Empirical evidence for climate concerns, negative emotions and climate-related mental ill-health in young people: A scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Climate change represents a serious threat to human health, including mental health, due to both the traumatizing effects of extreme climate events and the psychological effect of worry about climate change. OBJECTIVES: This scoping review aims to search the literature for original research investigating mental health and climate-related negative emotions in young people. Findings will help to understand the current landscape, gaps in the literature, and provide recommendations for future youth mental health research and practice. METHODS: A scoping review of the literature examining negative emotions associated with climate change in young people was undertaken. Studies published prior to March 2022 were included if they examined mental ill-health (e.g., symptoms of depression or anxiety) or negative emotions (e.g., distress, worry, concern) associated with the threat of climate change. RESULTS: Of 3939 articles screened, 26 met the inclusion criteria. Together, studies show that young people are worried about climate change. Negative emotions about climate change were correlated with symptoms of mental ill-health. Studies also explored coping strategies young people use to manage their distress caused by climate change. DISCUSSION: The limited literature in this area indicates a key gap in youth mental health research. While available evidence suggests that young people are concerned about climate change, more research is needed on the relationship between climate-related negative emotions and mental ill-health. Clinicians should assess for and address climate-related negative emotions in young people. Mental health leaders are urged to advocate for actions to mitigate the mental health impact of climate change.

Research capacity and culture in an Australian metropolitan public mental health service: scoping the skills and experience of social workers and occupational therapists.

BACKGROUND: Investment in a clinical research culture appears to be associated with benefits for consumers, staff, and overall organisational performance. The validated 55-item Research Capacity and Culture (RCC) tool was developed specifically to gauge the research capacity and culture of health professionals and workplace settings within which they work. Results of some individual studies suggest that professional discipline and workplace setting may impact RCC results however it has never been used in a dedicated public mental health setting. Therefore, this study will explore the research capacity and culture of allied mental health clinicians (Part 1). Another aim is to explore potential connections between workplace settings, locations and disciplines based on published RCC-based data to help signpost potential impediments to service improvements (Part 2). METHODS: Part 1: An RCC-based online survey canvased Australian Social Workers and Occupational Therapists (n = 59) based in a metropolitan public mental health service. Non-parametric analyses explored links between research-related experience and participant characteristics. Part 2: Comparative analyses explored the potential influence of workplace settings and professional disciplines on published RCC results. RESULTS: Part 1: Overall, the research capacity and experiences of mental health Social Workers and Occupational Therapists seemed modest. Discipline was statistically associated with level of research-activity experience, weighted towards occupational therapy; demographic characteristics were not. Only two items in the RCC were rated high; many more items were rated low. Part 2: Published studies exploration found no link between RCC ratings and workplace location, setting, or professional discipline. Sampling biases and use of modified, non-validated RCC versions likely impacted the results. CONCLUSIONS: Allied mental health clinicians may not be sufficiently experienced, knowledgeable, or confident with a range of research-related activities given the emphasis on workforce research capability in policy and practice nowadays. This may be commonplace across health-based organisations. We recommend the systematic implementation of research training programs in (mental) health services, and a 'whole-of-service levels' approach be used i.e., transform policy, culture and leadership as well as provide practical resources with individual training. Potential benefits include a positive impact on organisation functioning, clinicians' confidence and practice, and improved consumer outcomes.

Moving clients forward: a grounded theory of disability employment specialists' views and practices.

PURPOSE: This study sought to better understand the views and practices of disability employment specialists working with clients with mental illness. Specifically, it explored what helps and hinders employment specialists in their work. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A constructivist grounded theory methodology was used. Semi-structured interviews with 16 disability employment specialists from four employment service providers in Victoria, Australia, were transcribed and analysed through initial coding, focused coding, and constant comparative methods. RESULTS: Analysis led to the substantive grounded theory of "moving clients forward." The key themes included "taking a firm but fair approach," "meeting clients where they are at," "getting clients ready for work," "managing the interface between clients and employers," and as a consequence, "working under pressure." CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute the first grounded theory of how Australian disability employment specialists work with clients with mental illness and enhance understanding of employment specialists' notions of job readiness and their use of discretion in implementing seemingly contradictory employment-related policies. Practice tensions for these employment specialists could be reduced by modifying disability employment policies, and through training to deliver evidence-based practices that offer varied vocational services, pathways, and adjunct interventions tailored to clients' interests, needs and readiness for change.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONAustralian disability employment specialists experience tensions between meeting the needs of clients with mental illness and feeling pressured to adhere to performance-based funding and disability employment policies.Greater emphasis on evidence-based, individualised vocational interventions would better align with a recovery orientation and offer vocational options tailored to the needs and goals of job seekers with mental illnessFurther training and systemic support is needed for disability employment specialists to adopt evidence-based practices in their work with jobseekers with mental illness.Since Australian disability employment specialists describe considering the "job readiness" of clients in practice, the usefulness of this concept merits further investigation.

