1. Issues that America phases regarding health promotion
Issues that America phases regarding health promotionIssues that America phases
regarding health promotionThe purpose of this discussion post is to explore the issues that
America phases regarding health promotion and diseases prevention for mental health.
Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in our country and over 70% of those who
need services worldwide are not receiving any (Wainberg et al., 2017). With today’s
knowledge and technology, it is inexcusable to have such a high occurring health concern be
so neglected. There are various issues creating this lack of needed health care services to
this population. Three issues that are responsible for the lack of mental health care in our
country are the stigmas attached to mental disorders/illnesses, lack of resources, and lack
of research.Many individuals who suffer from mental health concerns do not receive the
care they need due to stigmatizing. Those with mental illnesses often state they are made to
feel rejected or degraded by healthcare workers (Knaak et al., 2017). Often these patients
are not given autonomy due to the assumption that their mental health will affect their
decision making. They can also be left feeling hopeless as their condition is often a lifelong
process without a complete cure. This vulnerable population are also reported to have high
rates of nurse burn-out in facilities (Knaak et al., 2017). This contributes to the patient’s
behaviors being treated before the patient themselves. Those with personality disorders
that consequently create disturbances and difficulty to work with are often ignored more
than others as well. Stigma among health care sectors effects the level of funding, quality,
and interactions for these patients. Not only does this create a lack of care but it also
impacts these individual’s motivation to seek medical help.ORDER NOW FOR ORIGINAL,
PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPERSAs mentioned, stigma for this health concern leads to a lack of
resources. Lack of resources include health insurance coverage, wait times, availability, and
education. The high costs of insurance and the high costs of specialty services (which
includes mental health services) is a huge barrier for this population. It was reported that
over 40% of American’s with mental illnesses view limited insurance coverage as the lead
cause for lack of mental health care services (Wood et al., 2018). Mental health services can
be a matter of life or death and as mentioned are often stigmatized and not placed as a
priority in the health care system. Long wait times for services and no local services is
another barrier to mental health care resources. The other issue with resources is lack of
education for patients on services. The younger populations with mental health concerns
are especially unaware of resources available to them and some are too worried about
being judged to ask.These two barriers to mental health treatment (stigmatizing and lack of

2. resources) consequently leads to lack of research for mental health care. Research on
depression and on the brain’s chemistry in general need to be held to a higher priority in
our healthcare system. Most people with a mental health concern are prescribed
antidepressants as if their conditions are all equal, which they are not. Some people thrive
with the use of antidepressants while others feel robotic. The judgement that mental illness
is not as detrimental or curable as a physical illness creates less initiative to conduct
research to better our care regimens for this population. If ethics cannot create a more just
system finances should be taken into consideration to increase research motivation.
Productivity due to mental illness is creating a cost of approximately $30 billion dollars in
America (Lake, 2017). A greater emphasis on how we can prevent, treat, and screen for
mental health illness should be implemented within our healthcare system.In the small
community hospital, I work in currently the mental illness population is large. We typically
do not see patients for depression or suicide ideation but instead encounter this population
because of other non-mental illness health concerns. As we have learned through this
course these people can easily slip through the cracks and be discharged unsafely back to
cope with their illnesses mentally on their own. Better screening and closer follow-ups are
needed to provide adequate care to this population. Issues that America phases regarding
health promotionReferencesKnaak, S., Mantler, E., & Szeto, A. (2017). Mental illness-related
stigma in healthcare. Healthcare Management Forum, 30(2), 111-116.
doi:10.1177/0840470416679413Lake, J. (2017). Urgent Need for Improved Mental Health
Care and a More Collaborative Model of Care. The Permanente Journal.
doi:10.7812/tpp/17-024Wainberg, M. L., Scorza, P., Shultz, J. M., Helpman, L., Mootz, J. J.,
Johnson, K. A., . . . Arbuckle, M. R. (2017). Challenges and Opportunities in Global Mental
Health: A Research-to-Practice Perspective. Current Psychiatry Reports, 19(5).
doi:10.1007/s11920-017-0780-zWood, P., Burwell, J., & Rawlett, K. (2018). New Study
Reveals Lack of Access as Root Cause for Mental Health Crisis in America. Retrieved June 27,
2020, from https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/press-releases/new-study-reveals-lack-of-
access-as-root-cause-for-mental-health-crisis-in-america/