The Impact of Covid-19 on Mental Health: A Discussion and Analysis

This essay discusses the impact of Covid-19 on mental health and provides solutions to mitigate its effects. It is structured into an introduction, discussion, analysis, and conclusion with recommendations. The paragraphs are structured with a topic sentence, explanation, and reason behind it. The essay uses a quotation and references both sources correctly using Harvard Referencing.

Skills Development Portfolio
Week 4: Reading for Study
During your studies you will need to identify how and where to
locate literature to read using skills learnt last week . Your
seminar lead will provide you with different texts. Use them to
answer the questions that follow:
Text 1
What is the topic of this paper?
COVID-19: a plea to protect the older population
1

What is the issue or problem that is being discussed?
The major problem discussed in the article was that in the
current pandemic majorly older people are dying. Thus, the
major issue in the article was to find protection for older
adults and to promote intergenerational equity.
List 3 things that the author views as important ?
1 This discrimination against older people seems to have
spread to other countries which are dealing with the
COVID-19 ‘tsunami’. In the US – where there are triage
frameworks which do not categorically exclude large
groups of patients (therefore also older people) [5],
opinion-leader bioethicist A. Caplan, interviewed by a
major national newspaper, makes similar age cut-off
claims (which are also underpinned by utilitarian
calculus):
2 “An age limit for the admission to the ICU may ultimately
need to be set. The underlying principle
would be to save limited resources which may become
extremely scarce for those who have a much
greater probability of survival and life expectancy, in
order to maximize the benefits for the largest number
of people. In the worst-case scenario of complete
saturation of ICU resources, keeping a “first come,
first served” criterion would ultimately result in
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withholding ICU care by limiting ICU admission for
any subsequently presenting patient.” (Recommendation
3; their emphasis).
3 “Although a patient’s age is not the only consideration,
it is one. It would be dishonest if we didn’t
say age is a driver. Age is correlated with resilience.
Because younger patients, in general, get better faster,
they may free up a ventilator more quickly for
the next patient”.3
Select one of your answers above and say why you think
the author views it as important
Out of the above, the first one states that discrimination
among older people is spreading as due to pandemic
majority of older people are affected. Hence, it is very
important for effective strategies to be formulated relating
to protection of older people.
Who is the author of the paper?
Daniele Carrieri , Fedro Alessandro Peccatori and Giovanni
Boniolo
Week 4: Reading for Study
(continued)
Text 2
What is the topic of this paper?
Pandemics and riots: What do they tell us about crime,
recidivism, and health?
3

What is the issue or problem that is being discussed?
The major issue identified in the article was that there are
societal inequities which plays a crucial role in heatlh
outcomes and criminality.
List 3 things that the author views as important ?
1 “The crime problem is not merely a question of police and
courts, it leads to the broader problems of public sanitation,
education, home care, a living wage and industrial
democracy.”
2 There would be little novel in suggesting social inequities
are associated with criminality and ill-health; indeed, it
would be naïve to suggest riots and poor health are
unconnected to serious social disparities (Armstead et al.,
2019; Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014; Merriam, 1915).
3 Several well-known delinquency prevention programs
were shown to have iatrogenic consequences, where the
negative outcomes were associated with the amount of
treatment received (i.e., dose-dependent (McCord, 2003);
Select one of your answers above and say why you think
the author views it as important
The author point of view relating to second point is that
social inequities is related with ill health and criminality.
The reason underlying this fact is that when the person is ill
or faces some social injustice then tendency for criminal
activities increases.
Who is the author of the paper?
Joseph J. Lockhart , Saty Satya-Murti
4

Week 5: Precis/summary writing, referencing and using quotations
You will be given two pieces of text to read.
TASK 1
Step 1 is to read the first text and to make some notes in your own
words.
Step 2 from your notes in your own words summarise text 1
Step 3 you must use one quotation from the text in your summary
Step 4 provide the appropriate reference at the end of the summary.
Summary of text 1
The article is based on the relationship between child welfare
research and policy development. In which concern regarding child
care via education has been highlighted (Crowley and et.al., 2019.). It
has been identified that research findings and policy process is
problematic. In policy development larger emphasis is given on
research evidence which play significant role in social science.
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References
Crowley, D.M and et.al., 2019. Considering the child welfare system
burden from opioid misuse: research priorities for estimating public
costs. The American journal of managed care, 25(13 Suppl), p.S256.