Vocational Service Models and Approaches to Improve Job Tenure of People With Severe and Enduring Mental Illness: A Narrative Review.

Employment is a valued occupation that offers a sense of meaning, identity, and belonging. For people with severe and enduring mental illness, employment has also been associated with personal recovery and decreased use of mental health services. However, this population continues to be underrepresented in the labor market. Sustainable employment is often challenging for people with severe and enduring mental illness, due to a combination of personal, organizational and systemic issues. While Individual Placement and Support is an evidence-based model of employment support known to improve job attainment for people with mental illness, job retention and sustained workforce participation continue to be challenges. This narrative literature review was undertaken to address the question: "What vocational service models and approaches improve job tenure for this population?" CinAHL, Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library were searched for the period 2005-2020, using key terms and subject headings, including "severe mental illness," "psychiatric disabilit*," "job tenure," and "job retention." Several adjunct interventions may enhance job retention, including skills training, cognitive interventions, psychological interventions, and supported education, while social firms offer a different approach focused on creating new, sustainable job opportunities. Peer support and support from family and friends also appear to be important, and emerging evidence suggests that employment specialist practices, technology, self-management, and workplace accommodations may each also influence job tenure. Service providers could make more use of these non-clinical vocational approaches to improve employment retention for people with severe and enduring mental illness.

Solvent Additives: Key Morphology-Directing Agents for Solution-Processed Organic Solar Cells.

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) have the advantage of possible fabrication by energy-efficient and cost-effective deposition methods, such as solution processing. Solvent additives can provide fine control of the active layer morphology of OPVs by influencing film formation during solution processing. As such, solvent additives form a versatile method of experimental control for improving organic solar cell device performance. This review provides a brief history of solution-processed bulk heterojunction OPVs and the advent of solvent additives, putting them into context with other methods available for morphology control. It presents the current understanding of how solvent additives impact various mechanisms of phase separation, enabled by recent advances in in situ morphology characterization. Indeed, understanding solvent additives' effects on film formation has allowed them to be applied and combined effectively and synergistically to boost OPV performance. Their success as a morphology control strategy has also prompted the use of solvent additives in related organic semiconductor technologies. Finally, the role of solvent additives in the development of next-generation OPV active layers is discussed. Despite concerns over their environmental toxicity and role in device instability, solvent additives remain relevant morphological directing agents as research interests evolve toward nonfullerene acceptors, ternary blends, and environmentally sustainable solvents.

Doping Polymer Semiconductors by Organic Salts: Toward High-Performance Solution-Processed Organic Field-Effect Transistors.

Solution-processed organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) were fabricated with the addition of an organic salt, trityl tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate (TrTPFB), into thin films of donor-acceptor copolymer semiconductors. The performance of OFETs is significantly enhanced after the organic salt is incorporated. TrTPFB is confirmed to p-dope the organic semiconductors used in this study, and the doping efficiency as well as doping physics was investigated. In addition, systematic electrical and structural characterizations reveal how the doping enhances the performance of OFETs. Furthermore, it is shown that this organic salt doping method is feasible for both p- and n-doping by using different organic salts and, thus, can be utilized to achieve high-performance OFETs and organic complementary circuits.

Topological Transformation of π-Conjugated Molecules Reduces Resistance to Crystallization.

Two electronically delocalized molecules were designed as models to understand how molecular shape impacts the tradeoff between solubility and crystallization tendencies in molecular semiconductors. The more soluble compound TT contains a non-planar bithiophene central fragment, whereas CT has a planar cyclopentadithiophene unit. Calorimetry studies show that CT can crystallize more easily than TT. However, absorption spectroscopy shows that the initially amorphous TT film can eventually form crystals in which the molecular shape is significantly more planar. Two thermally reversible polymorphs for TT were observed by XRD and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) measurements. These findings are relevant within the context of designing soft semiconductors that exhibit high solubility and a tendency to provide stable organized structures with desirable electronic properties.

Helping people with a mental illness obtain work: the Health Optimisation Program for Employment.

