Demographic of Depression and Associated Anxiety in Australia
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018), more than 45% Australians agreed to the fact that they suffered from mental illness at some time point of their career. This assignment will be discussing Depression as the mental health concern at workplace that affects maximum employees at the workplace ranging from 18 to 65 years of age (Brohan et al., 2012). Depression has been chosen for the discussion because despite being common, its traits are unrecognizable and the affected person loses self-esteem, confidence and develops nervousness, irritability and restless ness. Social discrimination, less access to support service and unavailability to medication are also responsible for selection of this mental health issue for discussion (Jorm, 2012).
According to the data provided by the WHO (2018), more than 300 million people worldwide are suffering from depression currently and maximum of it are due to the emergence of negative work environment. The survey conducted by WHO worldwide determined that the anxiety and depression symptoms in workplace is responsible for $1 trillion every years with respect to productivity. while discussing the demographic of depression is Australia, it should be mentioned that more than 14% Australians suffer from anxiety and depression every year and within that 3% develop psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, dementia and so on. In the overall population of mentally ill patients, only 35% reach to healthcare experts and 90% of them lead to violence or self-harm such as suicide (WHO, 2018).
To understand the demographic of depression and associated anxiety within my workplace, I conducted a survey and from that result, it was understood that more than 70% of employees were suffering from mild to major depression. Whereas, 18% determined that they take work pressure as a part of job and did not feel depressed at any time point. The survey further determined that negative work environment, discrimination based on socio-economic status and working position was few of the prime reasons for increasing depression and anxiety within workplace (Cooper & Marshall, 2013).
The key issues to be addressed are-
- lack of proper mental healthcare policies within workplaces
- lack of interpersonal communication, leading to stress and communication gap
- Less supportive work environment leading to improper distribution of workload
- excessive stress provided by the workplace to achieve difficult objectives
The objectives of health promotional program are-
- To provide support to the employees suffering from mental health issues so that their work-related risk factors can be minimized.
- promoting mental health so that positive aspect of working environment and communication within the employees can be established
- to finish the discrimination within the workplace, treatment will be provided regardless of the position
- The awareness about the positive working environment should be spread in the entire workplace in the presence of higher authorities so that excess pressure provided for meeting company targets can be reduced.
For the successful achievement of healthcare promotion plan related to depression in working environment, it is important to engage with different stakeholders associated with the organization of healthcare campaign (Laschinger et al., 2013). The stakeholders identified for this purpose are organization supervisor, manager and leader, healthcare experts associated with the process, counsellors and the mentally ill patients. Al these people were communicated before the commencement of the healthcare camp so that their consent can be obtained (Ray et al., 2013).
Health Promotion Plan for Workplace Depression
The audience of the program will be the entire working staff of my organization as well as all the supervisors, the manager and higher authority of the company. These people will be included in the healthcare program as their involvement will help to spread the learnings further to help other individual who are affected with mental illness (Ray et al., 2013).
To address the depression related issue within workplace, the strategy of community events, sports events and personal discussion will be utilized. This is an effective way to spread the awareness regarding mental health and wellness as in these events maximum gathering of individuals are expected. Hence, it will be easier for us to spread the awareness regarding positive mental health and its beneficial consequences in an environment related to sport or community facilitation (Cottini & Lucifora, 2013).
For implementation of the project
- firstly a pamphlet having all the information of community event and sport event will be spread within the organization, after taking consent of the higher authority
- Each of the employees will be asked to confirm their attendance in the vent
For the implementation of the process, the above mentioned strategy will be utilized. For this purpose resources such as printing of the pamphlets, trophies for the facilitation program, catering for community event, sport equipment for sport event, advertising costs, and healthcare related costs will be required (Allegranzi et al., 2013). The possible barriers of this process can be the negative response from the higher authority while seeking permission for these events however the supervisor and managers will be provided with the data so that they can understand the severity for the situation and help us to arrange the community and sport events for the organization (Neiger et al., 2012).
