Critically Reflective Blog Entries

This document contains three blog entries that critically reflect on various aspects of mental health care. The first blog discusses mental health care in Australia, highlighting the importance of incorporating lived experiences of patients. The second blog focuses on Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander mental health, emphasizing the need for cultural competence in addressing the unique challenges faced by these populations. The third blog explores the concept of recovery in mental health, advocating for a holistic and strength-based approach to care. These blogs provide valuable insights for social workers and other healthcare professionals.

Running head: CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE BLOG ENTRIES
CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE BLOG ENTRIES
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Blog 1: Mental Health Care in Australia
The first blog reading, which proved to be useful as a foundational guideline in my
learning of mental health disorders is the informative article by Mindframe. Upon reading not
only was I shocked, buy also saddened. Indeed, it is unfortunate to learn about the key
contribution of mental health issues as a leading disease burden, with 45% of Australians
experiencing mental health issues across some time in their lifespan – implying the
contributing of lived experiences, irrespective of being traumatic, in an individual’s mental
health condition (Mindframe, 2019). Hence, according to this data, I could imply that in my
future profession as a social worker, I must learn to incorporate aspects of experiences
encountered by my clients while addressing their health problems. Indeed, as Bland, Renouf
and Tullgren (2009) noted, health practitioners must centralised care plan formulation upon
the lived experiences of patients, requiring engagement of ‘self’ using skills of empathy,
since it has been criticised that others’ experiences may seem insignificant to those who have
not encountered them. Minframe’s data also denotes the highest prevalence of mental health
diseases in young adults aged 18 to 24 years, for mitigation of which I must administered
family centred approaches and holistic care by empathising myself on the importance of
support and empowerment during recovery (Mindframe, 2019). Indeed, as researched by
Hungerford et al., (2014), health professionals must build upon a wellness based holistic care
framework for critical populations like adolescents, children and young adults. I also learned
from the Mindframe’s article on the high susceptibility of mental health disorders across
Australian Aboriginals (Mindframe, 2019). Hence, I must teach myself as a future social
worker, on the skills of cultural competence when addressing such patients. In criticism, such
specialised treatment may seem unfair to some. For example, in my home country,
specialised recognition of mental health needs are not recognised and everyone is provided
equal treatment, without any consideration on their special needs. However, the National

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Mental Health Strategy denotes the need to provide specialised treatment for such problems
due to their unique lifestyle and living conditions (Commonwealth Department of Health &
Aged Care, 2000).
Reference
Bland, R., Renouf, N., & Tullgren, A. (2009). A starting point: Understanding social work in
mental health. In Social work practice in mental health (pp. 3-19). Crow’s Nest NSW:
Allen & Unwin.
Commonwealth Department of Health & Aged Care. (2000). Conceptual framework for
promotion, prevention and early education framework. In Promotion, prevention and
early intervention for mental health – a monograph (pp. 32-47). Mental Health &
Special Programs Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health & Aged Care:
Canberra.
Hungerford, C., Hodgson, D., Clancy, R., Monisse-Redman, M., Bostwick, R., & Jones, T.
(2015). Mental health care in Australia. In Mental health care: An introduction for
health professionals in Australia (2nd ed., pp. 2-49). John Wiley& Sons Australia
Ltd.
Mindframe. (2019). Mental Ill health - Data and statistics - Mindframe. Retrieved from
https://mindframe.org.au/mental-health/data-statistics.

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Blog 2: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Mental Health
The next article which enhanced my leaning on patients with mental health issues and
role of ‘self’ among the concerned social workers, is a video which reflects the plight of
Aboriginal clients with mental health disorders, convicted of crimes and assisted to transition
into community, by the Broken Hill Community Restorative Centre. Upon viewing the video,
I was deeply moved what Aboriginal Australians had to endure, psychologically, emotionally
and socially just because they belonged to a diverse ethnic background varied from
mainstream society. As the video reflected, the Indigenous Australians were more prone to
earlier exposure and conviction to prison as compared to non-Indigenous populations
(YouTube, 2019). Such unfortunate circumstances were also substantiated by Lucashenko
and Kilroy (2005) where it has been estimated that Australian women who were Aboriginal
were overly represented in prison as compared to non-Aboriginal communities, reflecting
clear ignorance of the socioeconomic and historical abuse which could have contributed as
underlying factors. Indeed, as reflected in the video, it was uncovered how almost every
Indigenous individual who were convicted reflected some form of cognitive or psychological
impairment (YouTube, 2019). While such information may fit the stereotypical mindset, in
criticism however, it must be noted that such populations have faced a history of deprivation
and lack appropriate resources and culturally competent services for optimum healthcare,
which may have contributed to such psychosocial problems and victimisation (Shepherd et
al., 2017). Hence, this research emphasises that social workers must train their ‘self’ to be
more open to varied cultures, which is why, I must educate myself on strategies of cultural
competence and cultural sensitives. A key research which has supported by understanding is
the researched by Bailey (2005), who identified that Aboriginals have diverse views on
healthcare and holistic development, which does not comply with mainstream understanding
and must be taken into consideration during deliverance of care.

