Action Plan for Mental Health Sensitization
Like many African Americans, Cameroon Americans have a culture that promotes the stigmatization of mental health. They distrust the American healthcare system and believe that mental health is due to witchcraft and possession of spirits (Edem-Enang, 2021). It will thus be critical to develop an action plan to sensitize this community on the available mental health services they can access to improve. This project will educate Cameroon Americans on the causes, symptoms, and management strategies for mental healthcare conditions. This action plan aims to demystify the myths associated with mental health. The nursing interventions that will help achieve the project goals will also be considered. It is also critical to include both private and public partnerships that can help implement the action plan.
Goals
This action plan will have two goals that align with the Healthy People 2020 objectives:
Enhance the quality, availability, and effectiveness of community-based and education programs for mental health to improve health, prevent disease, and improve the quality of life (CDC, 2018).
Enhance the health status and well-being of all people at risk of or suffering from mental health conditions (CDC, 2018).
Objectives
Increase the proportion of Cameroon Americans who self-report good mental health within six months (CDC, 2018).
Within six months, the ratio of schools with health education objectives that address mental health promotion and disease prevention will increase (CDC, 2018).
Justification
The rate of mental health in African Americans is at 16.9% (Noonan et al., 2016). Many African Americans suffer severe psychological distress compared to other races. African Americans have more intense and frequent mental health issues compared to other issues. This is primarily because of health disparities such as poverty, racism, and discrimination, which disproportionally affect ethnic minorities such as African Americans (Noonan et al., 2016). Statistics have shown that African Americans get fewer drugs because of racism, low income levels, and lack of health insurance. African Americans with depression and lack of insurance are prescribed fewer antidepressants than the insured; even among insured patients, they still get fewer antidepressants than their white counterparts (Noonan et al., 2016). Africans are prescribed fewer SSRIs than treatment centers serving fewer minorities (Noonan et al., 2016).
Health education that will raise awareness of mental health services will be an essential intervention to help African Americans access mental health services. Mental health is a severe global project. This action plan is essential since the culture of Cameroon Americans has promoted mental health stigma and prevented them from using mental health services in the United States. This action plan will help this population be aware of the available mental health resources within their community and demystify any myths and stigma associated with mental health. This project will be implemented at the household level when all the family members are present. This project will be executed during weekends when all household members are free from school or work obligations.
Teaching materials will be used to help the population easily understand mental health concepts. The teaching materials that will be used in the action plan include t-shirts that have writings that discourage mental health stigma. Plays will be used to pass mental health information to children. They will retain this information since they will enjoy playing the games, and hence, they will not easily forget. Another teaching strategy that will be used among the children and the young ones will be songs. These songs will be about mental health and the myths surrounding it. These songs will also discourage mental health stigma. Posters and PowerPoint slides will be used to educate adults on the available mental health services within their areas and demystify the myths associated with mental health. In addition to these, the literate adults will be directed to websites of organizations that discuss the benefits of seeking mental health services. Each household will be given a poster to remind them constantly of the importance of seeking mental health services and reducing the stigma associated with mental health.
Nursing Intervention Recommendation to Improve the Health Concern
The first nursing intervention will be to understand how stigmas serve as barriers to accessing mental health services. Mental health conditions are similar to physical conditions. If they are not checked, they can worsen and affect the health status of individuals. Mental health conditions disrupt relations between families, negatively impact careers, and prevent individuals from doing things they prefer. Individuals suffering from mental health may internalize stigma, which makes them pessimistic and make them lose hope for any chance of recovering (Nyblade et al., 2019). Individuals with mental health become socially isolated since they are stereotyped as dangerous people. They may be shunned by friends and family. Nurses must thus understand this stigma and address it to help individuals suffering from mental health access healthcare services.
