PUBH6000 Report: Analyzing Gender, Depression, and Intervention Levels

This report examines the prevalence and determinants of depression, particularly among young Australians aged 12-25, with a focus on gender disparities and human rights issues. It explores various social factors contributing to depression, including financial instability, social discrimination, and lack of social status. The report then investigates interventions to prevent and treat depression, including psychotherapy (cognitive, behavioral, dialectical behavior, psychodynamic, and interpersonal therapies) and the application of the socio-ecological model. The socio-ecological model is used to identify the influence of individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of public health in addressing mental health issues and promoting the overall wellbeing of individuals, especially through targeted interventions and health promotion strategies. The report uses the socio-ecological model to identify primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions for promoting mental health.

Public Health
Student’s Details-
7/26/2019

Executive Summary
Public health is an important aspect of healthcare management. Public health involves
improvement in the health of a specific group or population. There is growing importance of
public health as it aims at protecting and improving health and wellbeing of individuals. There
are various public health initiatives are taken by World Health Organization to keep people safe
and healthy from diseases. However, depression is a common mental disease which can be
dangerous the affected individuals. Therefore, public health is important in overcoming the
depression and reducing a level of depression through various intervention programs. The results
of public health ensure an overall improvement in the mental and physical wellbeing of the
individuals. It also helps in gaining information regarding different illnesses existing in the
people and taking remedial action to remove the same.

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Understanding depression within young Australians......................................................................4
Issue of gender and human rights................................................................................................5
An intervention to prevent depression and promote mental health.................................................5
Psychotherapy..............................................................................................................................6
Socio-ecological model................................................................................................................6
Individual..................................................................................................................................7
Relationship..............................................................................................................................7
Community...............................................................................................................................7
Societal.....................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
Public health is an important aspect of healthcare domain. It refers to improvement or
curing of health of a specific group of population or community at state, national and
international level. Depression is a common and as well as serious illness in which one loses
interest in activities and suffers a feeling of sadness. It is a curable illness and can lead to
emotional and physical problems (Matthew, et al., 2016). However, various measures are taken
for the prevention of depression to promote mental health. In this report, level of depression is
discussed in 12-25 years of young Australians who are suffering from mental illness. The
specific determinants of depression in young Australians in terms of social and gender basis are
discussed. Further, prevention of depression through health promotion intervention is analyzed
along with social-ecological model to identify weather the intervention is primary, secondary and
tertiary intervention in the promotion of mental health.
Understanding depression within young Australians
Almost half of the population of Australia suffers from depression. The depression
affects the people’s lives at personal, economic and social levels. The prevalence of depression
in Australia is 4.1% in Australia. One in 35 people in Australia aging from 4-17 suffer from
massive depression (Morgan, et al., 2012). People usually experience depression at early
adulthood when they enter a new workforce, completing their education or developing new
social networks. Depression is one of the common mental illnesses in young Australians. Young
people typically aging from 17 to 25 years suffer from depression due to poor interpersonal
skills, lack of confidence, negative thinking, and bad relationships with peers and families (Rich,
Byrne, Curryer, Byles, & Loxton, 2013).
The major determinants of depression in young Australians are lack of financial security,
poor lifestyle, food security and lack of treatment access. People living in Australia have less
financial resources which keep them in debt leading to depression (Settipani, et al., 2018). This
includes the factors such as poor academic performance which may lead to depression in people.
Students in Australia are tensed because of higher pressure of attaining good marks in the
examination. They often feel that they would be discriminated if they do not perform in a certain

manner. Thus, this is the major factor affecting the wellbeing of young people. Societal
discrimination in terms of culture, social class and financial capability are the major factors that
can lead to a feeling isolation among the young people which can be a major cause for
depression (Morgan, et al., 2012).
When people are suffering from depression, they feel socially indifferent and often suffer
from social inequality. Reduction in income, employment and lack of social status gives rise to
mental disorder. Apart from this, lack of social class and insufficiency to buy the necessity things
may lead to depression. People in Australia suffer from mental disorder through phases of life
(WHO, 2014). Further, people also suffer from severe health issues particularly depression when
there is reduced social and work status which creates a level of dissatisfaction in the people and
if the situation gets higher it leads to depression into the people. Poverty is also one of the major
social determinants of depression as it has influence on the mental health of the people (Reisner,
Katz-Wise, Gordan, Corliss, & Austin, 2016).
Issue of gender and human rights
Gender disparity is also a major determinant of depression whether it is men or women.
Women suffering from gender inequality at work or society create mental disorder. Therefore
depression in women is considered twice than men. Gender as an important determinant of
mental health influences the position, role, power and status in the society. If there is disparity
among men and women and if they are discriminated in some context, then it has an impact on
the mental wellbeing of the both men and women. It is the fundamental human rights for both
men and women are equally treated. It is not possible to examine the impact of depression on
gender factor without taking into consideration of the gender based discrimination. To evaluate
the differences between men and women, human rights framework plays a vital role in
redressing the mental disorder of people because of these issues. The mental risk factors create
negative impact on the mental health and leads to violation of human rights of the employees
(Cole, 2017).
An intervention to prevent depression and promote mental health
World Health Organization describes that more than 350 million people of all ages get
affected by depression globally and 50% of them are not getting the treatment or adequate care

