Critical Analysis: Media Article's Use of Mental Health Research Data

This report critically examines how a media article utilizes published research concerning mental health, specifically focusing on the increasing number of young individuals seeking help at Victoria's emergency departments. The analysis identifies the statistical data employed by the media to highlight the rise in mental health-related visits among young people aged 10-19 between 2008 and 2015. It further assesses the message conveyed by the media article, emphasizing the need for early intervention and awareness of mental health issues in young Australians. The report also discusses the limitations of the media's coverage, including the omission of detailed statistical breakdowns, and evaluates the adequacy of the article in providing insights into the original research. The evaluation of the original published research includes its research questions, methods, and results, along with its strengths and limitations. Finally, the report recommends the use of combined secondary and primary data collection methods to minimize limitations and enhance data accuracy in future research.

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MEDIA ARTICLE THAT HAS REPORTED ON QUANTITATIVE PUBLISHED RESEARCH
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Question 1: A Discussion of How the Article in the Media Has Used Published Research.
Information or Data That the Media Article used from the Published Research and why it used it.
The article used statistics in the published research report. This was in a bid to draw
attention on the increased number of young people seeking help on mental health-related issues
at Victoria’s emergency department (Freed, Gafforini, and Carson 2015). The article specifies
that this increase on hospital presentations for mental health issues was majorly among young
people between the ages of 10-19 years in the period ranging from 2008-2015. The article makes
use of this quantitative information from the report to create awareness about mental illness
among young people and the need to seek medical help early.
The Message that The Media Article is Trying to Communicate
From its title the article portrays that it is discussing a social issue about the number of
mental health visits at Victoria emergency department which has grown three times high within
seven years. The article specifies that the study was the first of its kind to be studied in the
Victoria emergency department and it kept track of young people from birth until they turn 19
years. Further the article unveils that mental health among young people in Australia has not
been given serious comprehension by parents and other players in the area of mental health.

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Data/ Information of the Published Research that has not been covered by the Media Article
The media article has left out a lot of information that is in the published report such as;
the article only provides the number of mental presentations to be 52 000, but it does not provide
a breakdown of the percentages that each cause of metal heath illness has contributed to the
figure. Wakefield, Loken, and Hornik (2010) records that mass media tends to generalize
information so that the audience can easily understand it.
Reasons for Exclusion of the Above Information and Whether the Author has Provided any
Justification.
The author did not provide any justification as to why the information was excluded.
The Adequacy of the Article in Providing Insights into the Published Research.
The article has provided adequate insights about the published research. This is through
creating awareness about mental health illness and need for early detection of symptoms and
treatment. Wakefield, Loken, and Hornik (2010) records that mass media plays a major role in
influencing the society, therefore, the article’s insights had a great positive impact on the society.
Question 2: Evaluation of the Original Published Research
The Research Questions
They comprise of three elements which are; to recognize the trends of mental and
physical medical issues presentation by young people in Victoria emergency department.
Secondly, to understand patient’s characteristics related to the presentation. Thirdly, to analyze

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physical and mental issues presentations relative clinical weights. A similar research conducted
in the United States of America revealed that emergency department presentations for
psychological issues from 2006-2011 increased by 21% among young children between the ages
of 10-14 years. Presence of similar studies provides the researcher with a good foundation to
explore the social issue through building on what is already available (Windle 2010).
The Research Methods
The data was obtained from a secondary source which is the examination of Victorian
Emergency minimums Dataset (VEMD) for the period ranging from 2008-2015. The sample
population consisted of young people between the ages of 10-19 years. Use of this research
method posed some limitations which include; data coding quality issues as a result of limited
coding training among clinical officers. Sivakumar et al. (2011) argues that there is need to train
mental health clinicians working in emergency departments in order to enhance efficiency in
service delivery. Secondly, there was unavailability of data from private emergency departments
in Victoria since they are not compelled to supply data to the VEMD. Thirdly, VEMD is limited
to capturing only a single diagnosis per presentation, therefore, if the diagnosis of the mental
condition is presided by the diagnosis of another disease, the mental condition may not be
captured by VEMD.
Yilmaz (2013) argues that the legitimacy and coverage of secondary data may highly
compromise a current research. However, Windle (2010) argues that secondary data is beneficial
in the sense that it enables the researcher to gain access to information that they may not have
had time or resources to gather and explore. The use of secondary data in this study was

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justifiable since the aim and objectives of the study required the researcher to study the
individuals for very long periods of time. This could have been difficult if primary data was to be
used.
The Results
The results concluded that within the seven years’ study period, 52 359 of the 2 763 139
presentations to emergency department in Victoria by minors of age 0-9 years were for mental
health-related issues. In the period ranging from 2014-2015 mental health presentations were at
2.2% which was an increase from 1.7% which was registered in 2008-2009 period. The results
further revealed that 36.4% of caregivers with children between the ages of 4-17 years did not
know the importance of seeking mental health issues assistance for their children. Also 39.6% of
such caregivers did not know where to seek such assistance. This is per a survey that was
conducted by the Australian Children and Adolescent of Mental health and Wellbeing in 2013-
2015. The study report identifies that delayed treatment for young people contribute a lot to
mental illness presentation at the emergency department.
Strengths and Limitations Addressed by the Media Article
The media article presents statistics which highlights how patients with mental issues stay
longer in the emergency departments or even end-up being admitted in hospital unlike those with
physical issues. The issue of caregivers not being able to identify mental health issues in their
children at early age due to limited knowledge and resources has been captured by the media
article as a limitation.

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Question 3: Recommendation
The limitation of the published research can be minimized by using alternative data
collection method. This being a very lengthy study a combination of both secondary and primary
sources of data would be suitable. This would help in enhancing the accuracy of data and in
minimizing the cost of data collection.

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References
Freed, G.L., Gafforini, S. and Carson, N., 2015. Age distribution of emergency department
presentations in Victoria. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 27(2), pp.102-107.
Sivakumar, S., Weiland, T.J., Gerdtz, M.F., Knott, J. and Jelinek, G.A., 2011. Mental health‐
related learning needs of clinicians working in Australian emergency departments: A national
survey of self‐reported confidence and knowledge. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 23(6),
pp.697-711.
Wakefield, M.A., Loken, B. and Hornik, R.C., 2010. Use of mass media campaigns to change
health behavior. The Lancet, 376(9748), pp.1261-1271.
Windle, P.E., 2010. Secondary data analysis: Is it useful and valid?. Journal of PeriAnesthesia
Nursing, 25(5), pp.322-324.
Yilmaz, K., 2013. Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions:
Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of
Education, 48(2), pp.250-325.