Changes in knowledge, behavioural expectations, self-efficacy, and stigma after an educational campaign about early psychosis for jail correction officers.

AIM: Given a lack of interventions to identify and engage individuals with early psychosis in jail and connect them to specialty care in the community upon release, we designed a Targeted Educational Campaign (TEC) for correction officers working in jails. We report on impacts of the TEC on officers' cognitive and attitudinal outcomes. METHODS: Three different cohorts of officers-totaling n = 451-took part in a survey: 200 at baseline before the TEC began, 123 at 6-months into the TEC, and 128 at 12-months into the TEC. Among each cohort of officers, four constructs were measured: (1) knowledge about early psychosis; (2) self-efficacy around detecting early psychosis and referring to mental health services within the jail; (3) expectations about the benefits of detection and referral to specialty care; and (4) social distance stigma toward detainees with early psychosis. RESULTS: While exposure to TEC elements was as-planned in the first 6-months, exposure diminished substantially at 12-months, coinciding with increasing fatigue among correction officers due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as serious staffing shortages. Knowledge, behavioural expectations, and self-efficacy scores improved from baseline to 6-months, with greater exposure to roll-call messages driving scores. Knowledge and behavioural expectations at 12-months were associated with having received an information post card. Social distance stigma worsened across timepoints. CONCLUSIONS: An educational campaign for jail staff can enhance knowledge, self-efficacy, and behavioural expectations regarding early psychosis, though only while the campaign elements are active. Further research should investigate whether or not social distance stigma or other types of stigma increase alongside improvements.

Information sharing across mental health service providers and criminal legal system stakeholders: Perspectives of people with serious mental illnesses and their family members.

OBJECTIVE: The overrepresentation of people with serious mental illnesses in the criminal legal system has spurred information-sharing initiatives to transmit information between mental health service providers and criminal legal system stakeholders with the goal of improving resources and streamlining access to care. However, no research to date has examined the perspectives of people with mental illnesses who have their information shared across these systems or the perspectives of their family members. This study examined the perspectives on mental health-criminal legal system information sharing among people with serious mental illnesses and a history of arrest, as well as their family members. METHODS: Researchers interviewed 24 clients with serious mental illnesses and a history of arrest who are enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial of a police-mental health Linkage System as well as 11 of their family members. Participants were recruited and interviewed between November 2020 and February 2021. A thematic analysis was used to code and analyze all interview transcripts. RESULTS: Study participants articulated perceived benefits and concerns around cross-system information sharing. There was strong support for information sharing in both directions, with the anticipation that such information sharing can prevent unnecessary arrest and/or incarceration, promote positive and safe interactions with criminal legal system professionals, and foster greater understanding and access to treatment. Concerns were more limited and largely related to perceived stigma around mental illnesses and the potential consequences of such stigma. CONCLUSIONS: While concerns about information sharing should be considered, study participants overwhelmingly perceived the sharing of information between mental health providers and criminal legal stakeholders as a positive intervention. Such perspectives can be understood as a pragmatic choice in the face of criminal legal system contact and additional research could guide programmatic and policy changes.

A Community Navigation Scale for Persons With Serious Mental Illnesses.

OBJECTIVE: The recovery paradigm in the context of serious mental illnesses pertains to several characteristics of community functioning, adjustment, and integration, among other constructs. Additional rating scales would be beneficial for measuring various facets of community functioning for research that is recovery oriented as opposed to symptom focused. The Community Navigation Scale was developed as part of the Opening Doors to Recovery project to address several aspects of navigating community resources. METHODS: After item development, the 21-item Community Navigation Scale was used across two studies with 340 participants who had serious mental illnesses. Factor analysis revealed three potential factors, and subscales were computed. RESULTS: The social and physical well-being subscale (seven items, Cronbach's α=0.82) addressed community involvement, volunteering, finding enjoyable activities, and engaging in positive health behaviors. The accessing external resources subscale (nine items, Cronbach's α=0.80) tapped one's ability to obtain needed resources, ranging from medications to housing and from small appliances to classes in the community. The home and self-maintenance subscale (five items, Cronbach's α=0.73) measured abilities around shopping, cooking, cell phone use, house cleaning, and personal grooming and hygiene. Initial validity of the subscales was suggested through correlations with the Multnomah Community Ability Scale (r=0.65, 0.55, and 0.41 for social and physical well-being, accessing external resources, and home and self-maintenance, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The Community Navigation Scale assesses dimensions of community functioning among persons with serious mental illnesses and may add to the array of research and clinical measures pertinent to recovery outcomes. Additional research on its psychometric properties is warranted.

Failure to Appear: Mental Health Professionals' Role Amidst Pretrial Justice Reform.

Pretrial detention reform is keeping people who have been arrested on low-level charges out of jail while they await trial. This reform has implications for people with serious mental illnesses who are overrepresented in the criminal legal system and who can now stay connected to families, employment, community supports, and treatment providers while their cases are processed. However, such reforms may have uniquely negative consequences for those with serious mental illnesses. In this Open Forum, the authors argue that it is critical for mental health professionals to understand what pretrial reform entails and to incorporate planning around clients' criminal legal system involvement into their routine clinical work.