Discuss one change you would like to see in mental health services or practice. Describe what would need to happen for the change to be achieved a...

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Discuss the challenges and benefits involved in using a health promotion approach to tackle the levels of depression experienced within the general population The Royal College of Psychiatrists (2010) report that depression affects one in four people during their lives and it is predicted that by 2020 depression will be ranked number two in the top ranking international health burdens (WHO 2001).These statistics show that it is important to reduce the levels of depression experienced within the population. This essay will consider if using a health promotion approach could help to achieve this by exploring the elements that contribute to the cause of depression and the impact it has on individuals and society. It will also consider how specific groups in society may be more vulnerable than others and whether research could help to target strategies to meet their needs. The influence of values that a practitioner holds and how they might influence decisions regarding health promotion will also be discussed. The essay will then consider and compare individual and societal approaches to health promotion as well as exploring the micro, meso and macro approaches. Using examples from external research the benefits and challenges of each approach will be discussed to ascertain if one approach is more effective than another and how they might help to reduce levels of depression in the population (The Open University, 2008f, pp. 105-122). The diverse perspectives that can contribute to the cause of depression make it a challenging condition to tackle. For example psychiatrists usually look for a physical cause, a social worker may consider environment, living conditions or social isolation and a psychologist may investigate cognition ... ... middle of paper ... ...epression. The essay established that the values of practitioners do influence decisions made in health promotion but ethical guidelines need to be followed. Individual and societal approaches as well as micro, meso and macro level promotions were discussed and this revealed they all have a different focus but are working towards the same goal of promoting good mental health and that one approach can overlap and support another. Examples were given to illustrate the benefits as well as the challenges of each approach describing their area of focus and intended outcomes. Seedhouse describes a ‘pick and mix’ approach where elements from each approach can be taken and used together, this suggests there may be no single answer to reduce the levels of depression in a population but there are diverse ways to achieve the same goals (The Open University, 2008f, p.118).

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