Plan for Advocacy and Awareness Initiative
The assessment of the community was carried out at the Don Mills Collegiate Institute and its neighborhood. There were different assessments carried in the community to come up with the different recommendation of the community. We came up with three recommendations that resulted from the community health assessment of the region. They were decided upon the study of the primary health problem in the region, and we had to come up with ways to control the situation. Among the three possible recommendations, the most suitable one was creating mental health awareness programs for students in Don Mills Collegiate Institute on a regular basis related to SDOH education.
The students of Don Mills Collegiate were the most vulnerable group in the community and thus it was the one chosen. The personal health practices of the student’s community were an important determinant which had psychological impacts on the students. For example, many students participating in video gaming in which they spent a lot of time playing them. The study shows that gaming hurts the mental functioning of the students. The impact was so severe such that they forgot to do their assignments in most cases. The other determinant that made the student the most vulnerable group is substance abuse which was common to most of the students. Parents of the students did not provide any solution since they thought the habits had no impact on the mental health of the students. This is the reason it was recommended to help the students recover from the situation. The outline of the implementation of the paper is shown below being the primary aim of the document.
The main reason this recommendation was preferred is because the children had different activities making the group more vulnerable and to make to make the matter worse they had only a mental health week. The appraisal carried was deemed to be beneficial through the involvement of stakeholders who understood how these activities affected students.
The first step in the outline will be interviewing all the stakeholders who will be influential on the success of the implementation. After the interview and discussion with the preceptor, we will find the representative of the department in the school. Next, we would arrange to meet with a public health nurse, the staff representative and the student group. There will be a brief discussion with the group since they are the ones who understand better the prevalence of the incidents. They have better information about the situation of the fellow students. Therefore, the students should be instrumental on the type of the issue affecting the fellow students, which should be one with a lot of effects. Among the activities considered should include stress, video gaming, and extreme anxiety. The important part of the outline will be the kind of activity that the students did in school, which include workshop, speech presentation, and video presentation to help the students understand the impacts of the said activities on mental health. Finally, we will liaise with the guidance support department to arrange the speaking sessions and presentations on the student’s request.
There are different reasons why I choose this initiative because mental health awareness was the main problem in the community. The major problem in the community should be given the priority. Therefore, the students were involved in these students who affected the mental stability of the students thus affecting their studies.
References
Grüsser, S. M., Thalemann, R., & Griffiths, M. D. (2008). Excessive computer game playing: Evidence for addiction and aggression? CyberPsychology & Behavior, 290-292.
Link, B. G. (2009). Understanding labeling effects in the area of mental disorders: An assessment of the effects of expectations of rejection. American Sociological Review, 96-112.
Rones, M., & Hoagwood, K. (2007). School-based mental health services: A research review. Clinical child and family psychology review, 223-241.
