Aspen Mental Health in the Community
Mental health is a significant health concern in the community. Mental health disorders significantly affect community members, impacting their physical health, economic productivity, and overall quality of life. In this time and era, mental health help is readily available for communities. However, most people do not seek mental health help, primarily due to ignorance or fear of stigmatization.
The focus of this paper is mental health in the community. Mental health in the community will be explored in three parts encompassing Healthy People 2030 mental health objectives and the community, physical health and mental health, and trauma-informed care.
Part One: Healthy People 2030 Objectives and Mental Health in the Community
According to Healthy People 2030 (n.d.), about 50% of all people in the US are diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime. Thus, Healthy people 2030 has developed goals and objectives to enhance the prevention, screening, assessment, and treatment of mental health disorders and improve health and the quality of life for individuals affected by mental health conditions.
The two Healthy People 2030 objectives selected and which are affecting my community are MHMD-08- Increase the proportion of primary care visits where adolescents and adults are screened for depression, and AH-DO2- Increase the proportion of children and adolescents with symptoms of trauma who get treatment.
These objectives were selected since depression and trauma are some mental health conditions that heavily affect my community. Depression is a common mental illness that negatively affects how an individual feel, thinks, and acts. Depression is characterized by remarkably lowering or elevating a person’s mood, thus affecting how they feel, act and think.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.), 4.7% of adults above 18 years in the US have regular depression, while only 10.6% of the mental health records indicate patients seeking help for depression. In addition, depression is attributed to about 14 suicide deaths in 100000 people in the general population. MHMD-08 can help address this issue in my community since primary care settings can facilitate screening and follow-up for adults and adolescents with depression symptoms, thus promoting mental health wellness in the community.
Many children and adolescents in my community who exhibit trauma symptoms do not get the appropriate treatment. Research shows that some reasons children and adolescents with trauma symptoms do not seek mental health help are homelessness, lack of peer or family support, inadequate support from community providers, ignorance, and fear of stigmatization (Crosby et al., 2018).
Following the increase in the number of homeless youths and children in my community, it is evident that most of them do not get appropriate mental health help. Trauma symptoms result from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder However, when not treated, trauma impacts the child/adolescent behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively.
The adverse effects of trauma, especially chronic trauma, may also be carried on to adulthood, affecting the individual for a lifetime. Primary care institutions are readily accessible to children and youths. They can play a significant role in referring children and adolescents with trauma symptoms to get the appropriate treatment to contribute to meeting objective AH-DO2.
As a nurse, I have a huge role in helping my community address these mental health issues using the above-mentioned objectives. I can facilitate health promotion initiatives to create community awareness of depression and trauma. Furthermore, I can work with the primary care settings in the community to reach out to people suffering from these conditions and refer them to get the appropriate treatment. Additionally, teaching community members the importance of mental health wellness and seeking help would significantly contribute to addressing these issues.
Part Two: Physical Health and Mental Health
Mental health and physical health are correlated. Mental health impacts physical health positively or negatively and vice versa. Poor mental health may cause various physical conditions. On the other hand, physical conditions, especially chronic illnesses, negatively affect the individual’s mental health, causing distress, depression, anxiety, and other related mental disorders.
Additionally, an individual in a good mental state can keep healthy and prevent various physical health conditions. Research shows that positive mental well-being reduces the risk of cardiovascular attacks and stroke (Kivimaki et al., 2020). On the contrary, poor psychological well-being contributes to a higher risk of physical illnesses and may contribute to harmful behaviors that can affect the person’s physical health.
In addition, physical illnesses and mental illnesses can be comorbidities of each other; thus, they are closely related. Therefore, taking care of one’s mental health contributes to physical well-being and vice versa.
One of the physical ailments that have adverse effects on mental health is diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic group of conditions characterized by affecting how the body turns food into glucose, leading to high blood sugar levels. Being a chronic condition, diabetes is known to cause stress (Diabetes-related distress), depression, and other mental health conditions such as anxiety.
According to Mukhtar and Mukhtar (2020), diabetes-related psychological distress mainly results from negative emotions and the burden of diabetes self-management. The mental conditions associated with diabetes, including anxiety, stress, and depression, mainly occur when an individual feels they are not managing the diabetes condition as required, blame themselves when they get diabetes complications, and try to keep up with a lifestyle that supports diabetes management. Further effects on the individual’s mental health may lead to poor health outcomes and quality of life.
