How the mental health issue of depression relates to HHSM
Health and Human Services Management (HHSM) is a line of discipline that is involved in the development of skills among healthcare professionals that can allow them to function in a managerial position within healthcare services and healthcare industries, combining knowledge from human services sector with business skills which can provide the students the necessary knowledge to manage the health can wellbeing of people and function as a healthcare manager and leader (Picone & Pehm, 2015). Mental health is an important consideration for healthcare professionals since healthcare industries can often operate under a stressful environment both mentally and physically for the providers and healthcare professionals and can significantly influence the ability of the professionals to provide care in a safe and efficient manner (Yang et al., 2015; Burton et al., 2017). Thus it is vital to analyze the impact of mental health issues among healthcare professionals.
The aim of this essay is to analyze a case study of depression among nurses working in palliative care, how it related to HHSM and how its impact can be investigated and mitigated.
Discussion:
Depression is a mental health disorder in which individuals show signs of prolonged sadness and bad mood and a general loss of interest in various activities and can hamper the daily lives of people. Depression can also have various psychological, behavioral and physical impacts such as change in sleep patterns, loss of appetite, low energy levels, inability to concentrate, low self esteem and increase in irritability. Risk of depression can be prevalent among healthcare professionals due to the high stress environment they work in (Guntuku et al., 2017). This can especially be the case in palliative care where the professionals have to provide care and support to terminal patients and their families. The stress and depression can further lead to loss of productivity and performance, reduction in job satisfaction, increase in attrition rates and poor staff attendance which can thus impact health and human services management by affecting the ability of managers and leaders to effectively manage their healthcare teams (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). Thus it can be assumed that depression can adversely affect HHSM strategies.
In order to implement effective HHSM strategies, it is vital that all the factors that can cause depression among healthcare professionals and that can be used to mitigate its impact needs to be investigated. The factors can include:
Work Environment: Unhealthy work environment and poor working conditions along with the presence of patients and their families can increase a sense of stress among healthcare professionals which can lead to depression.
Factors that need investigation and resources that are needed to manage depression
Work Overload: Too much work can also have adverse impact on emotional wellbeing leading to anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Family Conflicts: Personal conflicts can lead to mental diversions and also increase stress and anxiety among the nurses increasing the risks of depression.
Interpersonal Conflicts in workplace: Conflicts with other people (healthcare professionals, patients and their families) can also cause depression.
Professional Autonomy: A lack of professional autonomy and increased sense of dependency on other professionals can reduce job satisfaction and increase risks of depression.
Insecurity: Job insecurity can also increase risks of depression due to a sense of uncertainty over their jobs
Night Shifts: Night shifts can negatively affect the sleeping patterns among people which can lead to an increased risk of depression.
Burnout Syndrome: Working in emotionally stressful environment such as palliative care can be emotionally traumatizing for the nurses increasing the risks.
Lifestyle: Several lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking alcohol, diet, sleeping hours and duration and levels of physical activity can also impact the risks of depression.
(Fuller-Thomson et al., 2016; Jacobson & Newman, 2017)
In order to identify the early signs of depression, an immediate ‘post event’ debriefing can be used for the healthcare professionals after a significantly traumatic event such as death of a patient or a clinical accident. This strategy can help to understand how the event have impacted the person on an emotional level and thus to see if the person is at risk of developing depressive symptoms (Paterson et al., 2015).
In order to treat depression among healthcare professionals, intervention strategy such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy can be used for the nurses as it focuses on changing the perceptions of the person (Piccirillo & Heimberg, 2016).
Depression among nurses working in Palliative Care unit can be treated using the Psychodynamic theory as well as Cognitive Theory since they deal with the effect of past experiences on the depressive symptoms and how an individual thinks about it. I believe that these theories and models can help to gain a better understanding about the cause of depression, its triggers and how best to overcome it without affecting the performance of the healthcare professional. Moreover recovery model can also be helpful to focus on the recovery from depression, thus helping to improve the wellbeing of the nurses (Paterson et al., 2015).
