 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Matthew Johnsen, PhD and Colleen McKay, MA, CAGS. Center for Mental Health Services Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, 508-856-8692, Matthew.Johnsen@umassmed.edu
This paper seeks to examine the relationship between social capital and the diffusion of mental health programs. Social capital has been hypothesized to affect outcomes at several levels of analysis, including individual, community and governmental. To better understand this relationship, we focus on the distribution of psychosocial rehabilitation programs of a particular type, the clubhouse model. This paper reports a relationship, at the state-level, between social capital and the presence of clubhouses within those states. This relationship is also found after controlling for population. We use this exploration to speculate about the importance, the nature and the directionality of the relationship between mental health program development and social capital. In addition, we extend a discussion highlighting the need to carefully articulate the concept of social capital as well as the level at which it is framed and the mechanisms through which its effects are experienced.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Mental Health, Community Capacity
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.