Teenager in Ghana suffering from mental health issues Assignment Sample
Question 1: Discussion on most public health issues globally
1.1 Mental health issues in teenagers have been chosen as a public health challenge as mental illness is usual for teenagers and it becomes a major issue in the worldwide range.
1.2 Depression is closely related to a higher risk of anxiety and it also damages the healthy lifestyle for that reason, it is considered a conspicuously international challenge related to public health.
1.3 Adolescents or teenagers are extremely unprotected to overcome mental health issues and in developing countries due to lack of attention and domestic violence, bullying, relationships and economical problems are the causes of mental health difficulties (Addy et al., 2021). From the age of 10 to 19 years due to physical growth and social interaction the environment impacts the adolescence period and the development towards change regarding adulthood affects the emotional side of an individual and these issues are typically unaddressed. The mental issues among teenagers usually have a long-lasting effect that influences the future in terms of psychological interaction, personality development, productivity, health and many more. The change in adolescence or teenager age and related problems to it becomes an agenda of health issues in international range and for that reason, it may be considered as valid in the contemporary time.
1.4 In this world, one of the six individuals is aged 10 to 19 years and teenagers are going through a unique period in terms of formation and sudden social and physical change creating anxiety and depression among them. Along with that, one in seven teenagers are going through mental health issues and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 13% of them are suffering from emotional disorder or depression which restricts the opportunity to live a healthy life in adult age (Who. int. 2022).
1.5 Ghana is one of the developing countries and the mental health difficulties of teenagers in Ghana have been considered for the assignment as in developing countries there are no productive policies related to mental health issues and most of the cases are unaddressed (Addy et al., 2021). Ghana passed the Mental health Act 846 in 2012, however, there is no distinctive attention to the mental health issues of teenagers or any programmes to address the issues and this is the reason to choose Ghana for the assignment (Formentos et al., 2021).
1.6 In Ghana 19% of the population are suffering from moderate or severe mental health issues and in teenagers, almost 8% are suffering from acute depression which enhances the suicidal tendencies the country is rated 5th among the top for suicidal cases in people ages 10 to 24 years (Addy et al., 2021). In Ghana, approximately 61000 people below 18 years are living on the street and 73% of the street children are suffering from severe depression which shows the conspicuous condition of mental health of teenagers in the nation (Dankyi & Huang, 2021).
1.7 Depression is the second biggest cause of suicidal death among 15 to 29 years of age and despite huge progress in a few countries, the issues related to mental health are still unaddressed (Who. int. 2022). In 2016, more than 1 Billion people suffered from mental health difficulties and addictive disorders related to it which causes 7% of health disease burden all over the world and it is increasing day to day (Rehm & Shield, 2019). After the pandemic Covid-19, mental health issues are increasing rapidly and it affects especially the health care workers, quarantined people, non-contagious chronic disease patients and Covid-19 patients (Wu et al., 2021).
Question 2. Evaluation of the success of public health approaches across countries to identify transferable learning points
2.1 Public health approach refers to the process which helps to identify and assess the problems related to health, determine the reasons behind issues and risks related to them, find a way to prevent them and implement strategies to overcome the problems. There are four types of public health approaches such as societal, community, individual and relationship with the help of increasing interpersonal skills, enhancing knowledge or awareness, impacting social norms and so on.
2.2 Mass media promotion is one of the key approaches to addressing the mental health issues among teenagers as it provides scope to reach the targeted population and attracts the policymakers to focus on the issues. Mass media communication has been chosen in England to prevent smoking and advertisements on television helped to reduce 1.2% over 18 months and it effectively helps to draw the attention of the population (A, M. 2022). Along with that, communication is also considered another approach to address the severe mental health difficulties among adolescents or teenagers in Ghana as communication enhances trustworthiness.
2.3 In contemporary situations, the UK is actively addressing the issues related to the mental illness of children as well as teenagers and focuses on depression, generalised anxiety disorder, post-traumatic disorders and many more. The country considers communication as one of the approaches to handling the conundrums on a large scale and there are organisations such as ChildLine, Barnardo’s, and The children’s society to support vulnerable teenagers (Mental Health Foundation 2022). However, in Ghana, the treatment gap is 98% as there is a lack of psychiatric facilities in the nation and the measures taken by the UK help the country to increase protection against contemporary problems (Eaton & Ohene, 2022).
2.4 Success in public health care through this research means the stakeholders such as patients, employers and providers have a better understanding and in a cost-effective method, the treatment may be provided and developed in health plans. Success in the healthcare sector is measured with the help of decreasing the per capita cost of treatment, improving the healthcare experience, decreasing the high turnover of employees in the healthcare sector and ensuring good health of the population.
