NMIH208: Comprehensive Report on the NSW Mental Health Act (2007)

This report analyzes the NSW Mental Health Act (2007), exploring the concept of mental health, recovery-oriented practices, and the differences between clinical and personal recovery. It defines recovery-oriented language and its importance, followed by an overview of the Act's purpose, patient rights, and criteria for mental illness. The report then examines least restrictive practices, discussing the risks of seclusion and restraint for both patients and staff, and the meaning of least restrictive care. Finally, it recommends two nursing interventions to promote personal recovery in inpatient or community mental health settings, providing rationales and evidence-based support for each intervention, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and the use of Motivational Interviewing (MI) to enhance patient engagement and promote self-management of their condition.

NMIH208: Assessment 1 Written Report template (suggested structure)
Introduction (max 250 words)
Mental health act is a state of well-being in which an individual tries to know his or her capabilities, can
cope up with his own life, can work efficiently and contribute to his or her society(ccohs.ca, 2019). The
physical and mental health is the result of a complex interplay among the person and the surrounding
factors, which includes a medical and family history of the disorder, genetic causes, lifestyle and health
behaviours, the volume of work stress, the experience of toxins and trauma, coping skills, and many
more(ccohs.ca, 2019). When a person is put under several demands which exceed their resource and
coping abilities, their mental health will be poorly affected. Such as working overtime without any
economy or beneficial profit under challenging circumstances can affect a person’s mental and physical
health severely. According to the mental health act when an individual suffers from a disorder that not
only hampers his/her lifestyle but also of the others near them, then they can be taken to a hospital against
their wishes to treat them. The mental healthcare act (MHA) aims to empower people who are suffering
from mental disorders, and allows them to make their own choices regarding their health, given that they
have proper knowledge for doing so. The MHA includes the analysis and diagnosis of an individuals’
cognitive situation and conducts care and recovery of such individual from his/her mental health
condition. According to the MHA mental illness is defined as a significant condition of intellectual,
attitude, awareness, direction, behaviour, the capability to recognize realism, but does not comprise
mental obstruction which is a disorder of detained or imperfect growth of the cognitive part of the
individual, mainly categorized by sub familiarity of intellect(prsindia.org, 2017).
1. Recovery-Oriented Practice in Mental Health (max 500 words)
What is the difference between ‘clinical recovery’ and ‘personal recovery’ for people with lived
experience of mental illness?
Clinical recovery is a notion which has arisen from the proficiency of mental health specialists and
encompasses of diminishing the indications of the disorder, reestablishing healthy life or can be said
getting back to usual self. In the clinical recovery system, the seriousness of the mental disorder is
analyzed with the help of clinical tools such as Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the
seriousness of the emotional symptoms is analyzed with the help of Calgary Depression Scale (CDS)(Van
et al. 2017). Whereas, a personal recovery system is an approach that has arisen from the proficiency of
people who have experienced some mental disorder. Personal recovery can also be defined as an
individual’s personal, sole practice of altering one’s assertiveness, morals, emotional state, objectives,
talents, and duties. It is a way of living a comforting, optimistic and contributing time, even inside the
confines affected by the disorder. Personal recovery is diverse for every individual; it is hard to define the
standard features of the personal recovery system(Van et al. 2017).
What is recovery-oriented language in mental health?
Recovery is a continuous approach by which people can enhance their health and wellness and live a
healthy, comfortable and a satisfying self-directed life. Recovery often starts when a person initiates
communicating and cooperating with their peers and their healthcare providers to overcome shame and
know their sole skills and capabilities, likings, and livelihood requirements. However, since recovery-
oriented language is sensitive and helps in the enhancement of health, it is necessary to guarantee that the
language selected redirects properly to the patient’s voice, assists in the rehabilitation, and does not
excessively treat the perspective of the specialists(Harris &Felman, 2014). The recovery-oriented
language reflects the other persons’ language. It reflects in a way that how the other person may
comprehend the previous persons speech, writing or thoughts. It delivers a sense of confidence and
possibility for the person(Johnson, 2019). Such as by not speaking “Sam is mentally ill”; it can be said as
“Sam has a mental health condition”. Another example can be, “Sam is paranoid” can be said as “Sam is
facing a lot of fear” or “Sam is concerned that his neighbors want to hurt him” (Wahl, 2017).