The second intervention would be for nurses to work on their self-awareness of personal bias. Nurses and their fellow healthcare professionals should consider their attitudes towards individuals suffering from mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, depression, or anxiety disorders. If nurses are aware of how their personal bias affects how they treat patients with mental, they will be less biased and treat these patients with more respect. These patients will feel worthy, and hence, they will not be ashamed to access mental health services. The third nursing intervention would be to discuss mental health and demystify any associated myths freely. Instead of discussing mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders or bipolar disorders in low tones, topics concerning mental health should be discussed with confidence. Nurses should provide information concerning stigma, mental health effects, symptoms, and the available management options (Nyblade et al., 2019). Being comfortable when discussing mental health will help others understand these conditions better and emphasize seeking mental health services.
The third nursing strategy would be to implement empathetic care when dealing with patients suffering from mental health conditions. The nurse should humanize mental health conditions and break down any stereotypes associated with mental health (Nyblade et al., 2019). An individual suffering from mental health should not be defined by the condition and should not be addressed. An example is a person experiencing bipolar disorder should not be called a bipolar person. Furthermore, a person who has a mental illness should not be called a mentally ill person. This will help reduce mental health stigma, and hence, these individuals will access more mental health services. In addition, nurses handling mental health patients should refrain from referring to a mental health condition as abnormal. Referring to people suffering from mental as abnormal will create an “us verse them” narrative. This will make these individuals suffering from mental illness feel inferior and different from others, which they are not.
Private and Public Partnerships
Potential partnerships in the private and public sectors can be sought to help implement strategies to help reduce mental health stigma and increase awareness of mental health among Cameroon Americans. The National Alliance on Mental Health can help fund this project to educate the community on the manifestations of mental health and the importance of reducing mental health stigmatization. This will help improve the utilization of mental health services in the community of interest. This project can also seek private partners who will help print t-shirts that convey information on mental health stigmatization. The community members can volunteer and set up a committee to deal with the educational project and identify the number of individuals suffering from mental health. These names can be forwarded to the local health centers for help. Another partner that can be sought is community health workers who can work with individual families, make follow-ups, and sensitize the general public to the dangers of mental health stigmatization.
A timeline of six months would be enough for potential outcomes. Within six months, it will be possible for the households to verbalize the manifestations of mental health and know the dangers of stigmas associated with mental health. The expected positive outcome will be increased utilization of mental health services and reduced stigmatization. The six-month period will ensure a community free of mental health stigmatization.
Conclusion
The mental health sensitization project is important in reducing the stigmatization of mental health, especially among African Americans. Health education will be provided in individual households. The educational strategies will include PowerPoint presentations, music, t-shirts, and songs. Nursing interventions recommended include addressing the stigmas, implementing empathetic care, and working on personal bias. Multisectoral private and public collaboration is required to help in the implementation of this action plan.
References
CDC. (2018, October 31). Healthy People 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/hp2020.html
Edem-Enang, B. A. (2021). African Immigrants’ U.S. Experience of Mental Health, Mental Illness, and Help-Seeking [Doctoral dissertation]. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11304&context=dissertations
Noonan, A. S., Velasco-Mondragon, H. E., & Wagner, F. A. (2016). Improving the health of African Americans in the USA: An overdue opportunity for social justice. Public Health Reviews, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-016-0025-4
Nyblade, L., Stockton, M. A., Giger, K., Bond, V., Ekstrand, M. L., Lean, R. M., Mitchell, E. M., Nelson, L. R., Sapag, J. C., Siraprapasiri, T., Turan, J., & Wouters, E. (2019). Stigma in health facilities: Why it matters and how we can change it. BMC Medicine, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-019-1256-2
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Question 
Submit an essay on the developed action plan for a community educational project. The project plan should include 2 (two) goals and objectives based on your topic from Healthy People 2020, an implementation plan for implementing these activities, a budget (if necessary, not required), a justification for the project, a description of where and when the plan will be implemented, and a description of the teaching materials which will be utilized during the execution of the project.
Action Plan for Mental Health Sensitization
Then, recommend nursing actions/interventions to address the health concern and achieve your stated goals and objectives. Discuss potential public and private partnerships that could be formed to implement your recommendations and create a timeline (i.e., 3 months, 6 months) for potential expected outcomes.
The assignment should be written in an APA-formatted essay. The essay should be between 1250 and 1500 words in length and include at least two scholarly sources other than the provided materials.