After the completion of the events the campaign will ask them to accept their mental health condition and seek medical assistance to treat that. Further, the evaluation will be done on the basis of the number of employees who register themselves in the healthcare campaign and counselling session after the event. Further, the original objectives will be tallied so that achievements can be identified. After these, the further continuation of the program will depend on the successful completion of these events (Allegranzi et al., 2013).
For the systematic advocacy of the group, the population and group identified in the task 1 of this assignment has been chosen. The reason for selecting the employees with depression or mental illness is that the increased social discrimination based on their health condition. According to Llupià et al., (2013), people who take medical assistance for their mental illness has to face social discrimination and inequality at some time point of their career, hence it has been chosen for the discussion.
Advocacy for Mental Health Rights
Currently there are more than 14 percent of mentally ill people living in Australia, within which only 35% of reaches to healthcare experts for the expert assistance. The reason for this are social discrimination and inequality depending on socio-economic status. Therefore it is important to promote the human right of mentally ill people so that the social stigma and discrimination could be reduced. For this purpose, the assignment will be focusing governmental policies, company policies and affected employees will be chosen as prime stakeholders for advocacy.
For this purpose roles of different stakeholders will be discussed such as affected people, and their families, non-governmental organizations, mental healthcare experts, planners and government policymakers and the Australian healthcare ministries and higher authorities of societies so that the awareness can be spread throughout the society using powerful and respected sources (Llupià et al., 2013).
The successful advocacy will lead to creation of several policies regarding the mental healthcare and associated discriminations. For this purpose, firstly the affected group of employees will be consulted for the identification of their issues related to social discrimination due to their mental health (Selix & Goyal, 2012). Further they will be asked to take part in the development of strategies. In different social, communal and political agencies, the case of mental healthcare needs of employees will be presented and with the help of different means in each social, political or community related structure the issue will be raised so that awareness can be spread throughout the society (Reavley et al., 2014).
The social-political issue that need to be changed in this aspect is related to healthcare assistance that people receive while mental illness. According to LaMontagne et al., (2014), mental illness is still a taboo in the society and people afraid to seek assistance for mental illness. Hence, this concept should be changed.
For the facilitation of mental healthcare advocacy, the action plan will include arranging meets with the higher authorities of the organization, so that they include Human right legislations within their organizational policy (Selix & Goyal, 2012). Further, to assess the Australian Human Rights regarding working employees meeting with any human right expert will be arranged and with the help of that expert, the local government’s policies will be reviewed for improvement. Documents related to client rights, interested, their needs, will be presented to the local government with a petition signed by group of employees suffering from mental illness (Reavley et al., 2014).
Service Improvement
For the purpose of service improvement, all the stakeholders associated with the process will be asked for their valuable feedbacks regarding the access in the program, effectiveness of the process, gaps present in the service, satisfaction of the affected group and the areas that still needs to be improved (LaMontagne et al., 2014). The identified needs were related to raising points regarding human rights of employees, removing discrimination and inequality regarding mental illness. However, while advocating regarding the process, there are several aspects that need to be improved as including all the employees in the petition instead of only mentally ill employees should be done. It would increase the impact of the petition (Cuijpers, Beekman & Reynolds, 2012).
While evaluating the process, it should be mentioned that the strategy was able to achieve maximum of the objectives. However, the objective of changes in the legislation was not achieved as it is a lengthy process that required much more evidences and support. Therefore for the achievement of the objective, the complete employees suffering from mental illness in the local governance area should be included in the strategy. It will broaden the aspect of the process and government will be forced to think about the important changes that should be made in this area (Cuijpers, Beekman & Reynolds, 2012).
For the first assessment I preferred to contact a staff of my workplace and conducted an interview with him so that the internal issues related to healthcare and occupational risk factor can be assessed. Prior the conduction of the interview, I contacted one of my teacher at OTEN to assess the interview. I arranged someone to assist me with the interview process and them concentrated my interview with the worker and asked 15 questions regarding the workplace environment and associated pressures that enhances their stress and fatigue in workplace. I asked each question to the worker and ask him to provide honest and appropriate answer so that through his response the condition of other staff at the organization can be improved. This session lasted for 20 minutes and the worker was able to answer all the questions with honest and quick response. He was able to point out the risk factors associated with the workplace that increases the depression condition.
