Policy Analysis of Mental Health | Study

Running head: POLICY ANALYSIS OF MENTAL HEALTH
POLICY ANALYSIS OF MENTAL HEALTH
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POLICY ANALYSIS OF MENTAL HEALTH
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Introduction:
With the global burden of disease, mental health and disability have emerged as the
major public health concern in Australia that impacted the quality of life of the individuals. In
Australia, one in five individuals aged 16 to 85 years experienced at least one mental health
illness at some point of their existence. In Australia, out of 20% Australian with mental illness
experience a mental illness that reduce their quality of life where 8.5% of them experience more
than 2 to 3 mental illness, indicating a need for developing comprehensive policies that can
address the mental illness and disability (Rosenbaum et al. 2016). The most frequently occurring
mental illnesses amongst Australian include depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress
disorders. This essay aims to provide relevant mental health and disability policies influencing
actions undertaken across in fields of practice in social work, overarching factors and impact on
the caregiver in the following paragraphs.
Discussion:
In Australia, mental health issues are considered as the major mental health issues that
lead to physical and mental disabilities. While a range of policies has been designed by federal,
state and territory government to addressing the issues experienced by the population of
Australia, especially the aboriginal population of Australia (Lawrence et al. 2018). This essay
will analyse three relevant policies following:
1. National mental health policy 2008:
National mental health policy 2008 has been designed by the central government of
Australia in response to the high prevalence of mental health illness in Australia where the vision
was to enable recovery, detection of mental illness and ensure each Australian will receive

POLICY ANALYSIS OF MENTAL HEALTH
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adequate access to the treatment and community for the mental illness (Www1.health.gov.au.
2020). The policy aimed to reduce stigma and impact of illness on population, restoring the
rights of the individuals. DePoy and Gilson (2015), suggested that individuals usually experience
disability due to the perception of society. In this context, it is the responsibility of the social
workers to address the need of the people who are suffering from disability experienced by
society. Therefore, this policy is effective in supporting the wellbeing of the mentally ill patients
as the policy focused on the human rights and responsibility of the patients with mental illness,
mental health promotion, early invention, and access to the right care, participation as well as
inclusion, support to the carers, workforce and quality and outcome (Grace et al. 2017). The
policy acknowledge that certain life stages are highly vulnerable to high risk of mental illness.
These policy directions enable social workers to assess the mental health of the patients who are
experiencing disability due to stigma and perception of society. It enables social workers to be
compassionate and empathetic towards the mental health patients and family members of the
patients as the family often experience high psychological distress and helplessness due to
mental health issues. In conclusion, the policy enables social workers to take an individualistic
and holistic approach to address the need of the mentally ill patients (Grace et al. 2017).
However, Aboriginal individuals of Torres Strait Island experience unique difficulties in terms of
social as well as emotional well-being. The policy has limited services that can address the
mental health issues of the aboriginal population.
Considering the impact on supporting the mentally ill patients and family members of the
patients, the policy is effective in addressing the mental illness of the population. Mentally ill
patients often experience hopelessness, distress, burden and lack of motivation. Therefore, the