2.5 Success in health care through this research helps to understand the importance of human life and it helps to reduce the risks in the population planning, development, implementation and evaluation are the four factors which help to achieve success. Proper awareness helps the population to be more aware of mental health problems and it helps to achieve success by changing the behaviour and attitude of people in a nation.
2.6 Evidence is extremely important to measure the success and in-depth research based on demographic factors enhances the authenticity of the data to prove that measures are taken to help to improve the health care in a particular country.
2.7 The research has helped to evaluate the current condition of mental health issues of teenagers in Ghana and the world and the in-depth research helps people to understand the importance of the mental health issues. Moreover, this research may help people to change their perspective on mental health difficulties and the campaigns and promotions regarding the issue on websites help to achieve better treatment.
2.8 In recent days social media has become highly popular among the worldwide range and social media marketing is considered a useful technique to attract the attention of targeted consumers. In the case of healthcare, social media is also considered an effective approach as it helps to increase the awareness of the patients and the population as people are mostly engaged with social media. In addition to that, websites are an important component of social media and anti-depression campaigns on social media become extremely effective to address the issues and prevent depression-related diseases. Websites in recent times also provide effective information regarding the treatment for mental health illnesses and through the latest technologies, this helps to identify the latest issues or behavioural changes, symptoms among teenagers or patients. Websites are also considered a tool for motivation as several advertisements, propaganda helps to motivate the patients to feel emotionally strong, adopt recommended behaviours, and practice to overcome the issues cost-effectively. On a specific note in the digital era patients with the help of apps and websites within a busy schedule easily reach the doctors and it makes health care more convenient for the population.
2.9 From the above discussion it may be said that the children who are passing through teenagers are quite vulnerable as physical growth and social exposure to several types of mental health issues becomes prominent. In developing, nations such as Ghana, the treatment or prevention for mental health-related problems are extremely poor and in countries such as the UK effective treatment is available in a better way compared to the other countries. Although to achieve success in the healthcare sector it is important to adopt better treatment cost-effectively to ensure good health of the population and addressing mental health issues in teenagers helps to secure a better future in adults age. Additionally, social media may be considered an effective approach to increase awareness regarding mental health issues and recently through website campaigns, and promotions the countries may ensure better health security.
Question 3: Key characteristics of culturally competent public health approaches for effective intervention
3.1 Cultural competence is the skill of interoperability among different cultures through brief acknowledgement and appreciation of differences in beliefs and values in own to communicate and evaluate the issues and implications of mental illness from a psychological view. The knowledge of different cultures ensures the realities entangled with tradition and myths to culturally define the uniqueness in worship, social practice, food habits, dressings, philosophy, thoughts, taboo, emotional intelligence, behavioural traits, race, colour, ethnicity, along with others. Cultural competency enables a person to interact, empathise, empower and treat mental illness through deep diving into livelihood complexities, social stigma, discrimination or exclusion, barred access to quality support and service due to remoteness and improper transportation (Henderson et al., 2018). The degree of engagement with diverse cultural and linguistic persons has optimally created reliability among the patients as well as trust and compatibility to share personal and mental issues for early recovery through cordial understandings.
3.2 Communication approaches are strong and definitive to support interaction among the diverse cultural population to cooperatively engage and thrive for sustainability with peace and prosperity. Self- acknowledgement is the primary consent of cultural competency where communication approaches are indifferent to the target group with the value creation for the population. The two-way communication and omnichannel presence are the viability of cultural competency of communication approach where it works through the mass media to stimulate the public thought process for the targeted audience of Ghana to spread social awareness about mental illness. Open attitude, cultural knowledge, high interaction and deep penetration are the abilities of the communication approach to accompany and avail the primary treatment from the ground level starting from family and relatives through effective interventions (Jongen, McCalman and Bainbridge, 2018).
Figure 1: Cultural competence intervention
(Source: Jongen, McCalman & Bainbridge, 2018)
The detailed account of trauma, harassment, mental breakdown, depression, frustration, obscureness, obsession, addiction and fantasies are duly assessed and redressed through open communication for a healthy livelihood for teenagers. The degree of acceptance and change in social practice with public perceptions of health-related priorities, behaviours, education, decision makings and healthy engagements are naturally influenced by cultural characteristics. The adaptability of health education and health communication programs are appreciable on account of the health and well-being practice enabled through training and self-efficacy and development of the health workforce.
3.3 Social marketing is the adequate communication approach to reach out to the remote consumer through omnichannel communication strategy which elaborates on the benefits and liability of social and cultural practices for a healthy and long term sustainability following peace and prosperity. Teenagers are ethnic African aged between 12-and 18 who are leading life through poverty, hunger, illiteracy, remoteness, lack of health support and services, addiction to drugs and alcohol, low income and improper housing are considered the target audience for health care services as prone to mental illness. The campaign of social awareness is to avoid the causes of mental illness and avail the primary treatment practice to strengthen the individual thought process for living a normal and healthy life. The increased communication in mass media as well as social media as per the popular trend of public practice to seek online health solutions have the potential to engage with the target group audience for a positive and healthy outcome (Andrade et al., 2018). Health services of rearing training and education on supporting the patient of mental illness and focus on behavioural attitude to offer a better and perceived communication approach for eliminating the fear in conscience and trauma.
