CNA347 Practice Enhancement Streams Management

Identify an area of specialisation in the health setting which interests you. Using research, identify a gap in education which has an impact on outcomes. Write a proposal for an education tool to help close this gap.

Identifies an area of specialty within the health setting 50 words 6%

The speciality area that has been chosen for this assignment is depression in teenage. Depression can be defined as a major mental health issue that affects approximately 20% of the adolescents world-wide. As mentioned by the World Health Organization (2017), it has been reported that more than 300 million people in the world are experiencing depression with the major prevalence being found within the age-group of 15 to 22 years.

Relevant research of a high level is used to identify an educational gap within this specialty area 300-400 words 15%

The period of adolescence marks a healthy transition to adulthood. However, the adolescence phase is characterized by emotional vulnerabilities. As stated by Bowes et al. (2015), depression has been identified as the most prevalent mental health issue among the adolescent group of students. However, it should also be noted in this regard that on account of the absence of vivid external symptoms, depression is often overlooked as a serious problem. The mentioned age group between 15 to 22 years is laden with emotional insecurities.  A number of issues pertaining to bullying, rejection and failure have been studied to be the major causes of depression among teenagers (Bowes et al., 2015). It is important to understand that the developmental phase of adolescence brings with it a cascade of physiological changes that altogether elicits a complex response which makes it challenging for the teenagers to come to terms with (Mcloughlin et al.2015). In addition to this, bullying or calling names and peer pressure add up to cause emotional instability that further results in an episode of depression. The impact of depression has been studied to be further worse and has been reported to cause incidences of self-harm and even suicide (Mojtabai et al. 2014). A major proportion of the condition has also been linked with social stigma and discrimination based on culture which holds true for immigrant students. Depression has further been reported to lower self-esteem and confidence among the students that leads to harbouring feelings of hopelessness. Another research study has revealed the increased dependence on substance-abuse as a remedy that teenagers often resort to in order to combat depression (Bertha and Balazs 2013). Therefore, on the basis of the findings of the research studies, an existing gap was identified in terms of access to appropriate support for dealing with the underlying causes of depression. Thus, it can be said that mandatory provision of counselling support across schools, colleges and educational institutions can help in improving the access to support facilities and facilitate positive outcome (Ruble et al.2013).

Analysis of impact of educational gap undertaken 200-300 words 25%

In accordance to the statistical report published by the World Health Organization, it was seen that approximately 300 million individuals are affected with depression with the prevalence being extremely high in the age group of 15 to 22 years (World Health Organization 2017). This clearly indicates the seriousness of the problem. Further, the major reasons accounting for depression was identified to be rejection, failure and bullying. Further, it should also be noted that discrimination and bullying was also identified as one of the reasons that led to depression especially among the immigrant students (Bowes et al. 2015). The impact of depression on the other hand, was studied to be the dearth of suicidal ideation and self-harm tendency (Mustaffa et al. 2014). It should further be stated in this regard that an increased dependence on substance-abuse was also identified as a remedy that teenagers resorted to for relieving themselves from depressive thoughts. Typically, studies revealed a poor access to support services (Bertha and Balazs 2013). The contributing reasons being the stereotypical perspective of the society towards mental health issues. Further, social stigma underestimating the importance of mental health was also identified as a primary reason that led to hesitation among young students to seek professional support (Acun-Kapikaran et al. 2014). Therefore, it should be stated that increasing awareness among mentors and parents about the importance of indentifying the initial symptoms of depression such as social isolation, abnormality in eating and sleeping pattern and low self-esteem or confidence along  with self-harm behaviour can help in ensuring availing immediate relief (Ruble et al. 2013). Further, it would also help in developing a better understanding about the nature of depression among teenagers.

Target audience for education tool clearly identified 100 words 14%

The target audience that has been identified for this project are the adolescent student who belong to the age group of 15 to 22 years. The rationale for the choice of the mentioned target audience involves the increased prevalence of depression within this age group in accordance to the findings collected from the research studies that has been discussed in the previous sections. On the basis of the findings of the research studies, it can be commented that mental health is largely perceived as a stigma within the society and this serves as a major barrier for the young individuals to access relevant support services that are available. Hence, the target audience would comprise of young students who are aged between 15 to 22 years of age and have self-reported to witness incidences of bullying that had subsequently led to depression.

Provides clear details of proposed education tool 250 words 30%

As has already been discussed in the previous sections of the paper, social stigma serves as one of the major obstacles that hinders the access to support services (Mojtabai et al. 2014). Teenagers encounter emotional insecurities and often feel that their concern would not be understood and therefore refrain themselves from accessing support services. In this regard it should be mentioned that inclusion of counselling session would serve as an appropriate education tool to provide relief to the young students from depression. According to Ruble et al. (2013), counselling involves one on one session that makes use f semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth response from interviewees. The interview session helps in critically forming an idea about the mental health status and accordingly devises an intervention to provide relief to the affected individual. In addition to this, it would also help in investigating the underlying causes that serve as major barriers to access support services and seek assistance from professionals. Also, it would help in the process of identifying and understanding the problems that has led to the development of the disorder. Further, it should also be noted that including mentors and parents into the counselling session would help in making them aware about the seriousness of the condition and its associated repercussions on the confidence and self-esteem of the students (Akun-Kapikaran et al. 2014). Further, imparting knowledge about techniques to motivate students and encourage them to seek professional assistance would help in tackling the present scenario to an impressive extent.

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