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References
Bailey, J. (2005). You’re not listening to me! Aboriginal mental health is different – don’t
you understand? 8th National Rural Health Conference, Alice Springs, 10-13 March
2005.
Lucashenko, M., & Kilroy, D. (2005). A black woman & a prison cell: Working with Murri
women in Queensland prisons. South Brisbane: Sisters Inside.
Shepherd, S. M., Ogloff, J. R., Shea, D., Pfeifer, J. E., & Paradies, Y. (2017). Aboriginal
prisoners and cognitive impairment: the impact of dual disadvantage on Social and
Emotional Wellbeing. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 61(4), 385-397.
YouTube. (2019). Mental health issues 'a train to jail' for Indigenous Australians. Retrieved
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=0a549okuBsI&list=PLConT0YpNu3bCODTdtID42tn2gw4Scvq_.

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Blog 3: Recovery in Mental Health
The final blog post which played a key role in my future improvement in professional
practice in terms understanding mental illness and role of ‘self’ among social workers is a
video reflecting an interview with Professor Robert Bland, who specialised in social work
and mental health in the Australian Catholic University. Upon viewing the video, a novel
concept, which I learned was the importance of adoption of a recovery based model in mental
healthcare, which believes that recovery in a patient with mental health issues is far from just
providing diagnostic based services. Indeed, such insights can be substantiated in the video,
as Profession Bland denotes the need to address mental health care from not just a
medicalised perspective but also from the perspectives of the lived experiences of people.
Often however, it is criticised that the recovery model is time consuming and that it fails to
deliver since psychoanalytical medicalised frameworks are able to address mental diseases
from their root causes. Indeed, in my home country, such perspectives are not considered and
medicalised treatment is the accepted norm. However, as noted in the National Mental Health
Strategy, a recovery process has been proven to be beneficial since it allows individuals to
actively take part in their care process by sharing their experiences and being empowered to
view themselves as positive entities, with hopes, dreams and potential (Australian Health
Ministers' Advisory Council, 2019). In criticism, I have experienced situations where patients
refuse to accept the need for treatment and their present mental condition. The recovery
process can be difficult in patients who refuse to acknowledge that they in fact, required help
and display hostility as a result (Newman et al., 2015). However, adopting a family centred
approach, a key characteristic of recovery model, can prove to be beneficial since presence of
familial support can encourage and motivate such individuals towards empowerment.
Additionally, Onken (2015) postulates the incorporation of a strength based framework where
instead of a patient’s weaknesses, his or her strengths are emphasised upon – a key feature

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attributing success in the recovery framework. Hence, as a social worker, I must seek to
engage the individual’s ‘self’ through incorporation of experiences as well as the individual’s
family, for a holistic, strength based mental health recovery.
References
Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council. (2019). A national framework for recovery-
oriented mental health services. Retrieved from
http://www.mhima.org.au/pdfs/Recovery%20Framework%202013_Policy_theory.pdf
Newman, D., O'Reilly, P., Lee, S. H., & Kennedy, C. (2015). Mental health service users'
experiences of mental health care: an integrative literature review. Journal of
psychiatric and mental health nursing, 22(3), 171-182.
Onken, S. (2015). Realising recovery: A strengths Based practice framework. In A. Francis,
P. La Rosa, L. Sankaran & S .P. Rajeev (Eds.), Social work in mental health: Cross
cultural perspectives (pp. 1-17). New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
YouTube. (2019). Guest Room Episode 21 Chat with Prof. Robert Bland. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT28pb8x4Yw&list=PLR6wIVGW5-
b98i1Vj8Iu9kIYnBY9s1u3A&index=5&t=0s.