Why is recovery-oriented language important for a person’s recovery?
Recovery-oriented language helps in enhancing an honest and respectful relationship that consists of a
healthy communication which helps in constructing trust, enables prosperous therapeutic affiliations, and
inspires collaboration among people who utilize facilities and people who deliver those facilities. Written
language helps in a long-term duration for patients as written reports have a great impact influencing the
parodies and treatment approvals for upcoming facilitators and may support in accessing the lodging and
its amenities. Thus, the individual should be cautious enough while documents are being written and
language being used (Harris &Felman, 2014).
2. NSW Mental Health Act (2007) (max 500 words)
What is the purpose of the Mental Health Act?
 To form central and state board for authorizing and administering the mental health facilities.
 To form various mental health facilities and hospice.
 To administer the management and functioning of these mental health facilities and hospice.
 Management of mentally ill patients who are not capable to take care of themselves and are violent
and dangerous to themselves and surrounding people.
 To safeguard the community from precarious appearances of mentally ill patients.
 To control process of admittance and release of mental disorder patients to the mental health
facilities and hospice either on charitable basis or on demand.
 Protection of the privileges of these detained people.
 Protection of citizens from being detained needlessly.
 Provision of the maintenance fees of mental disorder patients undertaking treatment in such mental
health facilities.
 Providing legal assistance at the public expense to the poor mentally ill convicts(Trivedi, 2009).
 To provide support, therapy and regulate for people with mental disorders
 To promote their care, therapy and regulate through community care centres
 To promote, on a voluntary basis and on a minimal number of occasions, the provision of medical
care to such persons on an unintentional basis
 While defending the civil rights of these people, enabling them to have access to adequate
treatment
 To promote the participation of such individuals and caregivers in suitable care, therapy and
regulate choices.
Who has rights under the Mental Health Act?
The law affirms the concept that all people have the right to equality and non-discrimination, even those
with a mental disorder. Section 21 (1) states that “Every individual with psychiatric disease shall be
regarded in the delivery of all services as equivalent to individuals with physical disease.” Contrary to
these stated values of equality with physical disease, the law took under its purview all the voluntary
enrollment of mentally ill individuals. Many individuals with mental disorders are presumed to be unable
to make choices on their own and are therefore held and handled irrationally and against their own will in
psychiatric hospitals, where they are treated atrociously and unethically. The WHO Quality Rights Project
operates to connect and encourage individuals in mental health facilities and social care homes to enhance
the value of care and promote fundamental rights.
What are the criteria for mental illness under the NSW Mental Health Act 2007?
 An individual is then only a mentally ill patient if the individual has a mental illness, and there are
sensible reasons to believe that the person's care, therapy or monitoring is essential of that disease
because :
o For the safety of the individual from severe damage
o To protect others from severe damage.
 In contemplating whether an individual is a mentally ill patient, it is necessary to take into
consideration the persistent situation of the individual, including any probable change in the situation
of the individual and the probable impacts of such disease (nsw.gov.au, 2015).

