NURSING 6: SDG Reflection on Public Health in Australia - Depression

This assignment is a comprehensive reflection on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of public health, specifically focusing on the issue of depression in Australia. The student identifies Australia as the chosen country, highlighting its multicultural diversity and the prevalence of depression as a significant public health concern. The assignment connects depression to SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), explaining their relevance. It then details two successful public health programs implemented in Australia: the 'Think Mental Health' campaign and the headspace program, outlining their key success factors. The importance of global partnerships is emphasized, with the United Nations, the Australian Government Department of Health, and NSW health services identified as crucial partners. Finally, the assignment analyzes barriers and enabling factors for achieving the identified SDGs, specifically in relation to depression, considering government initiatives and existing inequalities.

Running head: NURSING
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Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

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Answer 1:
Australia has been chosen as the country and the public health issue of depression has
been chosen for the task. The rationale for selecting Australia as one of the country is that it is a
multi-cultural country and this country could provide great scope to learn about barriers and
enabling factors related to a public health issue. Migrants are the major part of the cultural
diversity and evaluating outcome of any public health issue in this group would help to
determine whether health equity is maintained in the country or not (Australian Human Rights
Commission, 2015). In additional, the rationale for choosing depression as the public health issue
is that it is currently a major public health issue in Australia that is leading to higher disability
rates and increased reporting of anxiety and depression. In the year 2014-2015, about 4.8 million
people were found to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety (Parliament of Australia,
2019).
Answer 2:
The issue of depression in Australia relates with the sustainable development goal (SDG)
3 of good health and SDG 10 related to well-being and reduced inequality. The SDG 3 of good
health and well-being is related to the issue of depression because it is a type of mental disorder
and this SDG prioritizes reducing non-communicable disease by 2030 through the prevention
and promotion of mental health and well-being. Thus, taking action against identifying people at
risk of depression and treating patients with a diagnosis of depression can be a way to promote
mental health. The SDG 10 focuses on reducing inequality by promoting socioeconomic
inclusion, eliminating discriminatory laws and safely and facility responsible migration and
mobility of patient. As Australia is a country with diverse migrant population and high risk of

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inequality, the chosen is linked to this SDG (United Nations, 2015). Thus, by prioritizing
promotion of mental health and by focusing on inequality aspects in community, it is possible to
control and prevent the mental health issue of depression too.
Answer 3.
The Australian government has been successful in implementing many public health
programs to prevent depression or raise awareness about depression. The first program is ‘Think
Mental Health’ campaign which was implemented in Western Australia. The aim of this
campaign was to assist the Western Australian community to reduce risk of suicide by
connecting them with the best information and services for their location. The program focused
on promoting mental health, de-stigmatising mental problems and assisting people to navigate
between the range of mental health services. The campaign mainly targeted men aged 25 to 54
years. The key success factors for the success of the program was it created a platform for people
to talk about mental health issues thus addressing stigma related to mental health issues and it
increased options of services for people who have mental illness or alcohol related issues. The
campaign was successful in improving public’s access to professional advice and seeking any
other information to deal with depressive thoughts and suicide ideation (Government of Western
Australia, 2018).
The second successful program is the headspace program that aimed to address the issue
of mental illness like depression in youths by promoting mental health literacy, reducing stigma
and encouraging young people to seek more information on health issues. It provided support
through educational campaigns as well as online support through headspace app. The success
element of this program was that it gave youths the opportunity to gain early support by using

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holistic approach to well-being. It was successful in creating a space that was comfortable and
accessible for young people. Youths were attracted to the programs as it created youth friendly
spaces and established centres for early and preventive interventions. By the establishment of
several headspace hub, this programs increased the likelihood of local dialogue related to the
health issue (Burns & Birrell, 2014).
Answer 4
Global partnership is important for any public health programs as it can lead to
collaborative quality improvement initiatives and participation of authentic local, national and
international participants in addressing the target health issue. Another advantage is that by
partnership at global and national level, it can be possible to identify and advocate for
international best practice related to management of any specific public health issue (Marquez &
Saxena, 2016).
With respect to the chosen issue of depression in Australia, 3 key partners who can come
together include the United Nations, the Australian Government Department of health and the
NSW health services. These three partners are necessary as they together can identify
international targets for reducing depression and plan appropriate preventive efforts as per the
availability of local resources and workforce in Australia. The United Nations Expert Group
meeting can help to meed the SDG goal of promoting mental health by promoting international
recognition of the issue at the global level. Moreover, the Australian government can contribute
to developing appropriate policies, funding initiatives, reviewing existing programs and funding
research into the issue of depression. The Australian government can also accelerate actions on
controlling depression by consulting relevant stakeholders and improving existing mental health

