Mental Health Worker Research Paper

1.1 Analyse the principal functions of a Mental Health Worker.
Principal functions of a mental health worker are: * Face to face client work - supporting the delivery of brief interventions and self help for people with common mental disorders of all ages. For example, working with clients with panic disorder and major depression using cognitive behavioural approaches. * Promoting positive mental health and awareness of the importance of addressing mental health issues. * Strengthening the information available for patients about mental health. * Improving knowledge held within a GP practice about the network of community resources available for people with mental health problems. * Wider community networking and liaison
* Their responsible for arranging the services a client needs and reviewing these to ensure they meet the client’s needs. * They assist clients in a number of settings and work with not only individuals, but also families, communities. * Organisation and groups, promoting the psychological wellbeing and health of a client
1.2 Analyse the three principal types of advocacy and evaluate their importances
Independent Professional Advocacy * Professional advocacy is for people who need help to represent their views during a time of major change or crisis. * A paid advocacy worker works with a person to help them 'speak up' for themselves or represents their views for them. * An advocacy worker may only need to work with a person for a short time. * They represent People who are unable to do so for themselves. * They work on the side of the person * They are Trained in different issues * Their Supported by other staff * Their in contact with other professionals such as care managers, community nurses etc * they Kept up to date with latest information The importance of this type of advocacy is they: * Safeguard people who are vulnerable and discriminated against, or who services find difficult to serve. * Empower people who need a stronger voice, by enabling them to express their own needs and make their own decisions. * Enable people to gain access to information, explore and understand their options, and to make their views and wishes known, they Speak on behalf of their clients, to express their wishes
Peer or Collective Advocacy
This involves a number of people coming together in other to explore ways in which they can have their stories and opinions heard. This group of people join together to speak for their rights and campaign on the issues that affect more than one person,
The importance of this type of advocacy is:
It group of people helping each other to join ideas to move forward in life, some of the things peer advocacy campaign on include employment, education, social and support activities. Therefore is important because they do thing like peer education, this is where young people teach other each other about different issues which are important, like giving them information they need to make a living.
Peer advocacy is important, it support people, from moving of school, looking for a job and social activities
Citizen Advocacy:
Citizen advocacy is about establishing relationships between people labelled as having a learning disability and members of the community.
It is a way of helping to create long-term relationships between people in the community who perhaps would not have met under everyday circumstances.
An advocate and client will spend time getting to know each other and the advocate will support their client to ensure their voice is heard, on occasions it may be necessary for an advocate to speak up for their partner. Advocates and their client will socialise in their local communities and participate in things they both enjoy. Having a citizen advocate allows a person to have somebody in their life who is independent, unpaid and just for them.
Advocates make sure that their clients have an influence over the decisions that affect their lives, so that their needs are met and their rights and interests safeguarded. Advocates also ensure that the views and opinions of their client are heard and respected, and that they are treated as individuals, and valued members of society. There are no restrictions on the time spent in this relationship. The organisation will support the advocate by way of initial preparation sessions, ongoing support sessions with other advocates and individual sessions with project
workers.

Their importance citizen advocacy is to support their client to: * Become fully involved with the ordinary community. * Build social networks around their client * Introduce them to their own social networks * Be heard, by giving them a voice and encourage them to speak up for themselves. * Be at the centre of decisions concerning their life. * Support them in making (and taking ownership over) informed choices * Achieve a sense of control and autonomy within their life * Make sure services include them and recognise their rights and choices * Assist with safeguarding from abuse or poor practice * Apart from the practical differences an independent advocate can make, theclient can gain value through a general involvement with him or her. They may: experience what it feels like to 'have a voice' * Feel validated as a result of having their views listened to and taken into account. * Gain credibility and confidence by expressing their own ideas and aspirations and having these treated seriously * Find out (maybe for the first time) what it feels like to have someone purely representing their own perspective. * Be less intimidated by the processes and services they encounter * Experience a relationship based on trust and good faith, and one which is equal * Do less of what they perceive to be expected of them, and more of what they really want | 1.3 Evaluate the variety of job roles within Mental Health and their effectiveness. Different roles in Mental Health: 1. Social worker:Social work is an exciting, demanding and immensely rewarding profession. It requires uncommon dedication to strive for social reform. The world needs people who are committed to the needs of others. Social workers attend to those in distress and identify and remedy the social ill that rob people of their dignity and prevent them from achieving their full potential. Social workers help people function the best way they can in their environment, deal with their relationships, and solve personal and family problem Social workers also assist families that have serious domestic conflicts, including those with child or abuse from a spouse. The social work profession is to improve human well-being and help meet basic human needs of all people, paying special attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. “Undoubtedly, this is essential work, and there are motivated to do so great personal satisfactionSocial workers of all kinds can make a significant difference in the lives of many people. No doubt that a career in social work is both meaningful and rewarding. Social work as a career is not always easy and can be emotionally and physically draining. Social workers can not only improve living conditions, but in the case of child protective services workers or substance abuse social workers may even be able to save lives that could be lost.Historically, social workers have worked to eliminate poverty and improve the lives of many. Not only do social workers help the individual, but have worked for social justice in the larger communities, working towards the elimination of racism, discrimination and other social ills.Social work is based on respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and the rights that follow from this. Social workers should uphold and defend each person’s physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual integrity and well-being. This means Respecting the right to self-determination - Social workers should respect and promote people’s right to make their own choices and decisions, irrespective of their values and life choices, provided this does not threaten the rights and legitimate interests of others. Promoting the right to participation - Social workers should promote the full involvement and participation of people using their services in ways that enable them to be empowered in all aspects of decisions and actions affecting their lives.
