A study of mental health needs in Madison County, Indiana

The purpose of this study was to determine mental health needs in Madison County, Indiana, to establish such needs according to priority and to make recommendations to assist planning efforts for a local comprehensive mental health center.Data collected were derived from three sources: (1) rating scales of mental health need statements as completed by professional persons and community leaders; (2) a questionnaire distributed to the general population on a random, county-wide basis; and (3) demographic and statistical information indicating potential need for mental health services.Fifty professional persons in positions related to the delivery of mental health services and key community leaders agreed to participate in one of five group meetings for the purpose of discussing mental health needs. Nineteen need statements resulted from the group sessions and were presented in the form of two separate rating scales. On the initial scale, raters were asked to rate each need statement on a continuum of relative need, and on the second scale they were asked to label each statement as a first, second or third priority need.One thousand persons were selected randomly from among approximately 80,000 registered voters in Madison County to receive the questionnaire on mental health attitudes and needs. Questionnaires were distributed either by local Girl Scouts or by the mail.Demographic and statistical data were obtained from local sources in Madison County as well as from state and federal government agencies. When applicable, Madison County data were compared with those of Indiana State Economic Region VI and the State of Indiana.The need statements used for the rating scales were primarily oriented toward treatment aspects of mental health services. Those needs determined to be the most important and immediate were: (1) provision for short-term commitment for persons with mental problems; (2) an after-care program for the follow-up of psychiatric patients, to include rehabilitation services; and (3) increased cooperation and communications between school systems and local mental health agencies.From the questionnaire it was ascertained that only 10% of the sample felt the services provided in 1974 were adequate to meet present mental health needs, whereas 65% felt comprehensive mental health services were necessary to meet needs.Several demographic and statistical data indicated the need for expanded mental health services. The caseload increased significantly between 1969 and 1973 in terms of mental health services provided at both The Center for Mental Health and Saint John's Hospital in Anderson. Admissions to Logansport State Hospital and the remaining eleven state hospitals from Madison County exceeded by percentage the county’s percentage of the population in Indiana for FiscalYear 1972 and Fiscal year 1973. Additional statistical indicators were found in the areas of Unemployment, divorce rate, drug usage (data for Region VI), and school drop-out rate.Findings from the rating scales and demographic and statistical data indicated a substantial need in Madison County for mental health services and that this need had increased in many related areas in the five years immediately prior to 1974. Both those persons who participated in the group sessions and the sample of the general public who responded were of the opinion that numerous mental health needs did exist at the time of the present study, and that these needs were important to the provision of improved and adequate services in Madison County. Those needs deemed essential to meeting mental health needs were in the area of treatment services as opposed to those of a preventive nature.On the basis of data presented in this study, it was recommended that planning efforts to obtain the necessary funds to develop a comprehensive mental health center in Madison County be continued and extended to the measure deemed essential by the Comprehensive Mental Health Planning Committee of Madison County.Thesis (D. Ed.