Graduate Center for Gerontology, University of Kentucky, 900 S Limestone, Lexington, KY 40536, USA.
Community Ment Health J. 2012 Apr;48(2):193-201. doi: 10.1007/s10597-011-9373-1. Epub 2011 Jan 14.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the Mental Healthiness Aging Initiative, designed to promote community awareness and knowledge about mental health and aging issues. This study occurred during 2007-2009 in 67 of 120 counties in Kentucky. A rural region (11 counties) received the intervention, consisting of focus groups, Extension Agent training, and television-based social marketing campaign. Partial-intervention counties (29 counties) received only the television-based social marketing campaign. The control counties (27 counties) received no intervention activities. Results indicated that the intervention counties agreed more with being able to assist elder adults with a potential mental illness. Also, the intervention counties understood the risk of consuming alcohol and medications better, but had a poorer recognition of drinking problems in elder adults. These findings need to be considered within study limitations, such as measurement error, degree of intervention exposure, and regional differences across intervention groups. The study demonstrates that community interventions on mental health awareness and knowledge are feasible within majority rural regions, with Extension Agents being gatekeepers, for promoting positive messages about mental health and aging issues.
本研究旨在评估“心理健康老龄化倡议”，该倡议旨在提高社区对心理健康和老龄化问题的认识和了解。本研究于 2007 年至 2009 年在肯塔基州的 120 个县中的 67 个县进行。农村地区（11 个县）接受了干预，包括焦点小组、推广代理培训和基于电视的社会营销活动。部分干预县（29 个县）仅接受基于电视的社会营销活动。对照组（27 个县）未接受干预活动。结果表明，干预县更同意能够帮助有潜在精神疾病的老年人。此外，干预县更好地理解了饮酒和用药的风险，但对老年人饮酒问题的认识较差。这些发现需要考虑到研究的局限性，如测量误差、干预暴露程度以及干预组之间的区域差异。该研究表明，在大多数农村地区，社区可以进行心理健康意识和知识的干预，推广代理是促进有关心理健康和老龄化问题的积极信息的把关人。