Treating each person as a whole - Social workers should be concerned with the whole person, within the family, community, societal and natural environments, and should seek to recognise all aspects of a person’s life. Identifying and developing strengths – Social workers should focus on the strengths of all individuals, groups and communities and thus promote their empowerment.The negative aspects of a Social Worker * The are evidences of ‘poor quality practice’ like a case of Baby ‘P’ and Shannon Matthews both were failed by social workers. * Social workers are unable to meet targets in time, which be due to low staffing level. * No consistency of care, due to lots of people needing social worker.
* high workload and pressure facing social workers, leads to poor quality of work and bad practice * mistakes in the fields of child protection can lead to significant human consequences and to critical attention from the public and media * there is less career ladder for social workers compared with other sectors * Poor decision making.What could be improved: * training must be improved * decision making must be improved * response to crises must be rapid * Greater creativity in exploring solutions * The availability of different perspectives in understanding families * Better responsiveness to families * The senior management to continue to seek out the way good practice enabled and implemented * Supervisions to be carried out to monitor individual competence and Consideration should be given to strengthen the social workers response to problems * Government to issue more funding in social working, this will encourage people to consider career in social working 2. Psychiatrist: The important aspect of a Psychiatrist:Psychiatrist are doctors who look after people with mental health problems, such as
depression, anxiety , personal disorder, learning disabilities and schizophreniaThey manage these disorders by using a combination of measures, such as drugs psychological counselling.Psychiatrist must have a good communication skill, this is essential as they make diagnoses based on full history and mental state of patient.Psychiatrist is qualified in prescribing medication to treat their patientPsychiatrists talk with patients to learn about their mental health problems. They may also use information provided by patients' families or by other mental health workers. They are trained to recognize the connection between mental and physical disorders, so they may order laboratory or other diagnostic tests.For treatment, psychiatrists can prescribe drugs and use shock therapy and psychotherapy. In psychotherapy, psychiatrists use their special training to talk with one or more patients to help them understand and cope with their problems.Psychiatrists may work with patients in private offices or in hospitals or clinics. They may also do research, studying the causes and treatment of mental illness. Some psychiatrists teach in medical schools or in special psychiatric institutesPsychiatrists schedule time to talk with each client on a regular basis, analyzing the reasons for their problems, resolving previous traumas and counseling them in understanding and improving their behavior.The negative aspects of a psychiatrist is:A misdiagnosis issue is common, and it can lead to wrong treatment.There is currently no physical or lab test that can absolutely diagnose schizophrenia - a psychiatrist usually comes to the diagnosis based on clinical symptoms, What physical testing can do is rule out a lot of other conditions (seizure disorders, metabolic disorders, thyroid disfunction, brain tumour, street drug use, etc) that sometimes have similar symptoms.Long waiting list to see Psychiatrist and this can delay diagnoses.I have read an article about David Bennett a schizophrenic patient, who was failed and miss treated by his psychiatrist, who failed to diagnosed, him in time for him to get the right treatment, the psychiatrist failed to treat David, instead he presumed that David intoxicated by cannabis and was send home without treat.What can be improved:The Psychiatrist should consider a laboratory test, because this would enable earlier diagnosis and more timely treatment.The use blood test to measures the activity of genes can accurately detect mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, a small trial suggests.These molecular signatures can be used to develop disease-specific biomarkers that will enable earlier diagnosis and more timely treatment of these devastating disorders 3. PsychologistThe important aspect of a psychologistPsychologist are highly trained professional who deals with human behaviour, mental health assessment, they also deals with diagnosis and treatment, as well as behaviour changes.They assist client in changing problematic thought patterns and behaviour in order to help them develop coping strategies for difficult situationsPsychologists study mental processes and human behaviour by observing, interpreting, and recording how people and other animals relate to one another and the environment. To do this, psychologists often look for patterns that will help them understand and predict behaviour using scientific