The second role play conducted was regarding the counselling procedure of the workers so that they can overcome their depression and focus on their personal as well as professional life to achieve supreme success. I this session that lasted for 20 minutes each I counselled three people, one 15 year old teen, who was a victim of school bullying, one 30 year old married man suffering from relationship related issues that are affecting his work efficiency and finally a 70 year old person who is living alone and after the death of his partner, coping up with the loneliness to move forward in life. In the first scenario, as the victim was minor and was suffering from issue like bullying at school that has the capability to hamper the entire life of the victim, I chose cognitive behavioral therapy to treat the consciousness of the victim. While discussing the scenario with the victim I noticed that he the victim was shameful and did not wanted to share the situation, however as per the therapy of cognitive behavior model, I was able to point out the positives in that negative situation and build little confidence and strength so that the victim can continue normal student life. Whereas, while second scenario, while discussing the situation, I applied family counselling procedure as the victim was a family man and was suffering from relationship related issues. Hence, I acknowledged the client immediate concerns and let the family sit and talk to clarify their differences. Further, I took consent from the client so that I can record the case and add appropriate case notes to it. The family counselling process was appropriate in case as the relation related issues were faced by the entire family, hence asking the entire family to discuss their concern was my top priority. Finally, to deal the most difficult case related to the old man who lost his partner and was coping to learn to live alone, I chose rational emotive and reality therapy. The prime concept of these therapies are to relate the victim of depression with the reality of life and be satisfied with the content they have in their future. This scenario was difficult to assess as the old man was suffering from loneliness after the death of his partner and hence, the therapies used as intervention in his situation was destined to improve his condition. Therefore, rational emotive and reality therapy was used to assess and treat the condition of the victim.
While conducting this task, in which I had to take interviews of workers, and counsel three different victims of depression, I took the help of my teachers and workplace seniors to assess me with the nuances. While conducting the interview I learned that the way of asking question decides the type of answer. Further, while conducting counselling, it was challenging for me to understand the type of theory I would apply on the victims so that maximum help can be provided to them. Hence, this session of role play, interviews and counselling, I was able to apply my work place assessments and provide my clients with appropriate solution so that they can overcome their fear.
This unit/cluster was about healthcare campaign programs and selecting one backward group from the society and help them to overcome their healthcare related issues through effective advocacy and practice. For this purpose, this cluster allowed me to understand the social discrimination and implement social norms through changing perception of public of different health related concerns. For this health promotional campaign I chose mental health concern depression as the prime issue to deal with in workplace and targeted my assessment to find out different ways through which, I will be able to help the depressed employees to overcome their stress and lead a healthy life. Therefore, through this important unit, I was able to understand the importance of health at workplace and how the entire world is currently using interventions to overcome the deleterious effect of depression. Further, I was able to learn the effectiveness of healthcare advocacy and interventions for the development of a healthy workplace environment. Furthermore, through this cluster, it was understood that the prime agenda of health promotional campaign is inclusive of public relations The agenda of healthcare promotional campaigns are not always explicit however the healthcare programs that are applied in workplace or for communities that are vulnerable to serious health complications are determined to help those people to come out of their health related complications.
The new professional skills, knowledge or attributes that should be further developed has been presented below.