TASK 2
Step 1 is to read the first text and to make some notes in your own
words.
Step 2 from your notes in your own words summarise text 2
Step 3 you must use one quotation from the text in your summary
Step 4 provide the appropriate reference at the end of the summary.
Summary of text 2
The article is based on Dementia which focuses on policy and
practice care so that proper information which is reliable and relevant
can be provided to people (Arvanitakis and et.al., 2019). People who
posses dementia requires information for making decision. It need to
be focused that there is as well misuse of information which creates
situation of society disables, discriminates and hurdles in against of
people who has disabilities.
References
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Arvanitakis, Z and et.al., 2019. Diagnosis and management of
dementia. Jama. 322(16). pp.1589-1599.
Week 6: Essay writing
Introductions:
An introduction is to show your reader what you are doing, why you are
doing it and how you are doing it. It should attract readers’ attention.
In general, the following three parts of information should be included in
an introduction However they are in the wrong order:
Task 1 Now rewrite the following three points in the correct order:
 Main topic, purpose, rationale, or your point of view.
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 Most general or broad background information. It needs to be brief
and clear enough for your reader to understand your area
 Outline/structure of your essay or report. Which clearly
demonstrates how you are going to organise the rest of your
essay.
1 Most general or broad background information. It needs to be brief and
clear enough for your reader to understand your area
2 Main topic, purpose, rationale, or your point of view
3 Outline/structure of your essay or report. Which clearly demonstrates
how you are going to organise the rest of your essay
Task 2 Answer the following questions:
A) What percentage of the total length of your essay should your
introduction be?
2%
5%
10%
B) Can you include references in an introduction?
Yes
NO
Task 3
The following sentences comprise an introduction. However, they are in
the wrong order.
Your task is to read the sentences and to place a number in the
sentence number box from 1 -3 with 1 being the first sentence that you
think should appear in an introduction, 2 the sentence that you think
should appear next and 3 being the last sentence.
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Sentences Sentence
number
This essay will consider the advantages and
disadvantages of each method. Based on findings a
conclusion will be presented detailing how future
growth in this area might occur.
3
Over the last ten years there has been a significant
growth in the area of Learning Development within
universities (Zhang, 2012). Specifically, more university
now provide additional opportunities for students to
enhance their academic skills through online materials,
workshops and/or 1:1 appointment provision (Dobson,
2011).
1
It is however, unclear which of these teaching methods
is most beneficial in terms of enhancing the student
experience and improving attainment.
2
Conclusions:
A conclusion is to show your reader that you have achieved your aim at
the end of your writing.
In general, the following three parts of information should be included in
a conclusion However, they are in the wrong order:
Task 1 Now rewrite the following three points in the correct order:
 Explain the overall significance of the conclusion
 Recall the topic / purpose of your writing
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 Synthesise the main points that you made in the main body of your
text
1 Recall the topic / purpose of your writing
2 Explain the overall significance of the conclusion
3 Synthesise the main points that you made in the main body of your
text
Task 2 Answer the following questions:
A) What percentage of the total length of your essay should your
conclusion be?:
2%
5%
10%
B) Can you introduce new information into your conclusion?
Yes
No
Task 3
The following sentences comprise a conclusion. However, they are in
the wrong order.
Your task is to read the sentences and to place a number in the
sentence number box from 1 -3 with 1 being the first sentence that you
think should appear in a conclusion, 2 the sentence that you think should
appear next and 3 being the last sentence.
Sentence Sentence
number
A range of factors including availability of time, family
commitments and belief that uptake of support would
2
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enhance final degree class were found to influence upon
uptake of support. Consequently, it was suggested that
such areas should be considered when designing
promotional material
In summary, no single factor will determine uptake of
support rather multiple strategies are needed in order to
increase student participation.
3
This essay demonstrated that there a number of factors
that can impact upon student uptake of learning
development opportunities
1
SUBMIT YOUR WORKBOOK TO TUTOR
Feedback (your tutor will complete the following section)
How well did your work meet the stated assessment criteria?
How can you improve your performance in future tasks?
