Mental Health Case Study: Risk, Concerns, and Interventions

This assignment presents an analysis of a mental health case study, focusing on a client named Lucinda. The assignment begins by identifying an urgent risk area, specifically the thought of self-harm, supported by literature and the case study details, including a prenatal depression scale score. A nursing intervention, involving a therapeutic relationship and suicidal risk assessment, is proposed to address this risk. The assignment then identifies mental health concerns, such as excessive worry and anxiety, supported by research. A psychological education intervention, involving the patient's family and cognitive activities, is suggested to address these concerns. Finally, the assignment discusses two legal, ethical, or professional issues a nurse/midwife must consider: maintaining patient confidentiality and ensuring the safety of the child, referencing relevant legislation. The assignment demonstrates an understanding of risk assessment, intervention strategies, and ethical considerations in mental health nursing.

Promoting Mental Health & Wellbeing 1
Student name:
Student number:
Question Answers – Ensure each answer contains
relevant literature and relates back to the case
study.
1a) Using the same case study you used
in the first part of this assessment, the
Analysis of a Case Study, identify
an urgent risk area. Ensure your answer
details why you have identified this risk
area including specific information
about the client and support your risk
assessment with evidence from the
current literature.
By analysing the case study of Lucinda, the
urgent risk that has been identified is the
thought of self-harm. It is identified as the risk
area because it mainly occurs in the patient
suffering from depression or can even lead to
suicide (Kellezi & Boswor, 2016).
It is identified as the urgent risk area after
analysing the score of Prenatal Depression
Scale which is 12, which indicates that the
patient is at the risk of getting into depression.
(Gong et al., 2015). The risk factor which can
be considered to be responsible for depression
into patient is her fear of additional
responsibility.

1b) Identify one nursing / midwifery
intervention you would undertake
directly with your client to address the
risk area noted in question 1a and include
a rationale for the intervention.
Ensure the intervention includes how,
who and when you would actually carry
out the intervention. Your rationale
should state why you would carry out the
particular intervention. Ensure literature
is included.
1a and 1b – 200 words in total
The intervention will be formulated after
assessing the urgent risk area of Lucinda. The
registered mental health nurse will carry out the
intervention by engaging in a therapeutic
relationship with Lucinda to maintain effective
rapport with her, so that she can share her
feelings with the nurse (Feo et al., 2017). The
nurse will communicate during the session and
provide her coping strategies. Suicidal risk
assessment is also conducted in order to
evaluate the risk of suicide into the patient due
to the prevalence of the self-harm thought
(Bolton, Gunnell & Turecki, 2015). The nurse
should conduct several person-centered
counselling sessions to identify the needs and
the concern of the patient.
2a) Using the same case study you used
in the first part of this assessment, the
Analysis of a Case Study, identify
a mental health concern and use current
evidence from literature to support your
answer.
Considering the case study of the Lucinda, the
major health concern which has been identified
are excessive worry, fear of pregnancy, less
concentration, difficulty in managing the daily
activities, hopelessness, anxiety, helplessness,
demotivated and lonely (Clark, 2018). Apart
from mental health concern, breathing

difficulty has also been identified as the major
health concern. The above listed health
complexities is considered as the major health
concern as it can lead to depression, chronic
pain, insomnia, bowel disease, poor quality of
life and can even lead to suicide (Bharadwaj,
Pai & Suziedelyte, 2017). Hence, immediate
treatment of the identified major health concern
is required to avoid the risk of future harm.
2b) Identify one nursing / midwifery
intervention you would undertake
directly with your client to address the
mental health concern noted in question
2a and include a rationale for the
intervention.
Ensure the interventions include how and
when you would carry out the
intervention. Your rationale should state
why you would carry out the particular
intervention. Ensure literature is included
when you discuss the rationale.
The psychological education should be applied
where the patient's fear is addressed and the
patient is educated by the strategies that can
help in addressing the health concern (Curran
& Standage, 2017). Family of the patient is also
involved in the treatment to deal with
loneliness, helplessness and demotivation
identified in patient. Patient is recommended to
involve in different physical or cognitive
activities that will help to the concentration of
the patient, help her to manage the daily
activities efficiently and also improves
breathing function (McCarthy et al., 2015.

