain and work ability . The intensive muscular strength training program , which is both easy to conduct at home and easy to coach , was associated with increased work ability OBJECTIVE Imbalance between work dem and s and individual re sources can lead to musculoskeletal disorders and reduced work ability . The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two contrasting interventions on work ability among slaughterhouse workers with chronic pain and work disability . METHODS Sixty-six slaughterhouse workers with upper-limb chronic pain and work disability were r and omly allocated to 10 weeks of either strength training for the shoulder , arm , and h and muscles ( 3 times per week , 10 minutes per session ) or ergonomic training ( usual care control group ) from September to December 2012 . The outcome measure was the change from baseline to 10-week follow-up in the work ability index ( WAI ) . RESULTS A priori hypothesis testing showed a group × time interaction for WAI ( P<0.05 ) . Compared with the ergonomic training group , WAI increased 2.3 [ 95 % confidence interval ( 95 % CI ) 0.9 - 3.7 ] in the strength training group corresponding to a moderate effect size ( Cohen 's d 0.52 ) . Within-group changes indicated that between-group differences were mainly caused by a reduction in WAI in the ergonomic group . Of the 7 items of WAI , item 2 ( work ability in relation to the dem and s of the job ) and item 7 ( mental re sources ) increased following strength training compared with ergonomic training ( P<0.05 ) . CONCLUSIONS Implementation of strength training at the workplace prevents deterioration of work ability among manual workers with chronic pain and disability exposed to forceful and repetitive job tasks . Thus , strength training performed at the workplace may in fact be regarded as a complex biopsychosocial intervention modality that reaches further than the specific physiological benefits of training per se Background There are numerous published controlled trials assessing the safety and the benefits of physical activity ( PA ) for child and adult cancer survivors . However , trials exclusively comprised of adolescent cancer survivors aged 13 - 19 years , who may experience different health and quality of life ( QOL ) effects as a function of their developmental status , are lacking . Rather , some trials have included both adolescent and child cancer survivors together . Objective The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the findings from r and omized controlled trails ( RCTs ) and controlled clinical trials ( CCTs ) investigating the effects of PA on health and QOL outcomes in sample s comprised of > 50 % adolescent cancer survivors to summarize the current state of evidence , identify knowledge gaps , and highlight areas in need of additional research within this population . Methods Using a search strategy developed for this review , 10 electronic data bases were search ed for RCTs and CCTs that reported on the effects of PA on at least 1 health and /or QOL outcome in sample s comprised of > 50 % adolescent cancer survivors . Results From the 2249 articles identified , 2 CCTs met the predetermined eligibility criteria and were included in this review . Combined , 28 adolescents ( of 41 participants ) who were receiving active treatment participated in the 2 studies review ed . A total of 4 health and QOL outcomes ( ie , bone mass , fatigue , grip strength , QOL ) were assessed pre- and post-PA intervention . Conclusions On the basis of the 2 studies review ed , PA appears to be safe and feasible .  PA also shows promise to mitigate reductions in bone mass and might be a viable strategy to improve fatigue , grip strength , and QOL . High- quality controlled trials with larger sample s exclusively comprised of adolescent cancer survivors that assess a wide range of outcomes are needed to determine the effects of PA on health and QOL outcomes in this population OBJECTIVE The Regenerate pilot study explored whether a 10-week , community-based progressive resistance training ( PRT ) program could reduce depressive symptoms in depressed chronic stroke survivors . METHODS Participants were screened for depressive status using the PHQ-9 and confirmed by psychiatric assessment . Eligible people ( n = 45 ) were r and omised to PRT or a waiting-list comparison group .  The PRT program included two high intensity sessions/week for 10 weeks at a community-based gymnasium . Depressive status , physical and mental health and quality of life were measured at baseline , 10 weeks and 6 months . Muscle strength was assessed using 1 repetition maximum ( 1-RM ) for upper and lower limbs . RESULTS The participants ' median age was 69 years : 27 were male . The intervention group had lower depression scores than the comparison group at all time points . At 6-month follow-up , there was a trend for PRT participants to be more likely to be no longer depressed than the comparison group , but the difference was not significant after adjusting for baseline scores . There were modest improvements in health and wellbeing over time , but many scores were lower than reported in non-depressed people . Intervention participants demonstrated significant improvements in strength . Program adherence was good : on average 75 % of the 10-week program was completed . CONCLUSIONS The intervention appeared to be feasible within a community-based setting . To optimize stroke recovery and improve the quality of life of stroke survivors , health professionals should continue to focus on helping survivors ' mental health recovery as well their physical rehabilitation Background Given that relatively little is known about the development of resilience in early childhood , this longitudinal study aim ed to identify preschool re source factors associated with young children ’s mental health resilience to family adversity . Methods A community sample of 474 young Australian children was assessed in preschool ( mean age 4.59 years , 49 % male ) , and again two years later after their transition into formal schooling . At each assessment , st and ard question naires were used to obtain ratings from both parents and teachers about the quality of children ’s relationships with parents and teachers , children ’s self-concept and self-control , mental health ( Strengths and Difficulties Question naire ) , and family adversities ( including stressful life events and socioeconomic disadvantage ) . Results Greater exposure to cumulative family adversities was associated with both greater teacher- and parent-reported child mental health difficulties two years later . Multiple method ologies for operationalizing resilience were used to identify re sources associated with resilient mental health outcomes . Higher quality child – parent and child-teacher relationships , and greater child self-concept and self-control were associated with resilient mental health outcomes . With the exception of child-teacher relationships , these re sources were also prospect i ve antecedents of subsequent resilient mental health outcomes in children with no pre-existing mental health difficulties . Child – parent relationships and child self-concept generally had promotive effects , being equally beneficial for children facing both low- and high-adversity . Child self-control demonstrated a small protective effect on teacher-reported outcomes , with greater self-control conferring greater protection to children under conditions of high-adversity . Conclusions Findings suggest that early intervention and prevention strategies that focus on fostering child-adult relationship quality , self-concept , and self-control in young children may help build children ’s mental health and their resilience to family adversities
The Client Assessment of Strengths , Interests and Goals ( CASIG ) had the strongest psychometric evidence .
The SAW and CASIG assessment s can be tentatively recommended within clinical practice , although the evidence for all strengths assessment s is currently limited .
These categories form the basis of an empirically based definition of strengths that could be used as a conceptual foundation for new clinical assessment
Strengths assessment s focus on the individual 's talents , abilities , re sources , and strengths .
No systematic review of strengths assessment s for use within mental health population s has been published .
The aims of this study were to describe and evaluate strengths assessment s  for use within mental health services .