Mental State Assessment and Care Planning

HLT301,Semester 1, 2019
Assessment Task3Workbook 60 Marks
Description
This task provides you with an opportunity to develop and demonstrate knowledge of processes
associated with assessing a person’s mental state in different health care contexts, and supporting
the person to navigate to a place of recovery.
Assessment Criteria
The workbook responses will be assessed according to the following criteria:
 Use of evidence to interpret and analyse the mental state assessment, including an
assessment of risk
 Interpret and use evidence to plan care to support the mental health needs of the person in
diverse health settings
 Critical appraisal of principles of equity, rights and access
 Information literacy skills: use of sources and citations
 Written presentation including structure, grammar, application of referencing protocol
Harvard
Workbook Format
The workbook contains10questions about mental health assessment, and strategies to work with
people with mental illness. You must adhere to the word limit provided for each response.
Workbook Instructions
 Watch the video titled “Psychiatric Interview for teaching: Depression” that can be found in
the Assessment Folder on Blackboardhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YhpWZCdiZc
 Answer each question in the workbook template using the space provided as they relate to
this video.
 The template is set at 1 ½ line spacing and Calibri font size 11. Do not change the formatting.
 You are required to respond to the questions in your own words. Do not use direct quotes.
 Each question includes a guide for the maximum number of words expected for the
response. Keep within this word limit.
Supporting literature to answer the questions:
For each answer, provide in text citations(references) that demonstrate you have used the most
appropriate source for your response e.g. policy documents, journal article, textbook etc. You must
include at least one citation(reference) for each answer, and you are expected to use a variety of
sources eg textbook, journal articles, credible websites etc.
Reference List:
At the end of the paper you need to provide the full reference details, in alphabetical order, of each
citation(reference) you have used in your responses. You are asked to use the Harvard Referencing
style according to the guide provided by USC.
You will find the guide by going to Portal – USC Community – Academic skills – Referencing.
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The completed workbook assignment will contribute to 40% of your overall grade mark and is due
on FridayMay 31, 2019 (5 pm)
HLT301Assessment Task 2: Workbook 40%
1. Define a mental state assessment and describe why it is a useful tool in understanding
a person’s emotional and cognitive functioning (100 words)
/6 marks
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The mental state assessment is a structural process that helps to analyze the cognitive
and behavioral functioning of the patients upon whom the assessment method is
conducted (Thagard and Larocque 2018). The primary purpose of this mental state
assessment is to conduct a cross sectional analysis of the patient’s mental state so that
their coherent treatment could be conducted. The behavioral functioning of the patient is
conducted through the description of the patient’s general behavior, their attentiveness
and consciousness, their appearance, their attitude, speech, and insightful activities,
whereas, alertness, memory, and reasoning abilities help to determine the cognitive
functioning of the patients (Jeon et al. 2015).
2. Describe Alison’s appearance and behaviour (100 words)
Appearance and behavior are two crucial aspects which the psychiatrists observe while
providing care to the patients involved in the care process (van den Brink et al. 2018). In
the psychiatric interview related assessment, the patient Alison wells, she appeared timid
and miserable. She appeared depressed and was constantly avoiding eye contact. Her hair
was messy and she appeared less interested in the interview session. Her behavior, on
the other hand, was reflecting from her lack of confidence, her lack of gait, and her
inability to make eye contact. Further, it was seen that she is constantly becoming tearful
and constantly picking her nails, that indicates towards her inability to be confident and
made her nervous.
/5 marks
3. Differentiate between mood and affect, and then describe affect as it relates to Alison.
(100 words)
/3 marks
Mood and affect are two primary aspects of mental state assessment method and as
mentioned by both of these are interrelated despite of its differences. Mood is the
sustained and holistic emotion that stays for a prolonged period of time and affects the
perception of the individual suffering from it, whereas, affect is the immediate emotion
that also represents mood (Kaplan et al. 2016). In case of Alison, her facial expressions
and her overall demeanour loudly mentions of her tearfulness, sorrow and frustration of
not being able to fix her life on her own.
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4. Discuss Alison’s speech. (50 words)
/3 marks
Alison’s speech was full of small phrases, long pauses and constant sense of tearfulness
due to which she was unable to frame her words to develop an effective sentence.
Similarly, as mentioned in Northcott et al. (2017), her tearfulness affected her speech due
to which she took time to reply to the questions of the physicians while conduction of the
psychiatric interview process.
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5. What physiological signs or symptoms associated with a depressive episode can you identify
in the interview with Alison? (100 words)
/4 marks
While conducting the mental state assessment process with Alison, a series of symptom
appeared that indicated to the fact that she is suffering from the depression condition. The first
sign and symptom was associated with her improper mood and affect that made her tearful and
nervous. Further, she also mentioned that she lacked concentration and due to this she is
becoming unable to focus on her kids and their concerns that clearly indicate her diversion of
thoughts. Finally, she appeared tensed and fearful of not being able to control her life that
increased her anxiety and stress and hence, as per Jokela et al. (2016), all of these indicate
towards her depression condition.
6. Dr Taylor assesses Alison’s thought. Describe how you think she mightdescribe and document
her findings?(100 words)
/4 marks
Thought process of Alison includes her distorted cognitive thoughts as she started developing
suicidal thoughts and consumed paracetamol or alcohol in high dose. The primary concern of
Alison’s mental and physical health could be associated with her financial condition as due to
her inability to earn adequately, she was unable to focus on her children’s needs and
requirements. Further, due to her affected mood and affect, she was unable to focus on her
relationship with her boyfriend and her relationship was at stake due to which she suffered from
critical mental and physical health conditions (Kopecek et al. 2017).