Supporting Primary Health Care Initiatives in Mental Health - Term Paper Example

SUРРОRTING РRIMАRY HЕАLTH САRЕ INITIАTIVЕS IN MЕNTАL HЕАLTH STUDENT NAME COURSE NAME DATE Introduction The health care industry all over the world is looking forward to improving quality health care because of the fast increase of diagnosed diseases and sicknesses. Most health care providers have embraced ICT services, tools and other new technologies as a way of enhancing health services and curbing the ever increasing shortage of medics and carers in this country with ever increasing need for health care services[OKe06]. Use of ICT and related health care tools has had a significant effect in every aspect of the health sector. Not only has the ICT played a fundamental role in information management but has also ensured some health services and health information are disseminated to the impoverished communities whom could have otherwise have had no access to such services or who could not avoid such services[Com09]. In an effort to ensure efficient health care to its citizen the Australian Government came up with policies to guide and access the progress. Such documents include Australia’s National Primary Health Strategy (2010), National Standards for Mental Health Services (2010) and Fourth National Mental Health Plan (2009). Mental health Sound mental wellness plays a fundamental role the general wellbeing of an individual, society and the country as a whole. According to Griffiths and Christensen (2007), the problem of mental health and mental illness are rate as among the leading causes of disability, diminished quality of life and diminished workers productivity[Gwe04]. Individuals with mental illness have a high level of morbidity and mortality, due to degeneration general health and death caused through suicide[oec10].These state of affairs are momentous in terms of frequency and illness burden, and have extensive impacts on the immediate families, carers and the society in general (National Primary Health Care Strategy, 2010) The australian government through The Fourth National Mental Health Plan 2009–2014 policy recognizes the need for collaborative strategies in mental health the policy outlines the need for preventive and integrated health services across all the social domain[Nor13]. Online mental therapy tools such as the MoodGYM among others play a significant role in ensuring an individual with mental illness can take he/she own initiative to visit the internet and get the necessary information to assist in monitoring his/her stress level[KMG07]. With the increased cost of the face-to-face therapy, patients with mild to moderate depression can utilize the online tool to get same services offered by the physical mental therapist. This is especial to achieve the mental care standards stipulated in The National Standards for Mental Health Services 2010 of a right for health care for all. The ICT driven innovative online approaches such as the use of MoodGym, education sites such as BeyondBlue or online support groups such as Mood Garden would bridge the gaps in the inefficiency in the mental health sector in the remote Australia[Com09]. When the online services are combined with few available mental therapist in the country the process of mental preventation and recovery would be fast and effective. The Commonwealth department of Health and Age Care (2000), mental health promotion framework identify the benefits of a broad approach to tackling the factors that impact on mental health. Evidence from research backs programmes that encourage social inclusion, nondiscriminatory, and affordable resources (VicHealth, 2005). The awareness of social and economic determinants of mental health is at increase, and the inclusion of methods which foster meaningful relationships in promoting attachment and sense of belonging. The internet can be perceived as an invisible group of individuals promote social networks and strength the existing social ties and this can be a perfect platform for promoting health programs and implementation of the Government health policies[Ins12]. This therefore imply that the more people get connected to the internet the easy the government policies are implemented and the more the individuals receive mental health care through such online mental therapy programs. This further gives the individual the freedom to administer his mental state by constantly login to the online programs and interact with the system to get more information and rediscover himself/herself more by answering the questions given by the system. In line with The National Mental Health Policy 2008 vision of a mental health system that enables recovery, prevents and detects mental illness early, and ensures that all Australians with a mental illness can access effective and appropriate treatment and community support to enable them to participate fully in society, the online mental therapy tools can assist and individual to detect mild depression and manage it with the help of the information provide in the program. The online tools are also evolving to gather for the needs of a given social society[cnn01]. In development of the online therapy tools the community can also have an opportunity to participate by giving information to be included and organizing information into the current social context. This enables them to have a sense of belonging and encourage them to be suing the tools to detect and prevent depression and mood swings which may lead to mental illness. Benefits of online therapy tools There are a number of benefits in integrate the online mental therapy tools in the health sector. First and foremost the online tools are cost effective as they can be accessed by an individual from wherever he/she is rather than having to travel to seek for a face-to-face therapist. According to Monique (2009) over 10 billion dollars are spend on untreated mental illness, another over 17.5 billion dollars are spent on suicide victims each year and large amount being spent on treating the mental illness or mental related illness. With the use of Technology the government is able to deliver interventions to higher group of people at a cheaper cost. Young and vulnerable group of the population are engaging more and more on the internet. Deploying some of the health services through the internet will ensure more people get access to the health service[Gwe04]. Capitalizing on the youth’s engagement with the technology to introduce interactive mental therapy tools can result in the creation of an increased mental health youths in the society. Due to the perceived confidential nature of the online mental therapy tools many youths who do not like visiting the offline therapist would find the online therapy appealing. According to American psychological Association a third of those people who had booked their first visit with a traditional therapist would come back. Online therapy lowers people's defenses, making it easier to understand what the basic problem is. The evaluation of the Mood Gym programs according to the British Medical Journal (2004) show that users who have had conduct with the program on a weekly basis have shown remarkably reduced depression symptoms. The successes of the Mood Gym and other similar online programs such as Panic Online in eliminating the blues can be compared