Assessment in Mental Health

This document discusses the applicability of biopsychosocial assessment in mental health, including the influences of biological, psychological, and social factors. It also explores the comprehensive assessment of mental health and the role of nurses in assessment. Various assessment tools for mental health and substance abuse are mentioned.

Running head: ASSESSMENT IN MENTAL HEALTH
ASSESSMENT IN MENTAL HAELTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1ASSESSMENT IN MENTAL HEALTH
Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
Applicability of biopsychosocial assessment..............................................................................2
Question 2........................................................................................................................................3
Mental health assessment............................................................................................................3
Question 3........................................................................................................................................5
Role of nurses in assessment.......................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

2ASSESSMENT IN MENTAL HEALTH
Question 1
Applicability of biopsychosocial assessment
The biopsychosocial model was invented by George L. Engel in order to reflect better the
development of illness by interacting complexly with the different biological factors like genetic
factors and biochemical factors, different physiological factors like mood, behaviour and
personality and different social factors including cultural factors, socioeconomic factors, medical
factors and factors relating to the family members (Bevers et al. 2016) The influences of the
biological factors on human health and illness include the genetics, physical trauma, different
infections, hormones and toxins. Many disorders occur because the diseases are inherited from
their ancestors, for example if a twin who is monozygotic is born with schizophrenia, there are
chances that the co twin will also develop schizophrenia. However, not all twins inherit this type
of diseases, in that cases the inheritance of genetic material has not occurred. Sometimes. The
environmental factors play an important role in expressing different genetic disorders (Riddell et
al. 2016). The psychological factors include different psychological factors which contribute a
lot in the development of the problems related to heath. The factors include loss in self-control,
changes in emotional needs and the negative thoughts for which the chances or risks of
depression increases. Psychological factors may also increase the depressions of the persons
suffering from biological depression. For example, a person who is suffering from mental
depressions, have tendencies to get addicted to alcohol and for this the liver of the person gets
damaged. Increase in taking risks also increases the likelihood of the disease. The social factors
involve the socioeconomic status of the patient, the culture, religion and also the technology
used. Incidences like losing one job or any relationship problem may increase the depression of

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one person which leads to the decrease in the physical health conditions. The cultural factors
includes differences in the circumstances, in expectations and also in beliefs. The range of
cultural factors varies across a city, in between people having lower income to those having
higher income. The rates of diseases and illness also differ accordingly.
The biopsychosocial model sis no doubt very much relevant to the nurses of the mental
health. Apart from diagnosing only the physical illness of a patient, this model follows a
multidimensional approach and also a holistic approach in taking care of a patient. This model
analyses the social factors, psychological factors and the biological factors of the patient for
doing the treatment properly (Kuss et al. 2014). The nurse scrutinizes all the problems that the
patients are suffering and provide sufficient and holistic care to the patient so the patient get
cured as quick as possible. The nurse by analysing all the biological, social and psychological
factors tell the family members the way they should take care of the patient (Jaini and Lee 2015).
The nurse must know n details whether the patient is suffering from depressions or substance
abuses. The nurse if follow the biopsychosocial model can do the nursing assessments better and
thus the patient can be cured earlier than the person is supposed to be.
Question 2
Mental health assessment
The comprehensive assessment of mental health includes the assessment of physical
health, proper examination of the mental health, by analysing what are the risks associated while
doing the assessment and the assessment of substance abuse. The nurse must carefully assess the
physical health of the patient and must assess the mental status of the patient by carefully
analysing all the components of the mental status assessment. The most important component is

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the appearance of the patient which includes the sex and age of the patient, the dressing sense of
the patient, the manner and attentiveness of the patient towards the speaker, facial expression and
whether the patient has any distinguishing features or not (Ben-Zeev et al. 2015). These are
done in order to analyse the present mental conditions of the patient. The next important
assessment is to analyse the behaviour and manner of the patient towards the nurse. Any unusual
movements of the patient should be noted properly and it is also very important to find out
whether the patient’s attitude is showing states of agitation like unable to sit still, rocking,
picking of clothes, wringing of hands. The spontaneity of speech along with the rate, volume,
rhythm and amount must also be noted. The mood of the patient is another important component
as this shows what the patient is thinking at the present time. It should be noted whether the
mood is sad, happy, neutral, angry or anxious. The thought content is another important
component, as the nurse must know whether the patient has any suicidal tendency or the patient
is obsessed with something or not. How the patient is processing all the thoughts is another
important component (Hepworth and McGowan 2013) The perception of the patient like whether
he is hallucinating or having illusions or not. The memorizing power, how intellectual at present
the patient is, the capacity to read and write are needed to be analysed. The last important
component is to make sure whether the patient is aware of the illness and is able to make any
decision wisely or not.
The mental health diseases can be assessed by following some assessment tools. At first a
proper interview is needed to be carried out with the patient in order to know what are the actual
problems that the patient is facing. Next is the assessment of the mental health should be done
properly to do the accurate analysis of the patient (Eisenberg, Hunt, and Speer 2013). The next is
the nurse should make sure that whether there is any risk associated with the treatment going on.

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Another tool which can be used is the Kessler 10 scale which is used to measure the amount of
depression of the patient. Only the health professionals can do this test. It is only the short
measurement of the psychological distress measured by questioning the patient. The Beck
depression inventory is one of the mostly used psychometric test which is used to measure how
severe the depression is. This method has 21 multiple choice questions which reflect the status of
depression of the patient. The assessment tool for substance used are ASSIST (The alcohol,
smoking and substance involvement screening test), AUDIT (Alcohol use disorders
identification test) and CAGE ( Cut down, annoyed, guilty and eye opener). (Cumming et al.
2013)
Question 3
Role of nurses in assessment
The role of nurses in treating a patient is very important after the role of the doctors. The
nurses spent most of the time with the patient after the checking has been done by the doctor.
The nurse provide the patients with medicines from time to time as the patient may not be able to
take the medicines timely. The nurses check the vital signs of the patient timely and should
record all the daily changes of the patients ( Robson et al. 2013). A nurse will be able to do all
these only if the therapeutic relationship between her and the patient is strong. The relationship
between the patient and the nurses depend on a few factors. It depends upon the communication
between the patient and the nurses. Both the nurses and the patient must respect each other
otherwise the communication between them will get hampered. (Bethell et al. 2014). The patient
must listen to all the things that the nurse is saying to do. The nurse must get attached with the
patient emotionally otherwise the she will not be able to take care of the patient properly. People

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become more expressive when their emotions get attached. So in order to take care of the patient
properly, the nurse need to make the relationship with the patient much stronger. In order to do
this the nurse need to follow some things so that the therapeutic relationship becomes healthier.
The nurse need to increase her patience because so any patients are there who not have the quick
perception capability, they take much time to understand simple things (Sideras et al. 2013). So
the nurse must not loose her patience. She must be encouraging enough so that the patients
become concerned about the diseases and the need to take care of themselves. The patients must
be known about their medicines and at which time they need to take the medicines. The nurse
must make sure that she is not ruining the communication with the patient. She must always talk
with the patient politely and must do all the services properly. If she find that the patient is
somewhat behaving rudely then she will tackle the situation by communicating properly with the
patient and also with the family members of the patient ( Clarke et al. 2014). The nurse must
respect the patient and also the family members of the patient. The nurse must perform all her
duties without any expectations because if she expects something good from the patient and the
expectations does not meet, then her performance in her duties will decrease. The nurse must
work hard to establish a healthy therapeutic relationship between her and the patient.

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References
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sexual abuse during routine mental health assessment in acute mental health settings? A

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