Primary Health Care Strategies for Managing Depression and Anxiety

This report examines the application of primary health care strategies in managing depression and anxiety, focusing on a case study of an 18-year-old named Jafari who is experiencing these conditions due to unemployment, financial difficulties, and missing his parents. It discusses the importance of primary health care in providing equal medical attention and addressing social determinants of health. The report details various screening and assessment methods for National Health Priority conditions, including dementia, obesity, arthritis, asthma, diabetes mellitus, injuries, and cardiovascular diseases, highlighting the Hamilton Scale and health questionnaires as appropriate tools for Jafari's case. Furthermore, it explores educational strategies such as health education, workshops, and seminars to empower patients with knowledge about their conditions, promote healthy behaviors, and bridge gaps in healthcare provision. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for culturally sensitive, evidence-based practices in primary health care, considering factors like age, sex, background, and lifestyle choices in the treatment of depression and anxiety.

Running head: PRIMARY HEALTH CARE 1
Primary Health Care
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Introduction
The Australian government has chosen nine areas of healthcare as its priority. The nine
areas receive priority due to their epidemic nature and the high cost of treatment (Booth et al.,
2016). The national executive has devised means of reducing the prevalence of the nine disease
areas. The areas include Dementia, Obesity, musculoskeletal diseases and Arthritis, Asthma,
Diabetes Mellitus, mental illnesses, prevention and control of injuries, cardiovascular diseases
and Cancer (Brownson, Colditz, & Proctor, 2017). The paper discusses Jafari who has developed
depression and anxiety. Jafari's conditions fall under the mental disorders which is part of the
nine National Health Priority (NHP) areas. The patient can take advantage of primary health care
to assist his condition. The primary care ensures that every Australian gets medical attention in
equal measures (Reid, Steel, Wardle, Trubody, & Adams, 2016). The fundamental approach
improves the quality of treatment. Moreover, the primary care provides a solution to the social
determinants of complications (Cheng, & Dunn, 2015). The determinants leading to Jafari's
condition are lack of employment, low finances, and missing his parents.
Screening and Assessment of the National Health Priority Conditions
Testing refers to investigative attempts that examine the presence or absence of a given
medical condition. Assessment is a procedure that discovers a medical condition and investigates
methods of addressing the medical condition. Screening for dementia uses cognitive tools (Garg
et al., 2018). The machine is easy to use and gives accurate results. The brief tools frequently
detect individuals who have early-stage dementia. Cholinesterase is used in treatment at the onset
of the condition (Peters, O’Connor, Giroux, Teasell, & Foley, 2015). The inhibitor delays the
delays the changes of cognitive states. A small section of patients halts the usage of inhibitor due
to its negative impacts. Screening methods unearth hidden symptoms of early dementia.

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The obesity screening is through the measurement of the Body Mass Index (BMI). The
method gauges the normal deviations out of the average BMI (Decoster et al., 2014). During the
screening, the main factors put into consideration are the sex and age of an individual. The test
looks into metabolism results, the living standards of an individual, and minor injuries including
the effects of other aspects of health.
Screening for Arthritis includes the examination of specificity and sensitivity of Legs and
Arms. Additionally, the Spine and Gait also undergo examination (Palmer, Patterson, &
Thompson, 2014). The evaluation of the four body parts is coined to yield a screening tool called
(GALS) assessment. Screening for Asthma starts when the physician requests for the medical
record of the patient. X-ray procedures on the sinus and chest follow. Individuals with breathing
problems should seek medical attention to undergo screening for Asthma.
Diabetes Mellitus screening measures Fasting Plasma Glucose (Hosie et al., 2015). The
amount of plasma glucose that is equal to or exceeds 127 milligrams per deciliter indicates the
onset of diabetes (Hosie et al., 2015). An individual should attend screening procedures more
often before settling for the diagnosis process. The injury screening involves the application of
performance strategies. The examinations check for fractures. The detection looks out for
factors that place an individual at risk of getting an injury.
A few examples of injuries that the method examines include knee ligaments, hamstring
strain, and muscle stress (Hosie et al., 2015). Screening for cardiovascular diseases begins with
the inspection of the medical history of the individual's family. The tests for diabetes and obesity
also check for heart diseases. The physician carries out blood examinations on a regular basis to
check on the c-section levels (Hosie et al., 2015).

