Mental Health Essay Analysing Medical Condition of Bipolar Affective Disorder
Question
Task: The purpose of this mental health essay is to assess your ability to critically examine the treatment plan of a consumer presenting with complex care issues with a view to achieving better outcomes.
In a number of mental health settings (in-patient, community, rehabilitation etc) clinical reviews provide the opportunities for the interdisciplinary care team to engage in discussions about the care that is provided to consumers particularly in situations where the usual treatment is resulting in poor health outcomes for the consumer. As Clinicians we often reflect on the care we are providing to consumers and wonder if a different treatment approach could produce better outcomes. Some examples that could be considered include: a consumer that may be experiencing multiple readmissions, a consumer that poses a high risk of violence and aggression or a consumer that is continuously experiencing drug and alcohol issues. It could also be serious physical health issues complicated by the mental state. These issues have a tendency to lead to poorer health or recovery outcomes for the consumers. Since everyone works within different clinical settings, below is a suggestion on how to decide the consumer to choose.
Suggestion on how to choose consumer for Review:
There are 2 ways you can choose the consumer (retrospectively or prospectively):
1) Retrospective: This could be a consumer that you have worked with and the intervention that you describe has already been put in place with success either by you or the team you are part of.
2) Prospectively: You can choose a consumer you are working with who is experiencing these issues and you are proposing a new course of action.
Instructions:
1. You are to provide a detailed background (completely de-identified) of the chosen consumer. This would include their history and the main issue of concern that makes this a complex case requiring a critical clinical review.
2. Provide details of the previously (or currently) trialled interventions for this particular consumer and the outcomes that this has produced. Provide possible explanations as to why you believe previous interventions have been unsuccessful.
3. Provide a clear, detailed and evidence-based intervention that could be trialled to produce a better outcome for the consumer or what was put in place. This section is very crucial, and you will need to be quite specific on how your intervention is distinct from what has been tried previously. You will also need to state the outcome measures you will use to indicate success.