3. Least Restrictive Practice (max 500 words)
Why is the use of seclusion and restraint risky – for the consumer?
The concept of restraint is the limitation by physiological or technical means of an individual's liberty of
motion. This refers to the mental health care professional recipient person. Restraint can be chemical,
physiological, mechanical or environmentally friendly. Restraint may pose critical risks, such as
emotional distress, re-trauma, death. Seclusion is described as a person's containment, alone in a space or
region that prevents safe escape. During seclusion, high danger moments for the accident are when
visiting and leaving the seclusion area. Even if restraint and seclusion can avoid an accident to patients
and nurses, a physical disorder with a person can lead in a multitude of accidents to both, and these
accidents could be prevented if there were efficient methods to handle the patient without using them.
This may occur, but it will involve a reform of approach on the portion of clinicians working with angry
clients, as well as changes in the preparation and culture of the employees of the organizations in which
they exercise (sahealth.sa.gov.au, 2019).
Why is the use of seclusion and restraint risky – for staff members?
The concept of restraint is the limitation by physiological or technical means of an individual's liberty of
motion. This refers to the mental health care professional recipient person. Restraint can be chemical,
physiological, mechanical or environmentally friendly. Restraint may pose critical risks, such as
emotional distress, re-trauma, death. Seclusion is described as a person's containment, alone in a space or
region that prevents safe escape. During seclusion, high danger moments for the accident are when
visiting and leaving the seclusion area. Even if restraint and seclusion can avoid an accident to patients
and nurses, a physical disorder with a person can lead in a multitude of accidents to both, and these
accidents could be prevented if there were efficient methods to handle the patient without using them.
This may occur, but it will involve a reform of approach on the portion of clinicians working with angry
clients, as well as changes in the preparation and culture of the employees of the organizations in which
they exercise (sahealth.sa.gov.au, 2019).
What does ‘least restrictive care’ mean in the mental health context?
According to the NSW Mental Health Act 2007 there is a principle that states that the mentally sick and
psychologically disturbed patients should obtain the care and therapy they need in the least restrictive
setting which should be compatible and should be provided with secure and efficient care. In compliance
with this concept, an authorized medical officer of a hospital division or supervisor or representative of a
Local mental health Facility shall offer proper care and therapy.
4. Recommendations (max 500 words)
Describe two (2) nursing interventions that could be used to promote a person’s personal recovery in the
inpatient or community mental health setting. Provide rationales(the aim of the intervention) and
evidence(how do you know it may be effective?) to support your recommendations.
Please note – the interventions must be things that nurses do, not what the organisation does (eg. provide
mandatory training), and referring to another discipline (eg. Social worker, psychologist or GP) is not an
intervention.
Nursing Intervention 1: Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) offers new abilities for clients to handle
unpleasant feelings and reduce relationship tension. In four main fields, DBT relies specifically on
providing therapy abilities. First, awareness relies on enhancing the capacity of an individual to
acknowledge and be active at present. Second, tolerance of pain is aimed at raising the endurance of a
person's adverse emotion rather than attempting to avoid it. Third, regulation of feelings includes
approaches for managing and changing intense feelings that cause issues in the lives of a person. Fourth,
interpersonal efficacy comprises of methods that enable an individual to interact with others assertively,
keep self-respect, and strengthen connections. The DBT is influenced by the theoretical viewpoint of
dialectics, which means maintaining contrasts. The nurse continually deals with the patient to discover
methods to keep two seemingly different opinions at once, supporting equilibrium and preventing black
and white, the all-or-nothing planning types. At the core of DBT's dialectic are adoption and
transformation. DBT implies that efficient therapy must give as much consideration to the behaviour and
knowledge of operators operating with patients as it does to customers, including community abilities

instruction. Thus, provider therapy is an essential component of any DBT program, and therapists
themselves should exercise their abilities. They need to understand the methods of fundamental
behavioural therapy and initiatives for treating DBT.
Nursing Intervention 2: Occupational therapy (OT) seeks at improving wellness and well-being by
allowing involvement in an occupation as in everyday life's tasks, functions and schedules. Occupational
therapists such as nurses recognize that engaging in significant profession can foster excellent mental
health, assist rehabilitation, and help individuals attain personalized results such as being willing to think
for themselves, participate in a job and recreational actions, and engage in the society. Occupational
therapists within the society and in-patient mental health services are a vital component of the
interdisciplinary system (Orentlicher & Precin, 2017). They can also encourage mental health, though,
and promote rehabilitation in a variety of other fields. Occupational therapists tackle obstacles to ideal
working through measures aimed at improving current abilities, generating possibilities, encouraging
well-being, remediating or recovering abilities, changing or adjusting the workplace or exercise and
avoiding recurrence. Both occupational psychiatrists and occupational therapy nurses are trained to
provide physical and emotional health and wellbeing, recovery, and treatment-oriented methods. Such
training involves at least one clinical fieldwork expertise in a psychosocial framework. As treatment
procedures have moved their focus from the clinic to the community with an emotional disease, there has
also been a change in service distribution ideology. The medical model has been adhered to in the past;
now the concentrate is on integrating the model of recovery (Castaneda, Olson & Radley, 2013).
Conclusion (max 250 words)
According to the mental health act when an individual suffers from a disorder that not only hampers
his/her lifestyle but also of the others near them, then they can be taken to a hospital against their wishes
to treat them. The mental healthcare act (MHA) aims to empower people who are suffering from mental
disorders, and allows them to make their own choices regarding their health, given that they have proper
knowledge for doing so. In contemplating whether an individual is a mentally ill patient, it is necessary to
take into consideration the persistent situation of the individual, including any probable change in the
situation of the individual and the probable impacts of such disease. According to the NSW Mental Health
Act 2007 patients should obtain the care and therapy they need in the least restrictive setting which should
be compatible and should be provided with secure and efficient care. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)
and Occupational therapy (OT) offers new abilities for clients to handle unpleasant feelings and reduce
relationship tension and also seeks to improve wellness and well-being by allowing involvement in an
occupation as in everyday life's tasks, functions and schedules. As treatment procedures have moved their
focus from the clinic to the community with an emotional disease, there has also been a change in service
distribution ideology. The medical model has been adhered to in the past; now the concentrate is on
integrating the model of recovery (Castaneda, Olson & Radley, 2013).
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