to the expected face-to-face treatment from the mental health therapist[www10]. The less than five minutes online quick screen test can easily give an indication of an individual’s mental state. It will show if the individual is undergoing signs of a mental ailment. The knowledge of the individual mental condition can assist the individual take control of his mental health. Online programs will endeavor to get to know the individual over time and work with the patient in a supportive way and to collect data, provide feedback, set goals, and help the individual make changes to positively transform his life and reduce stress. The information collected through the online programs can be of paramount important to a therapist in understanding the patient’s conditions and determining an appropriate intervention. The online programs does not only benefit the patient but also the carers, the family and the community at large by providing the necessary information they may need to better assist the patient recover and also to prevent the occurrence of the mental illness. This group of people can also get access to the progress information as generated by the online program. The online programs can easily be translated to various languages and deployed in the internet to serve citizen from the various diverse languages. The benefits can be promoted by encouraging the population to get access to the internet and sensitizing them on the availability of the online programs. Institution should ensure the security of data collected by the programs to ensure malicious users do not get unauthorized access to the patient information and utilize the information elsewhere. The benefits could also be promoted by developing a more informative, user friendlier and interactive programs. Challenges of online mental therapy programs In mental therapy the body language such as the facial expression, voice tone play a significant role to the therapist in reading the unspoken signs of depression. With the self-driven online tools this aspect is missing and this might cause a disconnect between the patient and the therapist. Thus the patient might miss out on the opportunity to get specific attention as expected. The strong relationship between the patient and the therapist is sometimes referred to as the therapeutic alliance. This alliance is crucial during the patient counseling sessions as it create that trust and understanding between the two parties involved. In online mental treatment tools the aspect of the therapeutic alliance is missing. Since internet accessibility is international there is no national or international law governing the online therapist and thus many imposters have exploited this fact to extort money from innocent patients seeking online help. The availability of the internet in the rural remote Australia is limiting the availability of the online tools. Some of the users are techno phobic thus the online tools might not be of use to them. The challenges might be enormous but the government should take a leading role in ensuring the all citizens are provided with the ICT infrastructure. The government should ensure the internet is availed in all the regions and people should be trained on its use. A sensitization campaign should be done to sensitize people on the availability of the online mental therapy tools. On the issue of reading the physical body language the users should be given training on how to express the internal feeling in works. By user of appropriate icons the users can pass information on what they really feel. According to O'Kearney, Gibson, Christensen, & Griffiths (2006) they postulated that the issue of physical body language can be overcome by giving the user some basic communication skills. By creating interactive user centered tools the users can get the same attachment to the online tools same as the therapeutic alliance enjoyed by therapists. Making changes in life takes an investment of time and effort. In order to make progress, you need to be willing to engage fully with the material offered in the packages, i.e. do all the exercises recommended and put effort into reflecting on them and practising between online sessions. Personal reflection on the experience of using MoodGym MoodGym is basically an interactive site that assists users to treat and monitor their depression and anxiety levels. The program utilizes the cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to assist users have control of what they think and how they act with a view of overcoming anxiety and depression. It also equip the user with the skills to better cope better with the various unpleasant situation presented by life. Personally I find the program very beneficial as it allows me to measure my depression or anxiety level anytime and provide tips on how to cope and quickly recover from such illness. Since the program is divided into a number of five modules which are deliver to the users in a given order it allows the user to quickly learn the basic concepts as they delve deeper into the program’s modules. The modules include the feelings, thoughts, unwarping, de-stressing, and relationships. These modules allowed me to connect the material to my own circumstance. In navigating through the modules I was presented with useful information, animated demonstrations, questions and practical exercise. The information the user provide are kept in the program’s workbook which would be used to track the patient progress. The results can be view at any time presented as a visual graphs and textual description of the results. This ensures I clearly and correctly interprets the results with ease. Personally the program also assisted me to rediscover myself and gave me an opportunity to soul search through my mind. The challenge with the use of the programs is the need to read a lot of text. The program could be enhanced by incorporating video explanation for users who do not want to read or do not know how to read. That way the program would be able to serve and gather for all the users with basic internet navigational skills. Application of online primary healthcare programs as a tool to support your future practice The online primary healthcare programs can be used to acumen the traditional therapy. The program can be used to assist patient with mild mental illness to management their recovery process. Therefore the online primary health care programs can be used a first line therapy. If there are no notable changes on the part of the patient then the therapist can step in to try and assist the patient based on the first information gathered by the program. Since ICT tools are good in data collect and analysis these tools can be of great assistance in my practice as a therapist. With the graphical data generated by the program the therapist can use to explain to the patient the state of his/her mental status and also use the information to correctly prescribe the necessary interventions which can be either clinical or therapeutic. References OKe06: , (O'Kearney, Gibson, Christensen, & Griffiths, 2006), Com09: , (CommonwealthofAustralia, 2009), Gwe04: , (Gray, 2004), oec10: , (oecd, 2010), Nor13: , (Lamb, 2013), KMG07: , (Griffiths & Christensen, 2007), Ins12: , (InstituteOfHealthAndWelfare, 2012), cnn01: , (cnn.com, 2001), www10: , (www.swinburne.edu.ac, 2010), Read More