methods, principles, or procedures to test their ideas. Through such research studies, psychologists have learned much that can help increase understanding between individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, nations, and cultures. Psychologists often concentrate on individual behaviour and, specifically, in the beliefs and feelings that influence a person’s actions. Research methods vary with the topic which they study, but by and large, the chief techniques used are observation, assessment, and experimentation. Psychologists sometimes gather information and evaluate behaviour through controlled laboratory experiments, hypnosis, biofeedback, psychoanalysis, or psychotherapy, or by administering personality, performance, aptitude, or intelligence tests. Other methods include interviews, questionnaires, clinical studies, surveys, and observation—looking for cause-and-effect relationships between events and for broad patterns of behaviourthe negative aspects of a psychologist:Psychologist are not medically qualified and only and only a small proportion of people studying degree will go to work with patient.4. General practitioner (GP)The important aspect of GPGp deals with physical health problems, they can also help clients suffering with emotional difficulties. They can also prescribe medication. Gp’s are also responsible for referring clients to other health professionals, such as counsellor or psychologist, should they feel this will be beneficial.GP plays an important part in the treatment plan of their clients, and will often prescribe regular medications for then if needed. Unless client is admitted to hospital, GP remains responsible for the rest of their medical care.If client is admitted to hospital, GP will be told, will be kept informed of your progress and will be told when client is discharged. When someone is in hospital, the psychiatrist usually assumes full medical responsibility.Not only deals with physical side of things but they can run bloods test to help other professionals like psychologist if required for their patients.GPs are often the first point of contact for people with depression and treat most patients themselves. A GP will almost certainly provide advice and support for the depressed person. They may also have some training and experience of a more specific psychological treatment. They may well advise a depressed patient to take an antidepressant. Where they feel the patient needs further specialist help, GPs can refer the person to a number of different services such as a counsellor, community psychiatric nurse (CPN), psychologist or a consultant psychiatrist.The negative aspect of GPThe are some evidence of negligence around GP’s, like prescribing wrong medication, or wrong dosage. Prolonged diagnosis is one of the negative aspects of GP. Because Gp are not highly trained, in dealing with human behaviour, or mental health assessment, I feel like their quite quick to prescribe antipsychotic medication, without considering other options like “therapy’ for the patient.What can be improved:GP’s should receive some higher level training in dealing with mental health. GP’s should receive appraisal and validation from higher authorities to monitor their competency. 5 Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN)The important aspect of ( CPN)A CPN sees people who are living in the community. This is most often in the person's own home but it can also be in clinics based, for example, in a GP's surgery. CPNs provide support to people through difficult periods of their illness. They may also see patients who are currently well to check everything is going okay and be the first point of contact if the patient starts becoming unwell again. A CPN will help patients with their medication and make sure that the patient understands what they should be taking and when. Because CPNs see patients in their own homes, they also play a valuable role in helping the patient's family and carers understand and cope with the illness. Patients may be referred to CPNs from a number of sources including GPs, psychiatrists and inpatient wards so that the CPN can help the patient's transition from hospital back into the community. CPNs are often a patient's keyworker. 6. Care Co-ordinator (key worker / case manager)The important aspect of care co co-ordinatorsEvery patient referred to the mental health services is allocated a keyworker. The keyworker may be any member of the community mental health team (such as a psychiatrist, CPN, occupational therapist, psychologist or social worker). The role of the keyworker is to act as the co-ordinator of the mental health services needed by their patients. The keyworker has a responsibility to regularly review the progress of their patients and assess if all of their needs are being addressed. This involves gaining feedback from the patients about what they think about the help and support they are getting from the mental health team. They also arrange review meetings where everyone concerned meets to review the care plan and make any necessary changes; these can and should involve the carer if the person being cared for agrees and the carer wishes. | |