3.4 The cost of cultural responsiveness maybe deal with empathy, respect and positive attitude and behavioural traits to communicate and motivate the individual teenager through detailed interaction for training regarding health and wellness during the adolescent years. It may prone to dejection, distrust, and resistance from the cultural perspectives of the Ghanian teenager on various perspectives. The cultural competency of well awareness and practice through values and beliefs have the potential to stimulate the demography for the required adoption of health and wellness practices through empowerment and a sense of control with adequate opportunities to reinvigorate life (Li et al., 2018).
3.5 Open communication leads to avoidance of the distrust to recover and turn the paths into personal development for achieving successful accomplishments throughout the living being. The open-air communication will eventually bridge the gap of cultural stigma and resistance from native people of Ghana where the willingness and strong commitments are broadcasted through communication media which are influencing the health and wellness literacy through brief engagement and respect towards differences and dignity without breaking the social and cultural customs for possible opportunities to the livelihood practice. cultural values and beliefs directly influence the cultural change in accepting a healthy attitude toward reducing social backwardness utilizing effective interventions (Oikarainen et al., 2019). Cultural competent interventions in organizations, institutions and services are to marginalise the differences in religion, colour, race, ethnicity, language and livelihood practices of the Ghanian Teenager for enabling access to medical care for treating the mental illness.
Question 4: Global public health research and its utilization in methodologies
4.1 The evidence is gathered collectively with the qualitative as well as quantitative methods to support the research subject with affluent information for enhancing the reliability and credibility of the research. The literature of the research has been enriched with information collected from interviews and surveys to accommodate the research topic with personal and primary accounts of information direct from the respondents according to personal experiences, views, opinions and practices. Apart from that, the previous research papers as articles, journals, websites and government databases supported with the secondary data are taken to align with the degree of discourse on the mental illness of the Ghanian teenager and the viability of cultural competence for enabling health support to the people of Ghana adequately. Qualitative methodologies are cost and time consuming and provide the information in regards to cultural perspectives of values, beliefs, behaviours and social context of the Ghanian population (Cristancho et al., 2018). On the contrary, the quantitative research methodology allows a generalised result from a sample group for the entire group of people. The decision making or judgements are based on the quantitative methodology through observing the situations and generating objective data for communication through statistical means by confirming the demography, population preferences and market size.
4.2 The qualitative and Quantitative methodologies are given preference to collecting relevant and appropriate data regarding the health impact of mental illness in Ghanian teenagers and possible medical support to eliminate the root causes of the issue from the psychology of the patient through cultural competence to engage with the patient more cordially for better treatment, training and early recovery. The quantitative methodologies effectively supported the research literature with sophisticated information through scientific investigation and statistical results from the data set for discovering the underlying pattern and proposing a generalised view and outcome for the viability of the data set (Samoilenko & Bryson. 2021). On the other hand, the qualitative data are objective and gross responses from the respondents in the form of open-ended questions which are quite biased and do not uniquely represent the information in concluding the research. Effective methodological support is taken into consideration for a systematic research design for assessing the real scenario of mental illness of teenagers in Ghana. The social phenomenon, practice, and contexts are well collected through qualitative methodologies through open-ended questions to verify the credentials of individuals about how the medical support team is collaborating in treating the mentally ill patient. More than that, the quantitative methodology gave clear and secure information derived from statistical analysis to uphold the practical condition of illness in the patient due to various purposes and fantasized vision.
4.3 The research is dependent upon the collected data and information as well as analysis to conclude deep-diving into the information for getting a repeat pattern for analysing data following research objectives. Quantitative methodologies are examined and pure for making judgement or decision making on behalf of engagement of patients with the healthcare support and services. The communication approach and mass media presence have been beneficial for the population of Ghana to spread social awareness and acknowledge the population about the scope to support the ill patient from total deterioration of mental wellness (Ponton, 2018).
4.4 The positivist and deductive framework has been used to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative papers and for research objectives and to evaluate possible and effective interventions through communication and mass media to stabilise the mental illness among the teenager of Ghana. It needs to be mentioned that, the percentage of people affected and prone to be affected are duly observed and analysed for evaluating further implications which help the medical practitioner to support the mental illness of individuals through empathy, respect and motivation (Barnes, 2018). It also influences the ability to evolve and personalize patient care, cost reduction through a lean practice approach and enhancing the expertise of medical care professionals for better outcomes in a coordinated way.
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