Abstract
At the Pennsylvania State University, all undergraduate Rehabilitation and Human Services majors are provided with a thorough education and the necessary skills in order to pursue a career in the fields of counseling, therapy, and human services. For four years, students have the ability to enhance their knowledge on select topics such as the history of disabilities, types of disabilities, assessments used when diagnosing a disability, and ways to provide effective treatments. This paper will focus on three types of assessments used for a person who is diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia. The assessments that will be discussed are the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale …show more content…
Within this course, it is highly stressed that practitioners within the Psychiatric Rehabilitation field must be able to identify the causes and symptoms of many different mental illnesses. Practitioners in Psychiatric Rehabilitation noticed that it is common to provide the greatest amount of assistance to people diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia (Pratt, Gill, Barrett, & Roberts, 2014). Schizophrenia is a cognitive impairment that can occur as early as late adolescence and causes people to experience a numerous amount of positive and negative symptoms such as hallucinations, thought disorders, and avolition (National Institute of Mental Health, 2015). In order to successfully diagnosis schizophrenia, assessments are frequently used after positive or negative symptoms remain consistent for a minimum of six months. Today, there are many ways to assess schizophrenia, however, three notable assessments that are most commonly used when working with people with schizophrenia are the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS), and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms …show more content…
It is suggested that psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners should not prevent themselves from using these assessments because of their old age. Nevertheless, there are also other considerations that should be noted when using each assessment. For example, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) can serve more than one purpose. These assessments can be beneficial if used before the client is fully diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia and can be beneficial if used while the client is receiving treatment. Not only can these assessment help with diagnosis a mental illness, but these assessments provide professionals with the ability to learn about effective treatment. By administering the test every so many years, a professional can observe if the client symptoms has decreased due to treatment. The final suggestion to use with these assessments is that psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners can learn more information about the client if questions are asked in a less structured interview. Asking direct questions to a client about symptoms such as tardive dyskinesia or hallucinations can scare the client and prevent them from opening up. As a professional, it is important to
At the Pennsylvania State University, all undergraduate Rehabilitation and Human Services majors are provided with a thorough education and the necessary skills in order to pursue a career in the fields of counseling, therapy, and human services. For four years, students have the ability to enhance their knowledge on select topics such as the history of disabilities, types of disabilities, assessments used when diagnosing a disability, and ways to provide effective treatments. This paper will focus on three types of assessments used for a person who is diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia. The assessments that will be discussed are the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale …show more content…
Within this course, it is highly stressed that practitioners within the Psychiatric Rehabilitation field must be able to identify the causes and symptoms of many different mental illnesses. Practitioners in Psychiatric Rehabilitation noticed that it is common to provide the greatest amount of assistance to people diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia (Pratt, Gill, Barrett, & Roberts, 2014). Schizophrenia is a cognitive impairment that can occur as early as late adolescence and causes people to experience a numerous amount of positive and negative symptoms such as hallucinations, thought disorders, and avolition (National Institute of Mental Health, 2015). In order to successfully diagnosis schizophrenia, assessments are frequently used after positive or negative symptoms remain consistent for a minimum of six months. Today, there are many ways to assess schizophrenia, however, three notable assessments that are most commonly used when working with people with schizophrenia are the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS), and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms …show more content…
It is suggested that psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners should not prevent themselves from using these assessments because of their old age. Nevertheless, there are also other considerations that should be noted when using each assessment. For example, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) can serve more than one purpose. These assessments can be beneficial if used before the client is fully diagnosed with the mental illness schizophrenia and can be beneficial if used while the client is receiving treatment. Not only can these assessment help with diagnosis a mental illness, but these assessments provide professionals with the ability to learn about effective treatment. By administering the test every so many years, a professional can observe if the client symptoms has decreased due to treatment. The final suggestion to use with these assessments is that psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners can learn more information about the client if questions are asked in a less structured interview. Asking direct questions to a client about symptoms such as tardive dyskinesia or hallucinations can scare the client and prevent them from opening up. As a professional, it is important to