Student Name
Capella University
NURS-FPX 6026 Biopsychosocial Concepts for Advanced Nursing Practice 2
Prof. Name
Date
Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal
Depression and anxiety are increasingly prevalent among suburban high school students, affecting their mental health, academic performance, and well-being. A study reveals that twenty percent of the youth have attempted to self-harm in a non-suicidal way, resulting from mental health issues they are facing (Kegelaers et al., 2023). This assessment proposes a policy to address these challenges through school-based interventions and community partnerships. By advocating for mental health screenings, education, and improved access to care, the policy aims to create a supportive environment for students. An interprofessional approach will be emphasized to ensure efficient and effective implementation.
Policy and Guidelines for Improved Outcomes and Quality of Care
In response to the trending problems of depression and anxiety among these suburban high school students, this policy intends to support comprehensive school-based mental health programs. These programs’ goals include enforcing mandatory mental health assessments on students, increasing onsite counseling services, and including pieces focusing on mental health in teachings. Evidence from around the world, as shown in the study by Margaretha et al. (2023), highlights that a school-based multi-dimensional approach effectively reduces mental health concerns among adolescent students.
The policy forwarded includes identifying early mental health care needs and intervention and building student resilience. This is why, to bring change within the schools, mental health discussions must be made familiar and the stigma erased around getting professional help. With this initiative, they are attempting to do just that: an overall healthy school environment is the result.
NURS FPX 6026 Assessment 2 Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal
The policy also defines possible implementation risks, such as not finding enough funds, combating the community stigma concerning mental health, and overcoming the potential resistance of parents and school leaders (Margaretha et al., 2023). To address these factors, the intervention plan makes recommendations like applying for funds from the state and other governmental and non-governmental agencies and creating awareness of available services to the society so that people will seek assistance and participate in developing the plan to ensure they buy into it.
Moreover, mental health professionals and other healthcare organizations will strengthen and stabilize the approaches developed within the program’s framework, like SMARTS, which stands for Strengthening Mental Health and Resilience Through School (Kegelaers et al., 2023). On this note, the following policy is being proposed, anticipating improving high school students’ care, enabling them to do better academically and socially, and preventing prolonged suffering from the effects of unaddressed mental health complications.
Advocacy for the Proposed Policy in the Current Context
This paper highlights the need to champion the policy on school-based mental health programs for students in Suburban High Schools because the current approach to mental health has the following gap. Recent statistics show that even teenagers have become victims of growing depression and anxiety levels; many learners face academic dismal, social isolation, and even suicidal thoughts (Margaretha et al., 2023). However, these catastrophic trends, besides schools, fail to provide enough or appropriate frameworks for student mental health support. In this policy, there is an emphasis on early intervention, anticipatory care, and educational approaches, which have been shown to yield better results. Since the policy is drafted to ensure mental health concerns are attended to promptly and without prejudice, creating such a policy will effectively close the gap between students in need and the services they need to access.
However, opposing viewpoints must also be considered to ensure a balanced perspective. Opponents insist that a child’s mental health is the obligation of parents and should not be funded when school has more important educational concerns. Some also give fears with the idea that they scapegoat mental health screenings as not accurate and that they are readily overdiagnosed (Drent et al., 2022).
To overcome these problems, the policy includes parental involvement, clarity in the program delivery, and reduction of screening mistakes through reliable protocols. The study by Ramberg (2021) underlines the importance of a collaborative approach involving parents and schools to support adolescent mental health. This initiative seeks to provide a comprehensive and balanced solution that enhances student outcomes without undermining other educational priorities by openly engaging with opposing views and integrating feedback into the policy framework.
Interprofessional Approach to Implementing the Proposed Policy
The concept of implementation of a proposed school-based mental health program will benefit from the use of an interprofessional approach. It also means that the program could depict the need to embrace the mental health initiative by offering professionals from different fields, including school counselors, psychologists, teachers, social workers, and healthcare providers (Dale et al., 2021). Every specialist contributes their knowledge and experience in such matters as clinical practice, implementing methods for behavior correction, and providing schooling and instruction. It would also ensure that the pupil presents any psychological problems early and will get their treatment alongside help in the learning process and social activities. When integrated, these professionals complement each other, reducing the burden and time to solve mental health issues and providing improved solutions to learners (Dale et al., 2021).
However, several gaps and uncertainties in knowledge will have to be filled in for this approach to work. For example, one has more questions like the following: it is unknown which type of mental health is required in the targeted group of people, or how many working hours per week each identified specialist will spend on mental health support to avoid overloading with the other tasks. Also, it may be limited in coordinating the care goals and provisions with different professionals’ care schedules. More studies could also be carried out on how best to train and ordinate these specialists and involve the parents and the broader society in supporting the program.
NURS FPX 6026 Assessment 2 Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal
A survey by Kiger et al. (2021) emphasizes the importance of interprofessional education (IPE) in child and adolescent mental health, fostering collaboration among healthcare professionals across disciplines. They argue that IPE enhances care quality, communication, and treatment outcomes by promoting a holistic approach to mental health care. It will be important to identify the above gaps to improve the policy and better meet the students’ mental health needs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the proposed school-based mental health program for suburban high school students can be the first step toward the solution to the increasing problems of depression and anxiety all over the world. In this way, with the interprofessional approach, the policy guarantees students’ mental health and academic and social support. However, one might identify some impendent weaknesses associated with barriers, such as funding and resistance, to show how the policy offers ways to transform the classroom environment to be learner-friendly. Other research work and cooperation will be needed to advance the strategy and guarantee its effectiveness in developing student performance.
References
Dale, B. A., Kruzliakova, N. A., McIntosh, C. E., & Kandiah, J. (2021). Interprofessional collaboration in school-based settings, part 2: Team members and factors contributing to collaborative success. NASN School Nurse, 36(4), 211–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1942602×211000117
Drent, H. M., Hoofdakker, B. van den , Buitelaar, J. K., Hoekstra, P. J., & Dietrich, A. (2022). Factors related to perceived stigma in parents of children and adolescents in outpatient mental healthcare. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19), 12767. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912767
Kegelaers, J., Baetens, I., Soyez, V., Heel, M. V., Hove, L. V., & Wylleman, P. (2023). Strengthening mental health and resilience through schools: Protocol for a participatory design project. JMIR Research Protocols, 12(1), e49670. https://doi.org/10.2196/49670
NURS FPX 6026 Assessment 2 Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal
Kiger, M., Knickerbocker, K., Hammond, C., & Nelson, S. C. (2021). Interprofessional education in child and adolescent mental health. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 30(4), 713–726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2021.07.001
Margaretha, M., Azzopardi, P. S., Fisher, J., & Sawyer, S. M. (2023). School-based mental health promotion: A global policy review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1126767
Ramberg, J. (2021). The association between parental support and adolescents’ psychological complaints: The mediating role of a good school climate. Children, 8(7), 550. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8070550