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Jafari is suffering from depression and anxiety. The most appropriate tool for screening
him is the Hamilton Scale. On the other hand, the most recommended assessment tool is health
questionnaires. The depression kit enables the physicians to assess and manage the levels of
depression and anxiety.
Depression screening should provide answers to several points. An individual who stays
away from the others is a depressed individual. Insomnia and loose of appetite indicate the onset
of depression and anxiety (Hosie et al., 2015). Depression causes the victims to skim their
regular routines. Moreover, a depressed individual holds suicidal thoughts (Hosie et al., 2015).
Educational strategy for Depression and Anxiety
The case study talks about Jafari who is 18 years old. He is depressed due to his inability
to secure an employment opportunity. Jafari experiences insomnia and indulges in alcoholism
due to the influence of his friends. Additionally, he misses the parents who are far away. He lives
in a compound with noisy boys compounding more to his stress. There are numerous educational
strategies that the physicians and other health stakeholders can use to manage Jafari’s situation.
Health education is essential as it enlightens the boy on the essence of regular meals (Werner-
Seidler, Perry, Calear, Newby, & Christensen, 2017). A depressed individual loses appetite. The
nurses should prescribe vitamin dosage to the victim to bring back their appetite.
Proper education on health enables individuals to follow relies on themselves. The nurses
should encourage Jafari to follow his principles and stop drinking alcohol since the other boys
are taking the drug. Moreover, Jafari should find an economic activity to participate in rather
than depending on the parents. Jafari should switch his focus from formal employment to the
informal sector. An appropriate health exposure enables patients the health risks hence they

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make informed health choices (Stockings et al., 2016). The strategies include workshops, classes,
webinars, seminars, courses, and lectures (Stockings et al., 2016).
Health educational strategies target a specific group of patients. In the scenario, the
exposure focuses Jafari who is depressed. The education assesses the entire community (Wiener,
Weaver, Bell, & Sansom-Daly, 2015). The assessment identifies the resources that the health
facility has in assisting depression patients. The immediate needs of Jafari are employment
opportunities. The administration should offer loan services for unemployed youth to assess
them. If the government makes money available, their depression rate goes down.
The health practitioners should learning outcomes that boosts the patient’s skills and
knowledge. The depressed individuals should leave the learning environment when they know
about the signs and symptoms. Moreover, the depressed individuals should recognize the habits
that they need to quit (Yap, Fowler, Reavley, & Jorm, 2015). The behaviors include smoking of
cigarette and alcohol consumption. The governments should actualize the lessons that the
patients receive. The creation of employment opportunities for youths is the priority. Moreover,
the administration should financially empower the teens to reduce their levels of stress. The
trainers should present their learning objectives through projectors and videos among others.
Health Education helps to bridge the gap and remove the impediments to the provision of
medical attention. Some of the barriers that health education helps to alleviate are the high costs
of care (Yap et al., 2015). The training should advocate for affordable care for all. Moreover, the
exposure should ensure the provision of treatment to all regardless of the ethnicity. Whether the
patient is an Aboriginal, Torres islanders or the native Australian, they should assess care. Some
patients do not know the signs and symptoms of the diseases affecting them. The education
strategies should outline the symptoms of depressions such as insomnia.

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Educational health strategies migrate from the educator (nurse) to the recipients who are
the depression patients. The message has to pass through informational channels. The media of
passage can be through audio or audiovisual means. The first step of the health educational
strategy is the situational analysis (Yap et al., 2015). The educator has to research on the causes
of the depression. In the scenario, depression is as a result of the lack of jobs for the youths.
Additionally, the young generation lacks financial empowerment. Moreover, Jafari misses his
parents who stay with him. Jafari also lives in a noisy environment.
A proper method should look at the symptoms of depression and how to avoid them.
Moreover, the strategy should solve the issues that the clients face in their daily lives. The
educational plan should foster the change in the behaviors of the patients (Higgins, &
O’Sullivan, 2015). After the session, Jafari should quit alcohol drinking since the indulgement is
not a solution to depression. The medical practitioners should persuade the patients to change
their ways of life (Tozer, Khawaja, & Schweitzer, 2018). Telling an individual to stop drinking
alcohol without a conclusive explanation is futile (Higgins, & O’Sullivan, 2015). The nurse must
outline the harmful effects of the excessive consumption of alcohol. Additionally, the nurse
should explain how alcohol consumption increases depression chances.
When outlining the education strategy, the medical practitioners should involve the
influential opinion leaders in the society. The leaders can help to emphasize the need for the
depressed patients to change their ways of living (Higgins, & O’Sullivan, 2015). Moreover, the
stakeholders can recommend the right lifestyle such as consumption of a balanced diet.
Conclusion
Primary health care is essential in improving the quality of treatment by the physicians to
the patients. The care requires the physicians to recognize the health concerns of the varied

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cultural communities around the health facility. Moreover, the health organization should
formulate evidence-based practice methods to look for the solutions to the concerns. The kind of
healthcare provision differs from one community to the other. Diseases are varied in nature, and
so are the remedies. Dealing with a depression patient requires much attention that treating other
non-mental ailments. During primary healthcare, the community should have the view of sex and
age differences.
Before treatment, the health practitioners should understand the background and location
of the patients. Moreover, it is essential to know the family records of the patient. The physician
should recognize the economic and the social engagement of the patient before the
administration of care. The nurse should pose lifestyle questions. The clinicians should seek to
know whether the patients drink alcohol and smoke or otherwise. Alcohol drinking and cigarette
smoking are harmful habits that increase the levels of depression and anxiety. The doctor should
advise the patient to eat a well-balanced diet always. Primary healthcare stands out in service
delivery.

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Appendix
Assessment tools
Depression kit
AMT
ABCDE
AVPU
AUDIT
Screening tools
Hamilton scale
CAGE
TCUDS II