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programs and services. As many patients with depression are at risk of suicide, they can work to
implement national suicide initiative and expanding national headspace network (Australian
Government, 2020). In addition, NSW services in local region can facilitate implementating
appropriate primary and counselling support services for depression and suicide. The
participation of NSW services in efforts to prevent depression can also involve implementation
of 24-hour crisis support telephone services, critical response services for indigenous groups and
emergency calls across all Australia’s states and local territories (NSW Government, 2020).
Hence, through the collaboration of the above stakeholders, it will be possible to get funds as
well as policy related support to implement useful services for the management of people with
depression issues.
Answer 5
The first SDG that was identified in relation to the management of depression included
the good health and well-being. This goal targeted reducing mortality from non-communicable
disease by promotion of mental health and well-being by 2030. It involved achieving universal
health coverage and increasing access to safe and affordable services for all (United Nations,
2015). In relation to depression, the above goal means increased access to mental health services.
The enabling factors linked to the achievement of this goal are the increase in Australian
government’s initiative to reduce the gap associated with depression. The arrangement of various
funds and research by the Australian government is an element that shows it may act as
facilitators in achieving the above goals. However, the barriers to achieving the above goal may
include lack of program acceptability, poor motivation towards changes among stakeholders and
poor prioritization of mental health at lower levels (Wakida et al., 2017).

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The second SDG identified for the topic of depression was reducing inequality within and
amom countries. The targets under this SDG included reducing socioeconomic gaps, eliminating
discriminatory policies and eliminating discriminatory laws. The enabler of the above goal is the
increase in Australian government’s effort to strengthen mental health and well-being of
Aboriginal people. However, the barrier to the above goal is the lack of overarching framework
of guidelines and policy for providing mental health assessment. There is great criticism
surrounding current programs and services because of failure to provide culturally appropriate
care (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). Hence, long-term evaluation of such
programs are needed to enhance the credibility of the services in eliminating inequality related to
mental health

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References:
Australian Government (2020). Mental health. Retrieved from:
https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/mental-health
Australian Human Rights Commission (2015). Face the facts: Cultural Diversity. Retrieved
from: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/face-facts-cultural-diversity
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014). Effective strategies to strengthen the mental
health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Retrieved from:
https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/6d50a4d2-d4da-4c53-8aeb-9ec22b856dc5/ctgc-ip12-
4nov2014.pdf.aspx?inline=true
Burns, J., & Birrell, E. (2014). Enhancing early engagement with mental health services by
young people. Psychology research and behavior management, 7, 303–312.
https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S49151
Government of Western Australia (2018). Campaign to improve mental health targets
commuters. Retrieved from:
https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2018/10/Campaign-to-
improve-mental-health-targets-commuters.aspx
Marquez, P. V., & Saxena, S. (2016). Making Mental Health a Global Priority. Cerebrum : the
Dana forum on brain science, 2016, cer-10-16.
NSW Government (2020). Mental health services and support contact list. Retrieved from:
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/services/Pages/support-contact-list.aspx

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Parliament of Australia (2019). Mental health in Australia: a quick guide. Retrieved from:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/
Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1819/Quick_Guides/MentalHealth
United Nations (2015). #Envision2030: 17 goals to transform the world for persons with
disabilities. Retrieved from:
https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html
Wakida, E. K., Akena, D., Okello, E. S., Kinengyere, A., Kamoga, R., Mindra, A., ... & Talib, Z.
M. (2017). Barriers and facilitators to the integration of mental health services into
primary health care: a systematic review protocol. Systematic reviews, 6(1), 171.