11

Week 7 Academic writing and referencing portfolio tasks
1) Read the following excerpt and mark with an X where you think a
reference should appear in the following text:
Beveridge thought that after World War II men would return to work and,
if they were married, their wives would stay home and take care of
the house (Harris, 2018). Whilst earning an income, the husband
was expected to make contributions to the national insurance
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scheme ( Kuhn, Schularick and Steins, 2020). However, should he
be unable to work for any reason he was then entitled to state
support but, as he was the one who had made insurance
contributions, the money would be paid directly to him and not his
wife. Thus, because all money went to husbands, married women
were dependent on their husbands for financial security , both
during their husbands working life and after retirement .
2) How would you reference the sources on the handout provided for
you:
a) Kuhn, M., Schularick, M. and Steins, U.I., 2020. Income and wealth
inequality in america, 1949–2016. Journal of Political Economy. 128(9).
pp.3469-3519.
b) Harris, J., 2018. Some aspects of social policy in Britain during the
Second World War. In The Emergence of the Welfare State in Britain
and Germany 1850–1950 (pp. 247-262). Routledge.
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
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i)
3)Read the following statements and circle whether they are true
or false:
Book titles form part of the in text reference. True/False
Authors initials always form part of the in text reference. True/False
Whenever you are you are using a quotation in your text you should cite
the page number where the quotation can be found. True/False
The way that you reference in your text must be the same as the way it
appears in your reference list. True/False
You should only use ‘et al’ whenever there are 3 or more authors.
True/False
SUBMIT YOUR WORKBOOK TO TUTOR
Feedback (your tutor will complete the following section)
How well did your work meet the stated assessment criteria?
How can you improve your performance in future tasks?
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Week 8 : Pulling things together and avoiding
plagiarism
You will be given two short abstracts about a contemporary
topic. Your task this week is to use both of these abstracts to
write a short essay . You must reference both sources correctly
using Harvard Referencing.
Step 1 Read the short abstracts that you have been given and
take notes in your own words
Step 2 Think about the following:
 how you will structure your short essay?
 Introduction, discussion, analysis and conclusion &
recommendation
 how you will structure your paragraphs?
 Topic sentence, explaining idea and reason behind
it.
 will you use a quotation?
 Yes
 How will you reference in your text?
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 Google scholar will be used for referencing
 How will you reference at the end of your text/in your
reference list?
 It will be reference at the end of my text by ( initial
name, year)
Step 3 write your short essay
Covid 19 is one of the crucial issue that has been considered
as reason for large number of deaths.
WHO has articulated that 95% of covid 19 death occurs in
European region which covers the people who are older
than 60. From the social perspective it has been said that
older people should be considered first priority to utilize the
scarce resources (Emanuel and et.al., 2020). From
economic perspective it has been younger one should be
given preference for utilizing available resources.
From the analysis it can be interpreted that in covid 19 less
available of health related services are available which as well
resulted in large number of death and creating negative impact
on society (Daniel, 2020). it can be identified that younger
should be given larger preference in using resources to gain
economic as well social stability.
It can be summarized that it is crucial to overcome situation
of covid by optimum utilization of resources.
This is recommended to develop high health related facilities
so that all segments of society can be treated equal.
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Reference list
Daniel, J., 2020. Education and the COVID-19
pandemic. Prospects. 49(1). pp.91-96.
Emanuel, E.J and et.al., 2020. Fair allocation of scarce
medical resources in the time of Covid-19.
Week 9a : Working with others
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You will be given a scenario from a group task about working in
partnership. Listen to the scenario carefully and undertake the following
tasks
Task 1
If you were in this situation, explain in the space below how would you
manage the disagreement and still ensure the outcome was met?
I will disagree with the prevailing situation but ensures that outcome will
be achieved by trying to conduct the practices in effectual manner. In
addition to this, I will try to take help from my team mates who possess
such kinds of skills and knowledge so that proper accomplishment of
task can be conducted effectively. The another action that can be
taken by e is to learn required set of attributes and will try to convince
by my team mates via sharing importance of unity.
Task 2
List 5 positive things about working with others?
1) Specialization can be derived through division of work
2) Clarity regarding goals and responsibilities
3) motivation to accomplish common goal
4) goals can be achieved in less time as team promotes diversity
5) healthy competition enhances personal development opportunities
Task 3
List 5 challenges of working with others ?
1) building trust is crucial issue which need to b e handled while
working in team
2) personality conflicts due to diverse opinions.
3) interior competition can discourage
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4) Opposing goals can be there which can create hurdle in achieving
team objectives.
