Court records of 58 examples of child sexual abuse testimony were examined for the sensitivity of the court in acknowledging the differing developmental capabilities between child and adult witnesses. Children were frequently asked developmentally inappropriate questions. These questions either exceeded the children's cognitive threshold of comprehension, or failed to respect the fact that children are not responsible for their sexuality by definition of being a child. The Canadian legal system fails justice to the extent that it holds the child responsible for providing accurate testimony, but fails to ensure that procedures are used which recognize the developmental capabilities and the nonsexual status of the child witness.

This study describes seven dimensions of positive mental health found in the verbalizations that 5-12-year-old children make in response to questions about health contextualized in their daily life experiences. Age differences were observed on five of the seven dimensions of mental health referents identified. All children, but particularly the younger ones, emphasized dimensions related to social interactions including social support (giving assistance, watching out for somebody, sharing activities), harmonious interpersonal relationships (having a positive attitude to others, avoiding conflicts), and expression of positive emotions (expressing love, friendship, or tenderness, giving comfort). More of the younger children talked about positive school involvement (motivation for school work, school success). The older children were more likely to make verbalizations related to high morale (being optimistic or in a good mood, having feelings of happiness). There were no differences by gender or socioeconomic living environment. The findings suggest that mental health is an integral part of children's general concept of health.

Des écrits portant sur les programmes performants en matière de prévention/promoition ont permis d'identifier un certain nombre de conditions de réussite. Toutefois, les programmes recensés visent surtout des populations cibles (parents adolescents, parents ou adultes qui vivent des stress); une minorité vise des milieux de vie. De plus, l'essentiel du corpus de connaissances s'articule autour de prograes bien structurés et bénéficiant de devis d'évaluation scientifique. Enfin nous ne connaissons è peu près pas les conditions de réussite des actions préventives et promotionnelles provenant des milieux comunautaires de type plus alternatif qui agissent souvent de manière plus holistique et dans certains cas sur les déterminiants plus strcuturels è l'origine des problèmes des jeuns et des familles. Cette recherche vise è documenter les conditions de réussite tel que percues par une variété d'acteurs ocuvrant dans le sectuer de prêvention/promotion en enfance-jeunesse-famille au Québec. La perception des conditions de réussite auprès de 307 intervenants ou promoteurs de projets des secteur institutionnel et communautaire est examinée. Les résultats mettent en évidence deux types de facterus; ceux reliés è la qualité des actions (le niveau de justification) et ceux reliés au contexte d'implantation (le nivequ de faisablilité).

The Substance Abuse Bureau of the Ontario Ministry of Health recently launched the Ontario Addictions Treatment Services Rationalization Project to increase the capacity of existing services and restructure the service delivery system. One of the recommended strategies was to shorten the length of stay of residential treatment from four to three weeks. Concerns have been expressed by some service providers that this policy change is not consistent with available empirical evidence. This paper reviews relevant research evidence and suggests a new role for residential treatment of substance abusers.

While some studies have documented the mental health symptoms of battered women, we know little of the extent to which shelter residents present with mental health and substance abuse symptoms, or the effect of these issues on other residents, staff, and children. Further, it is not clear whether shelter staff feel sufficiently trained to safely and adequately address such concerns. The current survey was an effort to document what proportion of shelter residents present with severe symptomatology and its effect on the shelter environment. The survey was completed by 158 staff from 23 of Alberta's 30 shelters. Since shelters are one aspect of a community network of services, it was of interest to identify how well mental health and substance abuse services complement each other and whether shelters have developed strategies to better connect with other agencies.

While becoming a mother can be a fulfilling and joyful experience, 10-28% of women are affected by an intense emotional response commonly called postpartum depression. This phenomenon is distinguishable from the “transitory baby blues” and is often characterized by crying, confusion, fatigue, depression, insomnia, difficulty caring for the baby and self, and suicidal thoughts. Research on postpartum depression has largely concentrated on investigating its possible causes and predictors utilizing quantitative methodology. Women are the experts of their own lives, yet their voices are missing in the existing body of knowledge about depression after childbirth. In this exploratory qualitative study, I used a feminist perspective to explore the experiences of eight women who had recovered from postpartum depression. A three-stage model emerged that demonstrated how women made sense of that time in their lives. The findings of this study provide a contextual picture of women's experiences with depression after childbirth. The knowledge created has important implications for informing the practice of professionals and the implementation of policy and programs that meet the needs of new mothers and their families.

A recently reported outbreak of HIV among injection drug users in Vancouver determined that, in early 1997, 23% of this population was HIV-positive, and that HIV-negative injection drug users were becoming positive at the rate of 18.6% per year, the highest rate reported in North America. One significant factor behind the outbreak is the high prevalence of injection cocaine use among drug addicts in Vancouver. Cocaine, because it has a short “high,” creates a need for more frequent injections and therefore increases the likelihood of needle sharing and HIV transmission. The mentally ill in Vancouver are particularly at risk for HIV infection because of their vulnerability to substance misuse and because large numbers of them reside in the main drug-using neighborhood. The provincial and federal governments have made $4,700,000 available to respond to this public health emergency, to be spent on the expansion of community services, including a number of needle-exchange sites. Accessing these and other health care services continues to be a challenge for injection drug users who also suffer from serious mental illnesses; for these persons an assertive case management model may be the most effective way of maintaining continuity of care.