In your final project you will recommend a new and alternative public health approach, such as communication strategies, program development, policy changes,

 

In your final project you will recommend a new and alternative public health approach, such as communication strategies, program development, policy changes, community engagement, and recommendations for your public health issue from Unit I.

Your project will consist of the following sections:

  1. Introduction
  2. Provide a brief overview of the public health issue you wish to address. Identify the issue and its impact on the community.
  3. How does the issue represent a gap or disparity in access, quality, or delivery of health care? Be sure to justify your reasoning.
  4. Justification of Public Health Issue
  5. Describe, in detail, the public health issue that needs to be addressed. Be sure to include the history of the issue, as well as the evidence that substantiates your claim that this is a legitimate public health concern.
  6. What policies, programs, or strategies are already in place to address this issue? Be sure to provide specific examples.
  7. How effective do you feel the existing policies, programs, or other strategies you identified are in terms of promoting health or reducing disparities? Be sure to support your reasoning.
  8. Description of the New/Alternative Public Health Approach
  9. Propose an alternative strategic approach to the previously identified policies, programs, or strategies for addressing the issue and improving access, delivery, or quality of the public health program.
  10. How do you feel this alternative will achieve desired public health goals? Support your response with research.
  11. What resources would be required for this approach? In other words, what will be needed in order to plan, implement, communicate, conduct, and evaluate the strategy you have proposed?
  12. Implementation and Communication Strategies for the Alternative Strategic Approach
  13. Describe, in detail, the outreach strategies you would select to effectively communicate this approach to the target audience and key stakeholders. Be sure to substantiate your claims with research.
  14. What are some of the barriers you might face in trying to change the current public health approach? If you feel no barriers would exist, be sure to explain your reasoning.
  15. Evaluation of Alternative Strategic Approach
  16. How would you evaluate the new strategy or approach to ensure that it is meeting desired public health goals? Specifically, describe the type(s) of data to be collected, method(s) of collection, and frequency of data/program analysis.
  17. Conclusion:
  18. Based on your overall analysis, recommend your proposed alternative strategic approach to the access, quality, or delivery of health care, and justify your recommendation. Be sure to justify your rationale.

To complete Sections 1–5, you may use portions of your assignments throughout the course, as well as new content when needed. The conclusion section should be new information and be approximately one page in length.

The full project should be at least seven pages in length. You must use a minimum of three outside sources, and one may be the textbook. One source must be from the CSU Online Library. All sources used must be cited and references according to APA Style. 

1

POLICIES ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH 5

Policies Addressing Mental Health

Jasmine Fields

Columbia Southern University

PUH 6305: Problem Solving in Public Health

Dr. Loretta Shields

September 26, 2023

Policies Addressing Mental Health

In Georgia, mental health continues to be a serious issue. There are a lot of moving parts associated with mental health in the state and there have been various policies that have come up to try and deal with the issue of mental health in the state. One of these policies is Title 37 of the Georgia Code (Kohler et al., 2017). This policy provides allocations aiming to deal with various facets associated with mental health, including the establishment and operation of mental health facilities, issues around involuntary commitment, the rights of individuals with mental illness, community-based services, and developmental disabilities (Hathaway & Childree, 2019).

While the law is very comprehensive, the law does not fully address major issues associated with contemporary mental health (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). For example, while the policy provides policies concerning involuntary commitment, it fails to address the shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists in the state (Aldridge et al., 2021). It also does not help that the state has yet to expand Medicaid and adopt the Affordable Care Act into its legislation (Kohler et al., 2017). This means that many in the state cannot properly access mental health care and there is minimal funding dedicated to helping with research and growth in the mental health treatment sector.

The failure to adopt the Affordable Care Act in the state also denies many accesses to healthcare (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). One of the major tenets of the act is the expansion of healthcare which helps many who would normally not afford it gain access to healthcare. The policy fails to properly address this, which means that many who are dealing with mental health issues may fail to properly afford access to mental health facilities (Kohler et al., 2017). The policy also fails to be proactive in preventing the emergence of mental health issues and disorders. Prevention is always better than cure. Policies must come up that address the issue of mental health with the goal being its prevention, rather than a reactive measure.

Public health professionals are not doing enough to address the issue. There has been minimal activism from public health professionals to try and change the current state of mental health in the state (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). Georgia has been through a lot in the last few years. There has been an increase in political polarization, racial tensions have become high, and the state has been heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic (Aldridge et al., 2021). This placed additional strain on the public health sector, as more attention was placed on these other factors rather than mental health (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). This eventually led to a decline in advocacy for ways to improve the state of mental health in the state. Polarization also affects public health professionals, who often accept policies provided they align with their values (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). This affects advocacy and policymaking, as it makes consensus incredibly difficult. With no one able to agree on anything, nothing can be done.

Another reason why public health professionals are not doing enough is because of the current state of mental health care in the country (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). In recent years, there has been a challenge in diagnosis. This challenge comes when a patient comes in and says they have a condition, and the psychiatrist immediately concludes that that is the condition. For example, an individual comes in and says they feel depressed (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). Previously, psychologists would probe deeper to try and find out what the issue was. However, in recent years, that has changed, and diagnosis has changed. The decline in rationality in healthcare due to complex topics such as issues associated with gender and mental health, means that public health professionals are often tied between advocating and being canceled from society.

There are a variety of ethical implications of dealing with mental health and the policy. These issues are complicated and very multifaceted (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). The first ethical issue is stigma and discrimination. Mental health issues often have a lot of stigmas associated with them and the policy fails to properly address this issue due to its reactive nature. Another ethical concern is involuntary commitment. It is vital to strike a balance between protecting the patient and maintaining their autonomy. Resource allocation is also another ethical issue (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). The main reason why the state has yet to accept the additional resources associated with accepting the Affordable Care Act is because of politics. This law brings additional resources to healthcare that are vital. This brings the ethical concern of whether it is right for the state to refuse resources for their political inclinations.

Niccolò Machiavelli once said that it is vital to remember that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. This means that changing an existing policy and a system that has been in place is not easy. However, this change is vital if healthcare wishes to grow and advance to deal with the growing issue of mental health.

References

Aldridge, L. S., Gober, M., Walker, M., & Strong, G. (2021). Georgia, USA: A bellwether in lactation care.  Journal of Human Lactation,  37(3), 539-546.

Dunaway, P. A., & Gordon, G. H. (2020). SHELTER IN PLACE: Executive Order by the Governor to Ensure a Safe & Healthy Georgia.  Georgia State University Law Review,  37(1), 67.

Hathaway, A., & Childree, A. (2019). Serving Children in Georgia.

Kohler, T., Elizbarashvili, N., Meladze, G., Svanadze, D., & Meessen, H. (2017). The demographic crisis in Racha, Georgia: Depopulation in the central Caucasus mountains.  Mountain Research and Development,  37(4), 415-424.

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