5) skill overlap and lack of self awareness can creates conflicting
situations which can lead to derive demotivation.
Week 9b Presentation skills
Task 1 this week is to plan a presentation on how you would
structure an essay.
Step 1 Find one of the articles that you read in week 4 and re read the
article
Step 2 Now take some notes in your own words about the key points
from the article
Step 3: using the notes that you have made in your own words plan in
the following presentation slides how you would structure a presentation
on this topic
Title page
COVID-19: a plea to protect the
older population
Introduction
Strengthening the fortification of
each country’s older grown-ups and
to endorse intergenerational equity
and unity. Aim is to muscularly
oppose the idea of setting an a
priori age limits to resolve who
should get access to healthcare, as
such ideas differentiate against
grownup people
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Main body 1
In Italy larger number of death has
occurred which has resulted in
thinking about scare resources and
priority regarding resource
utilization (Chalkidou and et al,
2016). It has forced to give
emphasis on eliminating
discrimination prevailing on the
basis of age.
Main body 2
It has been focused that n parallel
with a contemporary dangerous
trend is prevailing which found to
initial sign. It has been pointed that
comprising older people rights for
younger has been highlighted in
order to concentrate on financial
burden (Boldt, 2019). The
importance of protecting human
rights of older people has been
found crucial.
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Conclusion
From the report it can be concluded
that protecting right of all segment
becomes crucial. There should be
optimum utilization of resources so
that health as well financial burden
can be avoided.
References
Boldt J. The concept of
vulnerability in medical ethics and
philosophy. Philos Ethics Humanit
Med. 2019;14(1):6.
Chalkidou K, et al. Priority-setting
for achieving universal health
coverage. Bull World Health Organ.
2016;94(6):462
Task 2 List 4 points that make a good presentation
1) using proper structure
2) including crucial information
3) comprising facts and figures
4) keeping background consistent and subtle
Task 3 List 4 points that make a bad presentation
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1) failing to engage with emotionally
2) Speaking in jargon
3) taking a lot time to present
4) delivering in appropriate content
REMEMBER TO COMPLETE YOUR ESSAY BEFORE YOU SUBMIT
TO BREO
Essay task
Title: Reflect on your learning and explain how you aim to improve
2 academic skills which your tutor has highlighted that you must
improve.
How many words do I have to write?
1,000 words but you can go over or under by 10% (so, if you write 900
words or 1,100 words your paper will still be marked.)
Break down the question – what is it asking me to do?
Reflect on your learning and feedback
Explain something
How can I do this?
 Reread your informal feedback
 Look at those skills which your tutor has said you need to improve
 Pick 2
Further guidance
Think about how you will improve the 2 skills that you have selected
What services will you use? For example, PAD, Study hub, your tutors,
your peers, Language Support team?
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What resources will you use? Books, Journals etc
Think about the following:
Where will you place your student ID number?
How you will structure your essay?
Remember it needs
 a title,
 an introduction,
 main body,
 conclusion
 and reference list.
 Make sure that you are writing in full academic sentences that are
punctuated.
 Make sure that you are using appropriate paragraphs.
Will you make use of the essay checklist on BREO before you submit?
What else do you need to submit?
Do you know:
 when you will need to submit?
 what you need to submit?
 And how to submit your work?
Write your essay in the space below:
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INTRODUCTION
Skills and development are one of those elements that contributed to enhance the
capability and efficiency of individual person. A skill is defined as an ability of a person that
they used to obtain desire outcome and achieve set aim whether it is long, short or medium
term. While development term refer to process of developing set of skills and understanding
among individuals about varied concepts. The current assignment will present in form of
reflection, which highlight how individual aim to improve 2 academic competencies.
ESSAY
Reflecting my own learning and explaining how I aim to improve two academic
competencies
I want to describe my own experience and learning related to team working and
collaborative skills, which I had attempt to improve even in better way, in order to obtain the
benefits of academic and professional career. In recent time, individual person may effort to
give tough competition to each other, in field of employment. As some of them by using their
skills and knowledge regarding interested area, may gain the current job opportunities that
accessible in bulk within job market. Furthermore, they also attempt to develop more for
purpose of being a productive candidate in the future. Just like these individuals, I also effort
to improve and develop my two academic skills.
I had improved team working skill, because it is beneficial for my personal and
professional growth. For example, with the help of this competence I had grabbed the
opportunity to perform with such talented and skilled applicants who encompass more
valuable skills, which I will also develop or improve to gain all their advantages further.