The theory of mental health problem that I do oppose to is the Behaviorism theory that is mainly developed on laboratory or fixed conditions and considers how behaviors are affected by conditioning (how one responds to the environment). However the theory fails to explain how past behavior and experiences can also impact future thinking processes and behavior. Thus I believe that this theory is not adequate to investigation of depression. Also, I oppose to the Steven’s System Model of healthcare delivery since it proposes a linear system of inputs, healthcare services, healthcare systems and output. I believe that mental health is influenced by many factors apart from healthcare services and systems (such as the environment, individual experiences and lifestyle) due to which the model is niot effective to investigate the given case study (Piccirillo & Heimberg, 2016).
Debriefing and problem-solving strategies for depression and its rationale
For the given case study, I believe the Cognitive Theory and Recovery model are the most appropriate one since it allows focus on how the individual experiences can mold the thinking process of the healthcare professionals which can be the triggers of depression and how coping skills can be developed among them. Additionally, the recovery model helps to develop strategies that can help a professional to recover from a traumatic experience and continue providing care for the patients and support for the families Jacobson & Newman, 2017).
By viewing the issue through the various perspectives such as cognitive, behavior, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches it is possible to understand how mental health conditions sucyhn as depression can have multiple etiologies and influences and how the risks of depression can be reduced by addressing the factors that influence the risks of depression. This knowledge can be used to develop strategies to treat depression among nurses working in palliative care, helping them to overcome burnout syndrome and compassion fatigue and thus provide strategic direction for HHSM policies to support better healthcare system (Fuller-Thomson et al., 2016).
Conclusion
From the above case study it is evident that depression can be a significant problem among healthcare professionals working in high stress environment, such as working in palliative care. Depression among healthcare professionals can reduce their performance and productivity and also reduce job satisfaction. It is vital therefore that all the aspects related to the cause and influence of depression be analyzed to prevent its impact. Cognitive approach is vital in this regard as it allows the modification of how the healthcare professionals perceive an adverse incident. A recovery model is also needed that can help to ensure better recovery of the individuals from such incidents.
References:
Burton, A., Burgess, C., Dean, S., Koutsopoulou, G. Z., & Hugh?Jones, S. (2017). How effective are mindfulness?based interventions for reducing stress among healthcare professionals? A systematic review and meta?analysis. Stress and Health, 33(1), 3-13.
Fuller-Thomson, E., Agbeyaka, S., LaFond, D. M., & Bern-Klug, M. (2016). Flourishing after depression: Factors associated with achieving complete mental health among those with a history of depression. Psychiatry research, 242, 111-120.
Guntuku, S. C., Yaden, D. B., Kern, M. L., Ungar, L. H., & Eichstaedt, J. C. (2017). Detecting depression and mental illness on social media: an integrative review. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 18, 43-49.
Jacobson, N. C., & Newman, M. G. (2017). Anxiety and depression as bidirectional risk factors for one another: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological bulletin, 143(11), 1155.
Paterson, H. M., Whittle, K., & Kemp, R. I. (2015). Detrimental effects of post-incident debriefing on memory and psychological responses. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 30(1), 27-37.
Piccirillo, M. L., & Heimberg, R. G. (2016). Dealing with rejection: post-event processing in social anxiety and paranoia. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 7(4), jep-054816.
Picone, D., & Pehm, K. (2015). Review of the Department of Health and Human Services’ management of a critical issue at Djerriwarrh Health Services. Melbourne: Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
Townsend, M. C., & Morgan, K. I. (2017). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care in evidence-based practice. FA Davis.
Yang, S., Meredith, P., & Khan, A. (2015). Stress and burnout among healthcare professionals working in a mental health setting in Singapore. Asian journal of psychiatry, 15, 15-20.
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