|
CONTACTS:
Keith Russell, Resource Recreation and Tourism
College of Natural Resources,
(208) 885-2269,
keithr@uidaho.edu
or
Sue McMurray, CNR Communications,
(208) 885-6673
suem@uidaho.edu
UI PUBLICATION ON OUTDOOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE
MOSCOW
- Keith C. Russell, assistant professor of Resource Recreation and Tourism and leader of The Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Research
Cooperative and John C. Hendee, professor of Resource Recreation and Tourism and director of UI's Wilderness Research Center, Have Co-Authored
"Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare: Definitions, Common Practice, Expected Outcomes, and a Nationwide Survey of Programs."
Outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) is an emerging form of mental
health treatment to help troubled adolescents address a range of emotional, social, and psychological problems using elements OF wilderness
therapy applied in outdoor settings. Currently, there are more than 100 OBH programs operating in the United States, annually serving
10,000 clients and their families. The 87 page report, is an overview of OBH treatment philosophy and approaches, current research,
literature, associated interventions and treatments, and includes a national survey of OBH programs.
The authors classify two types of OBH programs: adjudicated and private
placement. Adjudicated programs serve adolescents struggling with delinquency and substance abuse who have been directed by judicial
authorities to participate in outdoor treatment. Private placement programs serve clients whose parents or custodial authorities have
placed them in treatment. Most OBH programs serve Caucasian males aged 13-17 years with a variety of emotional and behavioral disorders,
but adjudicated programs specifically serve a more racially diverse clientele. Both private placement and adjudicated programs have
the same desired long-term goal of remedying problem behaviors and restoring function to adolescents and their families.
OBH programs integrate camping and wilderness challenge experiences
with counseling by a team of mental health professionals and wilderness leaders who serve as a positive role models in sharing the outdoor
experience. The team works together to build positive relationships with the clientele and to instill a desire to change problem behaviors.
The Author's Survey revealed that more than three quarters of all OBH clients have tried other forms of counseling before enrolling
in OBH.
The goal of the publication is to improve understanding about OBH
by parents, insurance companies, judicial authorities and social service agencies, public land management agencies, and state, federal,
and local officials. Data extrapolated from the study suggest that OBH may generate $200 million per year in revenues and 420,000 field
days use of public and private lands.
Copies of "Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare: Definitions, Common Practice,
Expected Outcomes, and a Nationwide Survey of Programs," Technical Report #26, Moscow, Idaho, Idaho Forest, Wildlife and Range Experiment
Station may be ordered for $10.
For ordering information
contact:
Susan Goetz
UI Wilderness Research Center
208.885.2267
or
wrc@uidaho.edu
|
