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Purpose: This paper aims to study employee mental health in relation to workplace design and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) when working from home, which has received little attention. The trend toward hybrid working urges for more knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: Through a mixed data collection method, this study analyzed potential relationships (between mental health, workplace design and IEQ) from information obtained through a cross-sectional survey, repeated point-in-time surveys and desk-based IEQ sensors at home. Data were collected in April 2020 during a national COVID-19 lockdown in The Netherlands amongst 36 subjects. They all worked full time from home in this period and together completed 321 point-in-time surveys. The three data sets were combined and analyzed using bivariate and path analysis. Findings: Outcomes indicate that subjective and objective IEQ conditions, workplace suitability and distraction affect employee mental health in the home workplace in a similar way as in the office. Being satisfied with the noise level increases concentration, self-reported well-being and engagement. High sound pressure levels (>58 dB) increased tension or nervous feelings. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore employee mental health in relation to simultaneously assessed (perceived and measured) multiple IEQ parameters in the home workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on the denial of social support to homeless persons and related societal effects of new local governance arrangements. Design/methodology/approach: Analysis of new data and secondary evaluative and comparative data on the policies, administrative structures and management styles of Copenhagen, Glasgow and Amsterdam have brought better understanding of the elements of local governance arrangements that influence the number of homeless persons who are denied access to services and the number of persons sleeping rough who are not eligible for social support. Theoretical explanations for the impact of governance arrangements on these processes and societal effects are considered. Findings: It appears that while the body of research, reports and policy documents on non-eligibility for homelessness services is growing, legal responses at best remain vague, and policies are still in the process of being developed. Modest progress on policy goals, and even more so on policy instruments, leading to less detrimental outcomes, can be explained by centralising and decentralising trends and the relationships between state and society. The latter may also be indicative of how the increased focus on the legal problems of some EU migrants can be explained. Research limitations/implications: The two points in time documented for the case studies are relevant in understanding processes underlying the current circumstances of homeless persons and homeless migrants and offer an interdisciplinary insight into governance and politics, law, and public and health service perspectives. Social implications: Good policy practice, as this paper shows, can lead to a difference in individual lives. Originality/value: Much is unknown about considerations inside government. This paper contributes by combining theoretical and insider perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning of child health as applied by school doctors in the Netherlands and the way it was adapted to the rapidly improving standard of living and the increasing importance of mental health after the Second World War. The extension of the concept beyond physical health into emotional and social well-being is particularly interesting as the school medical inspection was the only public child-hygienic service in a country where religious groups opposed the extension of public hygienic care into parenting and the family. Design/methodology/approach – On the basis of secondary literature, the paper discusses the early development of Dutch school medical inspection from a comparative perspective. Changes in the national authority’s and the school doctors’ concepts of what a “healthy” child was between the 1930s and 1970 are examined using a variety of primary sources. These concern both the national discourse and sources that shed light on the daily practice of school medical inspection from the single province for which these are available. Findings – Although they adopted a new and more inclusive concept of health in theory, school doctors in the Netherlands were reluctant to actually take up issues of mental health in their daily practice. This reluctance was inspired by the fear of losing their pivotal role in child hygiene and their status as public servants. Originality/value – Studies in the history of school medical services have focussed mainly on their establishment and development as an institution. They seldom extend into the post-war era and do not discuss the extension of the inspection into mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose In The Netherlands, curative mental health care and supportive care for people with an intellectual disability (ID) are organised in separate domains. Prevalence of mental health problems is known to be high among people with borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) or mild intellectual disabilities (MID). By contrast, according to recent findings, prevalence of BIF and MID is high among patients in mental health care (17.5–58 per cent). In The Netherlands, a new quality standard of care (QSOC) on mental health care for people with BIF or MID is developed. It is designed to supplement existing guidelines on mental health care so that they can be used appropriately in people with BIF or MID and meant for use in both mental health care organisations (MHCO) as in organisations for ID care. To a large extent, the QSOC should describe the existing practice. This paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach To assess the existing practice in current mental health care for people with BIF or MID in The Netherlands, the authors examined the views and accessibility of MHCO on the mental health care for patients with and IQ<85. In addition, the authors reviewed published criteria for in- and exclusion of all 39 top clinical mental health care departments for criteria on BIF or (mild) ID.Findings The authors found there is a clear awareness of the high prevalence of BIF and MID among large Dutch MHCO. Dutch MHCO estimate the prevalence of BIF and MID among their patients to be around 30 per cent. Nonetheless, most MCHO surveyed (76 per cent) indicated they do not routinely estimate or measure IQ among their patients and 53 per cent of MHCO indicated not having knowledge and expertise on the dual diagnoses of mental health problems and BIF or MID. Fitting in with the new QSOC most of the MHCO (59 per cent) agreed on the statement in the survey that professionals should be able to treat patients with BIF or ID and all but one of the MHCO stated to have some form of collaboration with an institute for ID care.Originality/value The authors concluded there is a clear awareness of the high prevalence of BIF and MID among large Dutch MHCO. The new QSOC on mental health care for people with BIF or MID can help improve accessibility and quality of mental health care for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Syrian refugees in the Netherlands frequently suffer from mental health problems. It is argued that mental health not only consists of the absence of psychiatric disorders but also of the presence of mental well-being. However, there is little attention to the mental well-being of refugees, and no intervention exists that focuses on fostering the mental well-being of refugees. Therefore, the new culturally sensitive positive psychology intervention "Mosaic" was developed and implemented in collaboration with the target audience and local partners. Mosaic is offered in the Arabic language, and the content is focused on (re)finding purpose in life and (re)discovering life values and subsequently acting upon these values. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of Mosaic on the mental well-being of Syrians in the Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach: The effect of Mosaic on the mental well-being of Syrians in the Netherlands is assessed by conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a waitlist control group. Findings: Postintervention within sample t-tests showed that the intervention group (n = 66) experienced significantly more overall mental well-being, emotional well-being and purpose in life right after participating in the intervention when compared to the preintervention measurement. The effect on purpose in life persisted six months later. These improvements were not found among the control group (n = 60). Originality/value: Mosaic is the first positive psychology intervention in the Netherlands that was developed for and in collaboration with Syrian refugees. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is also the first study in the Netherlands and one of the first ones in Europe that assesses the effect of positive psychology for refugees specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and application of the KIPP-list of care activities. The acronym KIPP stands for Knowledge and Insight into Primary Processes. The instrument is intended as a tool for family coaches to systematically report care activities conducted in the Dutch family support programme Ten for the Future (in Dutch: Tien voor Toekomst). Design/methodology/approach -- The design of the instrument was based on the components of the programme and a literature search for similar instruments used in the Netherlands, complemented by a staff survey. A series of three studies was carried out to test the instrument's validity and user-friendliness, and to assess its potential for programme evaluation. Findings -- The majority of care activities were performed in cooperation with one or both parents alone, and less frequently with children or external professionals. Although the main focus of the work of the family coaches fell into the categories of "collecting information" and "working towards (behavioural) change" with families, the relatively high frequency of all the types of care contacts emphasises the intensity of this family support programme with a complex target group. Originality/value -- Data gathered with the instrument provided meaningful information by descriptive analysis. KIPP thereby proved its general feasibility in increasing insight into service provision. The instrument can be useful in several stages and on several levels of quality assurance and service optimisation, including reflective practice, supervision, team management and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health care in prisons involves many stakeholders. As a consequence, the goals involved are divergent but there is no sound theoretical framework that accounts for the complexity of care in prison. This paper considers a broad theory and its conceptual framework that differentiates between prisoners with emotional suffering and those without, the need for care from an objective point of view as opposed to a subjective one, and the need for care related to mental health problems versus care related to limiting recidivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The primary purpose of this descriptive study was to compare the levels of, and relationships among mental health problems, mental health shame, self-compassion, work engagement and work motivation between workers in Japan (collectivistic and success-driven culture) and the Netherlands (individualistic and quality-oriented culture). Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional design, where convenience samples of 165 Japanese and 160 Dutch workers completed self-report measures about mental health problems, shame, self-compassion, engagement and motivation, was used. Welch t-tests, correlation and regression analyses were conducted to compare (1) the levels of these variables, (2) relationships among these variables and (3) predictors of mental health problems, between the two groups. Findings: Dutch workers had higher levels of mental health problems, work engagement and intrinsic motivation, and lower levels of shame and amotivation than Japanese workers. Mental health problems were associated with shame in both samples. Mental health problems were negatively predicted by self-compassion in Japanese, and by work engagement in Dutch employees. Originality/value: The novelty of this study relates to exploring differences in work mental health between those two culturally contrasting countries. Our findings highlight potential cultural differences such as survey responding (Japanese acquiescent responding vs Dutch self-enhancement) and cultural emphases (Japanese shame vs Dutch quality of life). Job crafting, mindfulness and enhancing ikigai (meaningfulness in life) may be helpful to protect mental health in these workers, relating to self-compassion and work engagement. Findings from this study would be particularly useful to employers, managers and staff in human resources who work with cross-cultural workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GGzE, a mental health care organisation in the south Netherlands, implemented treatment for patients with severe personality disorders and substance use: clinical case management (CCM). CCM is a special healthcare facility for patients whose needs do not match other existing treatment designs. These patients are characterised by unproductive or disturbed relationships and multiple crises that deregulate clinical practice and impede recovery. In the CCM team, patients are treated with the theoretical concepts of relationship management, interpersonal reconstructive therapy, Livesley's stage-wise treatment and integrated dual disorder treatment (IDDT). These theoretical models and methods used within CCM have been described extensively, though there has been no clinical study about its effect within GGzE so far. Professionals working within the CCM team report that behaviour such as acting out is reduced after about one year of treatment, with less interventions from other caretakers or police involvement. To substantiate these claims, a single group pre-test and posttest was conducted to find out whether these patients really experience changes in physical and psychological problems, as well as changes in their personality disorder.The sample consists of patients who started treatment between 2004 and 2009 (pre measurement T=0), (n = 21). At T=0, patients completed the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) and Personality Characteristics Questionnaire (Vragenlijst Kenmerken Persoonlijkheid, VKP). The outcomes are compared with the results of the same questionnaires that were completed by patients in 2010 (post measurement T=1). The outcomes of the SCL-90 show significant changes for fear, depression, hostility, distrust and interpersonal sensitivity, as well as the total score of psychoneurosis. The VKP shows significant changes for general personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. More research is needed to find stronger evidence of treatment effects of CCM, using a bigger sample, a control group and more outcome measurements that also include the drug use of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]