2a and 2b – 200 words in total
Psychosocial interventions are selected because
it focusses on the social complications which
are the major risk factor in the individual
suffering from mental illness.
3) Using the same case study you used in
the first part of this assessment, the
Analysis of a Case Study, use current
literature, identify and discuss (2) two
legal, ethical or professional issues a
nurse /midwife may need to consider
when working with the client in the case
study.
Qu 3 – 100 words in total
The ethical issues that the nurse should
consider while treating the patient is
maintaining the confidentiality of the patient
which is characterized under the privacy act
1988 (Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner, 2019). According to these, all
the details shared by the patient should be kept
confidential and is not shared without consent
of the patient. The other ethical issue that has
been identified is safety of the child as Lucinda
mentioned that she is facing difficulty in taking
care of Emily which can be intervene by
maintaining the therapeutic relationship which
is scheduled under Mental Health Act 2014
(Mental Health Commission, 2019).

References
Bharadwaj, P., Pai, M. M., & Suziedelyte, A. (2017). Mental health stigma. Economics
Letters, 159, 57-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2017.06.028
Bolton, J. M., Gunnell, D., & Turecki, G. (2015). Suicide risk assessment and intervention in
people with mental illness. British Medical Journal, 351, h4978.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h4978
Clark, D. A. (2018). The Anxious Thoughts Workbook: Skills to Overcome the Unwanted
Intrusive Thoughts That Drive Anxiety, Obsessions, and Depression. New Harbinger
Publications. Oakland, California in United States. Retrieved from:
https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=d45NDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT7&dq=Clark,+D.+A.+(2018).
+The+Anxious+Thoughts+Workbook:
+Skills+to+Overcome+the+Unwanted+Intrusive+Thoughts+That+Drive+Anxiety,
+Obsessions,+and+Depression.+New+Harbinger+Publications.
+&ots=iytPStmJ73&sig=dDeWKXvBYiptnMXpscHo9rEsvLw#v=onepage&q=Clark
%2C%20D.%20A.%20(2018).%20The%20Anxious%20Thoughts%20Workbook
%3A%20Skills%20to%20Overcome%20the%20Unwanted%20Intrusive
%20Thoughts%20That%20Drive%20Anxiety%2C%20Obsessions%2C%20and
%20Depression.%20New%20Harbinger%20Publications.&f=false
Curran, T., & Standage, M. (2017). Psychological needs and the quality of student
engagement in physical education: Teachers as key facilitators. Journal of teaching in
physical education, 36(3), 262-276. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2017-0065

Feo, R., Rasmussen, P., Wiechula, R., Conroy, T., & Kitson, A. (2017). Developing effective
and caring nurse-patient relationships. Nursing Standard (2014+), 31(28), 54. doi:
10.7748/ns.2017.e10735
Gong, H., Ni, C., Shen, X., Wu, T., & Jiang, C. (2015). Yoga for prenatal depression: a
systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC psychiatry, 15(1), 14.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0393-1
Kellezi, B., & Bosworth, M. (2016). Mental health, suicidal thoughts and self-harm inside
immigration detention. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2867358
McCarthy, J. F., Bossarte, R. M., Katz, I. R., Thompson, C., Kemp, J., Hannemann, C. M., ...
& Schoenbaum, M. (2015). Predictive modeling and concentration of the risk of
suicide: implications for preventive interventions in the US Department of Veterans
Affairs. American journal of public health, 105(9), 1935-1942.
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302737
Mental Health Commission - Western Australia. (2019). Mental Health Act 2014. [online]
Available at:
https://www.mhc.wa.gov.au/about-us/acts-and-legislative-changes/mental-health-act-
2014/ [Accessed 3 Oct. 2019].
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. (2019). The Privacy Act. [online]
Available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/the-privacy-act/ [Accessed 3 Oct.
2019].