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An Engagement Intervention for Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions

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Abstract

Young adults with serious mental health conditions (SMHCs) often do not engage continuously with mental health services, and there are few engagement interventions designed for them. This qualitative study presents a blueprint for conceptualizing and developing an engagement intervention designed for young adults with SMHCs. The blueprint includes the following activities: (1) establishing a strong theoretical basis, (2) designing an initial manual based on previous research and practice, (3) systematically examining feedback on the manual from stakeholders, and (4) examining the feasibility, acceptability, and implementation demands of the intervention. Interviews, group discussions, and journaling were utilized to collect information from young adult participant-researchers, intervention facilitators (i.e., recovery role models and clinicians), and additional stakeholders (e.g., clinic staff and administrators) (N = 43). Analyses were performed with multiple coders using constant comparative methods. Results revealed critical information to improve the intervention, while also suggesting that the engagement intervention for young adults with SMHCs has promise.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to especially thank the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Fahs Beck Fund/New York Community Trust for financial support and all of the participants who helped us develop and refine the young adult engagement intervention reported on in this article.

Conflict of Interest

None for any authors.

Notes

There were 27 young adults that were part of post-session process discussions, which is more than the 24 young adults described in Table 1, because 3 young adult participants consented and became involved after the baseline data was collected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York University Silver School of Social Work, 1 Washington Square North, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Michelle R. Munson PhD, Andrea Cole MSW & James Jaccard PhD

  2. Veterans Administration, Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC), 16111 Plummer St, North Hills, CA, 91343, USA

    Derrick Kranke PhD

  3. Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    Kathleen Farkas PhD

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, OH, 44272, USA

    Fred J. Frese III PhD

Authors
  1. Michelle R. Munson PhD
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  2. Andrea Cole MSW
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  3. James Jaccard PhD
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  4. Derrick Kranke PhD
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  5. Kathleen Farkas PhD
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  6. Fred J. Frese III PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michelle R. Munson PhD.

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Munson, M.R., Cole, A., Jaccard, J. et al. An Engagement Intervention for Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions. J Behav Health Serv Res 43, 542–563 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-014-9424-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-014-9424-9

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