Legal and Ethical Considerations in Mental Health Work

Question 1
 In 100 words (for each) briefly explain the legal and ethical considerations
(international, national, state/ territory and local) for mental health work, and how these
are applied in organisations and individual practice:
o codes of practice
o discrimination
o dignity of risk
o duty of care
o human rights
o informed consent
o mandatory reporting
o practice standards
o privacy, confidentiality and disclosure
o policy frameworks
o records management
o rights and responsibilities of workers, employers and individuals accessing the
service
o specific mental health legislation and its impact on individual workers
o work role boundaries—responsibilities and limitations
o work health and safety

INTRODUCTION
Health care refers to the organised medical care which is offered to people in need. There has been
a tremendous rise in the healthcare services due to the changing health demographics and higher
life expectancy (Okon and Webb, 2014). The organisation which is considered for this report is
Australian health care system which focuses on providing several medical facilities for the customers
like health insurances, hospitals, etc. This report will concentrate on explaining legal and ethical
considerations in international, national and local territory for mental health work. It will explain the
importance of principles of mental health work. The report will provide an over view on the
historical, current and emerging models of understanding mental illness in Australia. It will explain
the evidence based recovery including research and personal recovery experience. The report will
also explain important programs, services and supports available to people with mental illness. The
last part, there will be an attempt to concentrate on strength based approaches and reflective
practices.
MAIN BODY
1. Explain the legal and ethical considerations (international, national, state/ territory and local) for
mental health work
• Codes of practice: Mental health professional need to be accountable which is the part of
legal & ethical consideration for their day to day work. Ethical issues around mental health care &
treatment would be examined includes principles of autonomy, beneficence and justice.
• Discrimination: Mental health professional are mainly required to consider ethical working
such as matter of an equality, togetherness and legal & monetary to those who are suffering with an
issue of the mental incapability (Wehmeyer and Shogren, 2016). Equality legislation is main
consideration here which attempts to encourage equal and fair treatment to all.
• Dignity of risk: This is the concept that helps to outlines how person must have that freedom
as legal and ethical consideration to takes on decision and built choices that will help to expose
themselves to a level of risk. A more sophisticated approach should takes dignity of the risk as a
fundamental principle or practice of the mental care.
• Duty of care: The principle of duty of care states that one must have an obligation to get
away an acts or omission, which could be reasonably foreseen to injure of harm other people. This
means that one must anticipate for own client and takes care to protect coming from harm coming
to them.
• Human rights: In mental health sector, legal & ethical consideration of a human right such as
right to ask, right to treat and right to information are some of the consideration, which play
necessary role in protecting and respecting an individual’s demand of patient in mental care.
• Informed consent: Obtaining informed consent for medical treatment for participation in
medical research and participation in teaching exercises which will patient who is suffering with an
issue of mental inefficiency to occur (Tondora and. et. al., 2014). Consent of a person and family is
required to taken here before any crucial progression.
• Mandatory reporting: In mental care, health care professionals are required to inform family
or neighbour of person who is suffering with critical issues of mental. Mandatory reporting is
necessary to be done using legal and ethical communication channel.

• Practice standards: The practice standard are aimed to: an individual professionals, agencies
and services. The five national professional bodies representing psychiatry, psychology, social work,
nursing and occupational therapy are some of an ethical and legal consideration to be considers
while in mental health care.
• Privacy, confidentiality and disclosure: Privacy and confidentiality are two common used
words (Roberts and Zhang, 2016). Thus, Australian medical association’s code of an ethics needs
medical practitioner’s to maintain patients confidentiality and secrecy. Officer of the privacy
commissioner must do inspection of regulation followed to maintain privacy and also confidentiality.
• Policy frameworks: In this, mental & health care policy act, 1987 which was implemented in
parliament of the Australia to protect and also give out support to service users using supervision
policies (Spaulding-Givens and Lacasse, 2015). These policies are applied using framework with
defined values of an each framework.
• Records management: In mental health care, records are necessary to be kept for every
patient with complete knowledge of their age, supervision and check-up and also foreseen. In this,
ethical consideration such as formal working, truth and fair practice is necessary.
• Rights and responsibilities of workers, employers and individuals accessing service: In mental
health organisation, worker, employer as well as individual are required to supervise the premises
where treatment is being offered to patients and this will be monitored using complete checklist.
This will assure safety of the working environment.
• Specific mental health legislation and its impact on individual workers: In mental health
legislation, mental health & protection act, 2004 there is a restriction on any worker to do informed
working in care premises. This would led workers to do their worker properly and be loyal to mental
services.
• Work role boundaries and its responsibilities and limitations: In mental health care, worker
are to be loyal and prejudice on their respective roles to treat and takes care people as defined in
their profile. They have controlled by their own boundaries. Responsibility is to be loyal and
limitations are incorrect intention to be serve.
Question 2
 In 100 words (for each) briefly explain each of the values and principles in the mental
health sector:
o recovery
o recovery oriented practice
o health promotion and prevention
o holistic approach
o empowerment/ disempowerment
o access and equity
o early intervention
o rights