Along with obtaining that, I also work harder to improve current skill for varied purposes.
For instance, I had improved team working competence, because it fosters my creative
thinking skill and make me able to be innovative. It is fact that while working in a group, any
person may become a innovator as they gain the chance to share their ideas with each other
and obtain suitable suggestions from them, which will be implemented in the future. The best
and useful advantage, which I had obtained by improving team working ability is a trust,
which is quite important for me to build up at workplace as it allow to create a positive
working environment, where everyone prefers to perform in productive way and always feel
engage in aim achievement process. It can be said that relying on other individual at same
area may help to build faith between all, and assist establishing effective relationship with co-
candidates who may work earlier or recruit newly (Newman and Anderson-Butcher, 2021).
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Just because of team working competence improvement I felt happy as I start enjoying my
work. Skill improvement provide great chance to me, in term of managing conflict or
resolving each, which put direct impact on my efficiency and performance level.
Along with above one, I had also efforts to improve another academic skill and that is
collaborative, which play vital role in my career progress and success. For example, I
improved this skill in order to be effective and productive employee further and efficient
team member recently. For purpose of obtaining benefit of that, I improve collaborative
competence, which enable me to save my time at workplace when I obtain a critical task
where important and useful suggestions are required, which is possible when I conduct
collaborative practice in term of sharing information about my challenge with other
individuals, who help to overcome that. Time is the most precious component, which may
save when a person conduct their collaborative practice. So as I am doing, and effort to
improve that enhance my efficiency, productivity and increase performance level. With the
help of collaborative skill improvement, I made myself effective in term of improving the
working environment where including me more individuals are performing for purpose of
aim achievement (Anggraini, Rozimela and Anwar, 2020).
In the world of education and employment, there are varied approaches, techniques
and concepts are available that has been utilized by many learners to develop and improve
those skills that they tend to enhance. Here, I also approach to utilize personal development
plan, through which I had improved my two academic skills successfully. As it covers key
methods, importance and time frame as significant components. PDP is the best and most
helpful technique, because it encompasses all these useful elements that contribute to achieve
my aim and made me productive candidate among all.
Improvement areas Importance Approaches Time frame
Team working I want to improve this
skill because it
provides advantages to
me in the future along
with recent time. It
helps to complete
critical task on time
and without making
any mistakes.
Task allocation is the
best approach that I
had taken to improve
team working skill, as
it enable me to work
with many people who
work harder to achieve
the common aim and
objectives.
5 days
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Collaborative Along with above, I
also improved my
collaborative skill,
because it gives me
chance to create a
productive and happy
working atmosphere.
Effective
communication, as key
method contribute to
improve my chosen
skill.
10 days
By above action, I aim to improve collaborative and group work as academic skills
that an employer required and find out among those candidates who they seek to hire and
work with them at workplace. During the process of learning these competencies I also
analysed their importance in my life, as it contribute in the future to create a creative and
innovative working environment, where all individual prefer to work forever.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it has been concluded that development and
improvement of team working and collaborative practices as essential academic skills has
provided a lot of benefits in term of completing work on time and providing chance to
achieve short, medium and long term goals. Furthermore, from above analysis, it has been
identified that action plan is one of those valuable asset and resource that has improved
effective and essential academic skills such as team work and collaborative.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Anggraini, R., Rozimela, Y. and Anwar, D., 2020. The Effects of Collaborative Writing on
EFL Learners' Writing Skills and Their Perception of the Strategy.
Journal of
Language Teaching and Research. 11(2). pp.335-341.
Newman, T.J. and Anderson-Butcher, D., 2021. Mechanisms of Life Skill Development and
Life Skill Transfer: Interconnections and Distinctions Among Socially Vulnerable
Youth.
Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. 12(3). pp.000-000.
Rodzalan, S. and et.al., 2020. Factors Influencing the Improvement of Students’ Critical
Thinking and Problem-Solving Skill: An Industrial Training
Intervention.
International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET).
15(22). pp.134-145.
Yundayani, A., Kardijan, D. and Apriliani, R.D., 2020. THE IMPACT OF PBWORKS
APPLICATION ON VOCATIONAL STUDENTS’COLLABORATIVE WRITING
SKILL.
Jurnal Cakrawala Pendidikan. 39(3). pp.694-704
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