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Cluster Five |
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Key lessons learnt: importance of communication, work ethics flexibility, determination and persistence |
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Skills |
Attributes |
Strategies to develop further |
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Communication skills |
To acquire a proper workplace communication skill, it is important to persist a positive attribute so that people can approach the person in need. Therefore, while preparing a health promotional campaign for the depression related issues in workplace, positive attitude is the attribute that will help the employees to approach with their concerns. |
For the further development of communication skills, I will interact with my colleagues at the workplace, further for the development of critical thinking, I will attempt tasks and activities in groups so that i can enhance my communication skills. |
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Work ethics |
Meanwhile developing healthcare program for the depression affected employees, i was able to understand that maintaining work ethics is an important aspect in workplace. For that honesty, integrity, self-motivation, confidence and responsible nature are important attributes. |
For the further development f my compliance with the work ethics, I will focus more on completing assignment works within time and perform each time efficiently and effectively so that i can increase my professional skills and maintain a work and life balance so that I can protect my health from being affected with depression. |
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Persistence |
To maintain the skill of persistency, focus and effective management are the attributes that will help me to understand the effectiveness of the process. |
To develop my persistency skill, i will be working for longer hours further indulge in light communication with my co-workers so that i can protect myself from being burnouts. |
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Determination skills |
There are several attributes for the skill of determination which is self-discipline. This provides the person with the ability to persevere and try to achieve success after continuous failures too. Competitiveness and optimism are other attributes for self-determination |
For the development of this attribute I will focus on resourcefulness and will focus on my desire so that i can compete with others to achieve my target. |
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Technical competency |
For the skill of technical competency, knowledge about the subject is an important attribute. |
For the development oif this attribute, i will study more about healthcare interventions that should be applied on workplace and employees so that the depression related issue of employees can be eliminated. |
References
ABS. (2018). 4364.0.55.001 – National Health Survey: First Results, 2014-15. Abs.gov.au. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/4364.0.55.001~2014-15~Main%20Features~Mental%20and%20behavioural%20conditions~32
Allegranzi, B., Gayet-Ageron, A., Damani, N., Bengaly, L., McLaws, M. L., Moro, M. L., … & Donaldson, L. (2013). Global implementation of WHO’s multimodal strategy for improvement of hand hygiene: a quasi-experimental study. The Lancet infectious diseases, 13(10), 843-851.
Brohan, E., Henderson, C., Wheat, K., Malcolm, E., Clement, S., Barley, E. A., … & Thornicroft, G. (2012). Systematic review of beliefs, behaviours and influencing factors associated with disclosure of a mental health problem in the workplace. BMC psychiatry, 12(1), 11.
Cooper, C. L., & Marshall, J. (2013). Occupational sources of stress: A review of the literature relating to coronary heart disease and mental ill health. In From Stress to Wellbeing Volume 1 (pp. 3-23). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Cottini, E., & Lucifora, C. (2013). Mental health and working conditions in Europe. ILR Review, 66(4), 958-988.
Cuijpers, P., Beekman, A. T., & Reynolds, C. F. (2012). Preventing depression: a global priority. Jama, 307(10), 1033-1034.
Jorm, A. F. (2012). Mental health literacy: empowering the community to take action for better mental health. American Psychologist, 67(3), 231.
LaMontagne, A. D., Martin, A., Page, K. M., Reavley, N. J., Noblet, A. J., Milner, A. J., … & Smith, P. M. (2014). Workplace mental health: developing an integrated intervention approach. BMC psychiatry, 14(1), 131.
Laschinger, H. K., Wong, C., Regan, S., Young-Ritchie, C., & Bushell, P. (2013). Workplace incivility and new graduate nurses’ mental health: The protective role of resiliency. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(7/8), 415-421.
Llupià, A., Mena, G., Olivé, V., Quesada, S., Aldea, M., Sequera, V. G., … & Trilla, A. (2013). Evaluating influenza vaccination campaigns beyond coverage: a before-after study among health care workers. American journal of infection control, 41(8), 674-678.
Neiger, B. L., Thackeray, R., Van Wagenen, S. A., Hanson, C. L., West, J. H., Barnes, M. D., & Fagen, M. C. (2012). Use of social media in health promotion: purposes, key performance indicators, and evaluation metrics. Health promotion practice, 13(2), 159-164.
Ray, S. L., Wong, C., White, D., & Heaslip, K. (2013). Compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, work life conditions, and burnout among frontline mental health care professionals. Traumatology, 19(4), 255-267.
Reavley, N. J., Ross, A., Martin, A., LaMontagne, A. D., & Jorm, A. F. (2014). Development of guidelines for workplace prevention of mental health problems: A Delphi consensus study with Australian professionals and employees. Mental Health & Prevention, 2(1-2), 26-34.
Selix, N. W., & Goyal, D. (2015). Postpartum depression among working women: A call for practice and policy change. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(9), 897-902.
WHO. (2018). WHO | Mental disorders affect one in four people. Who.int. Retrieved 28 March 2018, from https://www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/
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