Mental Health and Mental Disorders (HEALTH PEOPLE PRIORITIES 2020)

Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Institution
Date
Mental health
Mental health involves a complete state of social, psychological, and emotional wellbeing. Mental health is vital for interpersonal relationships and leading a productive life (Healthy People 2020, 2016). Mental health promotes physical health and when out of balance it contributes to mental disorder, cancer among other chronic conditions. Mental illnesses are the commonly reported illnesses and leading causes of disability in America. Statistics have revealed that one in every four American adults have a mental illness (Healthy People 2020, 2016). Mental illness when untreated will lead to self-destructive behaviors, for instance, alcohol and substance abuse. It is the second leading cause of death among the American youths of age between 25 and 35 years (Healthy People 2020, 2016). The key to management of mental illness is early diagnosis and compliance to treatment strategies suggested by physicians. Mental health is a challenge to people of all ages from the children to the elderly and has no limits on the race, ethnicity, or gender it inflicts.
The relationship between health promotion and patient compliance
The quality of the outcome of healthcare of patients depends on their compliance with the recommended interventions by a physician. Non-compliance can be dangerous to health and wellbeing and may have economic implications (Martin, Williams, Haskard, & DiMatteo, 2005). The non-compliance may be a result of forgetting, misinterpretation of the recommendation, and ignorance.

Studies have linked non-compliance with ignorance, and this can be corrected through health promotion strategies. The provision of support to patients to initiate and implement healthy behaviors, by providing education concern mental health and elaborating the importance of complying with treatment.
Methods/Strategies/considerations for encouraging behavior change towards better
Human behavior contributes tremendously to the health outcomes of an individual. Embracing the desirable behaviors contributes to good health and the prevention of illnesses (Hongu, Kataura, & Block, 2011). To enhance good health physicians have devised strategies to enhance behavior change to foster actions that promote health and discourage degenerative behavior that increases the risk of developing illnesses. These strategies include self-efficacy, self-management strategies, and self-determination theory.
Self-efficacy, imply to an individual’s capacity to perform a given task successfully and achieve desired goals (Hongu, et al. 2011). Self-efficacy is among important determinant of whether the desired behavior will be initiated since the person performing the desired behavior have considered himself capable of meeting the set goal. Self-efficacy is the primary incentive required to initiate behaviors. Through the assessment of self-efficacy, the person expected to initiate the behavior will develop the determinant and perseverance required to perform the behavior. Recovering from relapse or preventing a relapse once the desired behavior has been formed requires a good amount of self-efficacy (Hongu, et al. 2011). Maintaining a successfully performed desired behavior also depends on the self-efficacy. A nurse can help to improve the self-efficacy of mental health patients by helping them set goals and barriers overcoming strategies. By overcoming the barrier, the patient will not interrupt the process of learning the desired behavior that will promote a healthy lifestyle. For instance, a person learning strategies to avoid trigger of depression can learn to identify them and not succumb on their presence.
Self-management strategies are activities that involve goal setting, self-monitoring, support groups, and also self-reinforcement (Hongu, et al. 2011). The nurse can assist in goal setting and the establishment of the self-monitoring system, so that the mental health patients can assess their progress in the process of adopting the new behavior. Reinforcement is necessary to ensure good progress is achieved. For instance, once a behavior milestone has been achieved a reward should be available to act as a source of motivation to promote perseverance to meet the desired behavioral outcome.
Self-determination theory is based on the premise that personal skills and intrinsic motivation accompanied by reason for performing a given behaviors contribute to performing lasting changes. Intrinsic motivation is not founded on reinforcement as shown in self-management strategies but rather originate within the individual. The premise that performing a particular behavior brings a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment makes the theory of self-determination. The person performing the behaviors must find performing a given behavior important to meeting his goals as a key motivation to initiate the desired change. The nurse should be available to explain the importance of behavior change and elaborate the benefits of performing the behavior and persisting until the behavior become permanent.