OBJECTIVE: Inclusion in work and education remains problematic for many people with a mental illness. We describe a structured programme - the Health Optimisation Program for Employment - that supported people with a mental illness to gain employment or commence studies. METHOD: Twenty hours of the Health Optimisation Program for Employment were delivered to 600 individuals. Participants were asked to complete an evaluation survey encompassing vocational status and ratings of self-efficacy. RESULTS: Of the 364 participants who completed the baseline assessment, 168 responded to the evaluation survey 6 months after the delivery of the Health Optimisation Program for Employment. Of these, 21.5% had started a new job, while a further 42.8% were either volunteering or studying. Satisfaction with the programme was high and self-efficacy ratings improved significantly over the short term only. CONCLUSIONS: The Health Optimisation Program for Employment requires further evaluation using rigorous scientific methodology but these initial results are encouraging in terms of vocational attainment for people with a mental illness, in the Australian context.

Mechanical Properties of Solution-Processed Small-Molecule Semiconductor Films.

Advantages of semiconducting small molecules-as opposed to semiconducting polymers-include synthetic simplicity, monodispersity, low cost, and ease of purification. One purported disadvantage of small-molecule films is reduced mechanical robustness. This paper measures the tensile modulus and crack-onset strain for pure films of the high-performance solution-processable small-molecule donors 7,7'-[4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-silolo[3,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl]bis[6-fluoro-4-(5'-hexyl-[2,2'-bithiophen]-5-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole] (DTS(FBTTh2)2), 2,5-di(2-ethylhexyl)-3,6-bis(5″-n-hexyl-[2,2',5',2″]terthiophen-5-yl)-pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione (SMDPPEH), and 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TIPS-pentacene), the acceptor 5,5'-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-4,7-diyldi-2,1-ethenediyl)bis[2-hexyl-1H-isoindole-1,3(2H)-dione] (HPI-BT), blends of DTS(FBTTh2)2 and SMDPPEH with [6,6]-phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) and with HPI-BT, and bulk heterojunction films processed with the additives 1,8-diiodooctane (DIO) and polystyrene (PS). The most deformable films of solution-processed organic semiconductors are found to exhibit tensile moduli and crack-onset strains comparable to those measured for conjugated polymers. For example, the tensile modulus of as-cast DTS(FBTTh2)2 is 0.68 GPa (i.e., comparable to poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), the common polymer), while it exhibits no cracks when stretched on an elastomeric substrate to strains of 14%. While this high degree of stretchability is lost upon the addition of PC71BM (4.2 GPa, 1.42%), it can be partially recovered using processing additives. Tensile modulus and crack-onset strain are highly correlated, which is typical of van der Waals solids. Increased surface roughness was correlated to increased modulus and brittleness within films of similar composition. Decreased stiffness for soluble molecular semiconductors can be rationalized by the presence of alkyl side chains, which decrease the van der Waals attraction between molecules in the crystalline grains. These measurements and observations could have important consequences for the stability of devices based on molecular semiconductors, especially those destined for stretchable or ultraflexible applications, or those demanding mechanical robustness during roll-to-roll fabrication or use in the outdoor environment.

Toward Additive-Free Small-Molecule Organic Solar Cells: Roles of the Donor Crystallization Pathway and Dynamics.

The ease with which small-molecule donors crystallize during solution processing is directly linked to the need for solvent additives. Donor molecules that get trapped in disordered (H1) or liquid crystalline (T1) mesophases require additive processing to promote crystallization, phase separation, and efficient light harvesting. A donor material (X2) that crystallizes directly from solution yields additive-free solar cells with an efficiency of 7.6%.

Workplace accommodations for people with mental illness: a scoping review.

PURPOSE: Disability discrimination legislation means that employees with a disability or mental illness are legally entitled to reasonable workplace accommodations that enable them to work effectively and safely. This scoping review aims to investigate the types of workplace accommodations provided for people with mental illness, and their costs and benefits. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using five electronic databases. Peer reviewed research articles published between 1993 and June 2013 were included in this scoping review and their quality was assessed. Opinion papers, reports, and case descriptions were excluded. RESULTS: Nine studies explored workplace accommodations for people with mental illness. The most commonly reported work-related accommodations were flexible scheduling/reduced hours, modified training and supervision, and modified job duties/descriptions. The least common type of accommodation was physical modification to the workplace. For employees with persistent mental illness who were accessing a supported employment agency, the majority of accommodations related to support from the job coach or employment specialist, such as facilitating communication with the employer during hiring or on the job. The quality of the studies varied considerably and the benefits of the accommodations are not yet well documented. There is limited evidence that a larger number of workplace accommodations are associated with longer job tenure. CONCLUSIONS: Workplace accommodations appear to be important to support employees with mental illness, but more accessible information about how disability discrimination legislation applies to this population is needed. Future research should address the implementation and effectiveness of mental health-related workplace accommodations.