Part Three: Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed care is an approach in health provision that assumes that patients are more likely than not to have a history of trauma. The trauma-informed approach to care seeks to provide healthcare services with a healing orientation based on what could have happened to the patient rather than what is currently wrong.
Trauma-informed care helps the care provider and the patient. In their study, Racine, Killam & Madigan (2020) note that trauma-informed practices in healthcare increase care provider-patient interaction and enhances patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes.
Some essential principles of trauma-informed care include empowerment, safety, trustworthiness and transparency, humility and responsiveness, and collaboration. These principles help the care provider get a clear picture of the patient’s psychological past, thus helping the patient heal from the presenting condition and the effects of trauma.
As a nurse, I can apply trauma-informed care to help a child impacted by trauma in several ways. First, I can build a safe and caring environment between the child and me to ensure that the child opens up easily and adheres to the trauma-healing process.
Opening up and speaking up about past traumatic experiences is the first step to healing. Secondly, I can empower the child to take control of their emotions and psychological responses. Also, interacting with the child in utter humility and responsiveness, without bias and stereotypes, can facilitate recovery and help avoid re-traumatization.
Conclusion
Mental health and related conditions are significant health issues in the community. Nurses can use Healthy People 2030 objectives to assist address this issue in the community by creating mental health awareness and promoting help-seeking. Mental health and physical health impact each other considerably. Thus, taking care of both mental and physical health is crucial. Trauma-informed care is an essential approach to care that can help promote good health outcomes for patients with a history of trauma, as discussed above.
Mental Health in the Community References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.) Depression, Data and Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/depression.htm
- Crosby, S. D., Hsu, H. T., Jones, K., & Rice, E. (2018). Factors that contribute to help-seeking among homeless, trauma-exposed youth: A social-ecological perspective. Children and Youth Services Review, 93, 126-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.07.015
- Healthy People 2030. (n.d.) Mental Health and Mental Disorders. Retrieved from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/mental-health-and-mental-disorders
- Kivimäki, M., Batty, G. D., Pentti, J., Shipley, M. J., Sipilä, P. N., Nyberg, S. T., Sakari, B., Oksanen, T., Stenholm, S.,Virtanen, M., Marmot, M. G., Singh-Manoux, A., Brunner, E., Lindbohm, J., Ferrie, J. & Vahtera, J. (2020). Association between socioeconomic status and the development of mental and physical health conditions in adulthood: a multi-cohort study. The Lancet Public Health, 5(3), e140-e149. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30248-8
- Mukhtar, S., & Mukhtar, S. (2020). Mental health and psychological distress in people with diabetes during COVID-19. Metabolism-Clinical and Experimental, 108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154248
- Racine, N., Killam, T., & Madigan, S. (2020). Trauma-informed care as a universal precaution: beyond the adverse childhood experiences questionnaire. JAMA pediatrics, 174(1), 5-6. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3866
Mental Health in the Community
Write a 1000-1500 word essay addressing each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions for each bullet point. There should be three main sections, one for each bullet below. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3) sources using citations in your essay. Make sure to cite using the APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page in correct APA do not count towards the minimum word amount. Review the rubric criteria for this assignment.
Part 1:
1. Go to the Healthy People 2030 website[1]
2. Search for the option in “M” for Mental Health and Mental Disorders and click into this option
3. After reading the Overview section for Mental Health and Mental Disorders, click into the Objectives for this section.
4. From the Objective section, pick TWO objectives/goals from the list that you feel affect YOUR community (either your county, city, or state)
5. In your paper, note the number of the TWO objectives chosen as well as the names and explain why these TWO were chosen related to YOUR community.
6. As a nurse in your community, what can YOU do to help the community move towards these two objectives/goals? (this is about what YOU personally can do, ok to use first person)
Part 2:
1. Explain how physical health and mental health are correlated. What impact does each have on the other?
2. Give at least one detailed example of how either a specific physical ailment leads to a breakdown in mental health or how a specific mental health disorder can lead to physical issues. Be specific and detailed.
Part 3:
1. Explain Trauma Informed Care in detail.
2. As a nurse, how can YOU use Trauma Informed Care to assist a child who has been impacted by trauma? (this is about what YOU personally can do, ok to use first person)
Also Read: HCA320 Medicare and Medicaid Paper