Nursing theory and health promotion
Health promotion recognizes that all people have unique experiences and traits that shape their subsequent actions (Sepinwall, 2002). The variable on the knowledge for specific behavior acts as a motivation for performing certain behaviors. Nursing theories that are related to the concept of health promotion focus on modifying the variables to control the actions. Social cognitive theory is one such theory and has six concepts that assist in modifying the various towards the desired actions.
“The Social cognitive theory suggests that people take up behavior they learn from their role model” (Sepinwall, 2002). Observing the action and imitation accompanied by a positive reinforcement initiates a given behavior. The environment, social elements, and personal factors influence behavior. The first concept in social cognitive theory is reciprocal determinisms; these are the environment, social, and personal factors. These elements influence each other to influence behavior, for instance, a suitable environment is required for a traumatized patient to revert to normal life. This is not enough if the personal element of the patient, for instance, self-efficacy is not considered. The nurse can help the patient build his self-efficacy and then recommend a safe environment to know how to deal with such bad memories. The second element is behavioral capacity, were knowledge and relevant skills required to perform the desired behavior. The patients should be given adequate information on trauma and trauma management to increase their sense of motivation to be able to initiate change. The third element is the expected outcome, which will motivate the patient to take up the challenge of initiating, implementing and maintaining good behaviors (Sepinwall, 2002). For instance, the nurse can advise the traumatized patient to avoid isolated places where the memories that trigger the trauma can be rekindled. The fourth element is self-efficacy, where the patient will assess his skills for performing the desired behavior. In case the nurse realizes that the patient has a lower capacity of performing the desired behavior it’s important that he helps the patient to develop those skills. The fifth step is by observing other perform the desired behavior, in this context, the patient will be exposed to people he values performing the desired behavior. Also, the patient can be introduced to people performing the desired behavior to learn from them through observation. The last element is reinforcement; this can be provided upon attainment of a given milestone for the desired behavior. Also, a reward can be provided as a motivation for working harder on activities that have been underperformed and may jeopardize all the hard work. The nurse can help design a reward system so that the patient does not fail on the midways
Conflicts between population’s and nurse’s bioethical standards
In the effort to provide quality healthcare, the ethical concerns arise on a daily basis. For this reason, various principles and strategies to address potential dilemmas. The nurse may violate the ethic of autonomy (McCormick, 1998). This ethic requires that the patient is given a chance to make informed choices for themselves. In a different context, the nurse would be required to design, for instance, a self-monitoring program to assess their progress. This program is professionally created, and the patient has little knowledge of the design, yet he is expected to use it for behavior change.
In conclusion, mental disorders are rampaging the American population health. Patients are reported to be non-compliant to treatment for various reasons which include their ignorance and the physician-patient relationship. Poor health promotion contributes to health care outcome for mental health patients. Self-efficacy and self-determination are among the strategies used to initiate change to promote good health. Nurses dealing with non-compliant patients can apply the ethic of beneficence which requires healthcare practitioners to offer services to clients that benefit the patient. It’s is an ethical consideration and does not need the patient’s permission. Non-maleficence is also another ethic that can be applied to a non-complaint patient by nurses ensuring the services the provide do not harm their patient.
References
Healthy People 2020. (2016). Mental Health. Retrieved October 04, 2016, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Mental-Health
Hongu, N., Kataura, M. P., & Block, L. M. (2011). Behavior change strategies for successful long-term weight loss: Focusing on dietary and physical activity adherence, not weight loss. Journal of Extension, 49(1), 1-4.
Martin, L. R., Williams, S. L., Haskard, K. B., & DiMatteo, M. R. (2005). The challenge of patient adherence. Ther Clin Risk Manag, 1(3), 189-199.
McCormick, T. R. (1998). Principles of bioethics. Ethics in Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine.
Sepinwall, D. R. (2002). Health and Behavior: The Interplay of Biological, Behavioral, and Societal Influences.