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2021/2022

Assessment and Intervention in Adult Mental Health

Code: 43420 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4314949 General Health Psychology OB 1 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Ignasi Garrido Ribas
Email:
Ignacio.Garrido@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)

Teachers

Susanna Subirą Įlvarez
Ignasi Garrido Ribas
Eva Prats Varela

Prerequisites

It is assumed that students have a knowledge of the following subjects: semiology in psychopathology, general evaluation procedures in clinical psychology, therapeutic techniques in clinical psychology, and general knowledge and diagnostic criteria of the main mental disorders in the adult population.

Objectives and Contextualisation

AIMS: the general objective of this module is to perform an in-depth examination of the biopsychosocial factors associated with mental health problems in adulthood, as well as the procedures for evaluating and intervening at the individual, family and / or community level.

Specific aims:

- Evaluation and global formulation of the case

- Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for adult mental disorders.

- Biopsychosocial risk factors and maintenance factors in adult mental health.

- Specific assessment of risk factors and maintenance factors in adult mental health.

- Psychological treatment of risk factors and maintenance factors in adult mental health.

- Structured psychological treatment protocols.

Competences

  • Apply the principles of bioethics and the deliberation method to professional practice, in line with Law 44/2003, of 21 November, on organisation of the healthcare professions.
  • Critically analyse and use clinical information sources.
  • Design, develop and, where appropriate, supervise and evaluate psychological intervention programmes, on the basis of the psychological evaluation and the individual and social variables of each case.
  • Formulate working hypotheses in research and critically assess information for problem-solving, using the scientific method.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Know in depth the biological and psychosocial factors associated with mental health problems and illness, especially those related to mental health.
  • Know in depth the psychological nature of human behaviour, and the social and biological factors that can affect it.
  • Know the framework for the activity of general health psychologists and be able to call in the corresponding specialists.
  • Plan, carry out and, where appropriate, supervise the psychological evaluation of human behaviour and of the psychological factors associated with health problems, in order to evaluate the latter.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Design individual treatment programmes for adults that include measures to prevent relapses.
  2. Evaluate the effectiveness of psychological intervention in adults.
  3. Formulate questions, objectives and research hypotheses appropriately for problem solving in the field of adult mental health.
  4. Gather and analyse information consistently with the research objectives and hypotheses, and interpret the results obtained appropriately, acknowledging the impact on individuals and communities in the field of adult mental health.
  5. Identify cases in the field of adults' mental health that call for the involvement of an appropriate specialist or healthcare unit, or for an interdisciplinary approach to be adopted, and describe the procedures to be applied.
  6. Identify risk and protective factors regarding adult mental health problems from a gender perspective.
  7. Identify the advances in knowledge of mental disorders in adults (definition and classification, epidemiological trends, causal processes and comorbidity).
  8. Identify the most suitable research methods and designs for responding to a particular problem in the field of adult mental health.
  9. Identify, choose and critically analyse the relevant clinical documents for professional activity in the field of children's mental health.
  10. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  11. Integrate the information from the evaluation of mental disorders in adults to offer guidance on treatment that includes priority objectives.
  12. Integrate the information from the evaluation so as to make diagnoses, including the differential diagnosis of mental disorders in adults.
  13. Know ethically appropriate professional practice in mental health in depth, and identify cases of professional malpractice.
  14. Know the clinical characteristics of adult mental disorders taking the gender perspective into account.
  15. Know the evidence-based techniques, procedures and protocols for evaluating mental problems and disorders in adults.
  16. Know the mechanisms of action and the impact of risk and protective factors in adult mental disorders.
  17. Make a clinical judgment on the nature of adult mental disorders and report to the agents involved in accordance with professional practice.
  18. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Content

Knowledge about:

- Assessment in mental health of adults. Interview and functional analysis

- Case formulation, therapeutic objectives, treatment planning and structure of the sessions

- Management of mental disorder. Complications in therapeutic intervention

- Treatments based on evidence. The use of clinical guides

- Motivational interview as a basic therapeutic tool

- Risk Factors for the Development of Mental Disorders: stress and adaptation. Specific approach to experiences of loss and mourning

- Risk Factors for the Development of Mental Disorders: emotional dysregulation

- Assessment and treatment of the physiological involvement of mental disorders: eating, sleep and sexual disorders

- Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders

Methodology

- Seminars for the evaluation of and intervention of psychological disorders. In these classes, the general approach of assessment and treatment of psychological problems will be presented.Programming: 12 sessions of 2 hours (Total 24 hours)

- ABP seminars: In these classes, the student has to study the subjects of the programme in depth and autonomously.. Based on specific data, the student will have to build the general theme on how to deal with the clinical case. Problems related to program topics will be presented and worked on in groups of 4-6 students. During part of the seminar the students will present the case orally. The problem developed will then be written. Programming: 6 sessions of 2 hours (Total 12 hours)

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
12 0.48
25 1
Type: Supervised      
6 0.24
Type: Autonomous      
18 0.72
43 1.72
43 1.72

Assessment

Weighted average score ≥ 5.

Ev1 (40%) - Written exam. On week 18. 25 multiple choice questions. Individual.

Ev3 (30%) - Written exam. On week 18. 6 short open questions and questions about a clinical case. Individual.

Ev2a (15%) - Written work and oral presentation in groups. On week 10. Group.

Ev2b (15%) - Written work and oral presentation in groups. On week 15. Group.

 

The continuous evaluation consists of 3 pieces of evidence:

Ev1: Multiple choice test (40%)

Ev2: Solving clinical problems (PBL) (30%)

Ev3: Open exam (30%)

 

The final grade of the continuous evaluation will be obtained as the weighted average of the 3 evaluation evidences. The module will be passed with the weighted average score ≥ 5 (on a scale of 0 to 10 points), as long as an average score of at least 4.5 points (on a scale of 0 to 10) has been obtained between the evidences Ev1 and Ev3.

Recovery:

Students who have obtained a final grade (weighted average grade) between 3.5 and 4.9 points and who have taken assessment evidence weighing at least 2/3 of the total grade (one of them Ev2, solving clinical problems), can take the test of recovery of the contents corresponding to evidence Ev1 and Ev3. The test will have a maximum value of 2 points that will be added to the previous grade. It is necessary to pass the recovery test, that is, to obtain a minimum of 1 point, to be able to add the score to the previous grade.

Students who has submitted a minimum of 40% of the evidences will be considered as 'evaluable', regardless of the qualification obtained.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
1 0.04 2, 16, 13, 14, 15, 8, 17, 5, 7, 6, 9, 12, 10, 4, 18
1 0.04 16, 15, 8, 3, 5, 7, 6, 11, 12, 10, 4
1 0.04 2, 16, 13, 14, 15, 1, 17, 3, 5, 7, 6, 9, 12, 4, 18

Bibliography

Barlow, David H. & Farchione, Todd J. (2015).  Protocolo Unificado para el tratamiento transdiagnóstico de los trastornos emocionales: Manual del terapeuta y manual del paciente. Alianza Editorial.

 

Buela-Casal, Gualberto & Sierra, Juan Carlos (2004). Manual de evaluación y tratamientos psicológicos. Biblioteca Nueva

 

Cervilla, Jorge A. (2002). Valoración y tratamiento del enfermo mental. Aran Ediciones.

 

Guías de práctica clínica del Sistema Nacional de Salud, http://portal.guiasalud.es

 

Guías de práctica clínica del National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), http://www.nice.org.uk/GuidanceMenu/Conditions-and-diseases/Mental-health-and-behavioural-conditions

 

Guías de práctica clínica de la American Psychiatric Association, http://psychiatryonline.org/guidelines.aspx

 

Miller William R. & Rollnick Stephen (2015). La entrevista emocional. Paidós.

 

Nathan, Peter E. & Gorman, Jack M. (Eds.) (2007). A Guide to Treatments that Work (3rd Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

 

Obiols, Jordi (Ed.) (2008). Manual de psicopatología general. Madrid: Biblioteca nueva

 

Pérez Álvarez, Marino, Fernández, José Ramon, Fernández Concepción, & Amigo, Isaac. (Coord.) (2003). Guía de tratamientos psicológicos eficaces I. Adultos. Madrid: Pirámide.

 

Soler Insa, Pere Anton & Gascón, Josep (coord.). RTM-IV. Recomendaciones terapéuticas en los trastornos mentales. Majadahonda: CYESAN.

 

 Worden J.William (2013). El tratamiento del duelo. Asesoramiento psicológico y terapia. Paidós.

Software

Throughout the course, the specific bibliography and the corresponding digital resources will be used for each topic.