for the same. Various interventions are undertaken to promote mental health. WHO has
examined that depression can be prevented by psycho-social and community approach (Lakhan
& Ekundayo, 2013). The depression can be treated primarily by incorporating psychotherapy. It
is explained as below:
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a common intervention for treating depression and is also an effective
approach for healing the people suffering from depression. It involves having a conversation in
the room for analyzing the reasons for depression and it helps in learning new skills to cope with
the depression. Psychotherapists are trained in such a manner that they are able to overcome
mental disorder and solve the issues of their personal life (Schimelpfening, 2019). The common
psychotherapies used for depression are as follows:
 Cognitive therapy is used by psychotherapist to convert the negative thoughts into the
positive ones. It helps in understanding the patterns of feeling negative.
 Behavioral therapy helps in changing the behaviors of individuals suffering from
depression and eliminating the unwanted behaviors.
 Dialectical behavior therapy helps in engaging in mindfulness activities in order to reduce
stress and improving the relationships (Schimelpfening, 2019).
 Psychodynamic therapy is used to heal depression that may occur through unresolved
conflicts of the patient. Therefore, this therapy is helpful in bearing the emotions and
making the patients aware of the range of emotions.
 Interpersonal therapy is used for curing the stress arriving from interpersonal interactions
in the past and present.
Socio-ecological model
This model is used for treating depression in individual and integrates the environmental
factors and personal factors including the community, family, school and health agencies. The
application of socio-ecological model in the treatment of depression is a secondary intervention
for promoting the mental health of individuals (Reupert, 2017). This model is Bronfenbrenner’s
model that majorly focuses on the relationship between an individual and environment. The

following are the components of socio0-ecological model that is helpful in preventing the
depression:
Individual
It is the center of the socio-ecological model which identifies the increase and decrease in
the depression in young people. Financial instability, lower educational levels, inadequate
house and malnutrition are the major contributing factors that lead to the depression in 12-25
years of young people. The strategies at this level create the attitude, beliefs and improvement in
education and also life training skills.
Relationship
This component describes the relationship that the individual is having with the social
environment. It includes the parents, peers, sibling and social-circles with which they have close
connection. The prevention strategies can be used as family focused programs to reduce conflicts
and which can be helpful in maintain healthy relationships with the people with whom they have
immediate interactions (Oriol, et al., 2017).
Community
This involves the schools, colleges, neighborhoods and the community in which the
individual is living which can lead to the determination of depression into young people. The
social and physical environment has influence on the wellbeing of the individual. Therefore,
reduction in the social isolation, improvement in the economic status and housing opportunities
in neighborhood will improve the interaction of different communities and can ultimately help in
preventing the depression of the people by reducing the community related influences. Apart
from this, improving the process and the condition of workplace can be a helpful intervention.
Societal
It includes the societal norms and culture of a specific group of people. An individual
may suffer from mental disorder due to the influence of cultural and norms in case when the
person is not in favor of that culture. In order to prevent the condition, there should be social
inequalities to create a fair and healthy environment (Rishel, 2015).

Conclusion
In the end, it can be said that public health is crucial for keeping an individual free from
the illnesses. One of the major mental illnesses is considered as depression. Depression can cause
serious harm to the mental wellbeing of the individual which can be identified through loss of
interest, continuous sadness and emotional breakdown. Therefore various intervention programs
are run by World Health Organization to promote mental wellbeing and prevent the depression.
The report discusses the issue of depression prevalent in the 12-25 years age of people living in
Australia. The report examines the current prevalence of depression within this range of
population. Along with this various social factors that lead to depression are determined along
with the discussion of gender and human rights. Further, intervention is discussed for promoting
the mental wellbeing of the young Australians primarily through psychotherapy and secondly by
the use of socio-ecological model that can prevent depression and promotes the mental
wellbeing.

References
Cole, M. (2017). Education, equality and human rights: issues of gender,'race', sexuality,
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Lakhan, R., & Ekundayo, O. T. (2013). Application of the ecological framework in depression:
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Matthew, T., Danese, A., Wertz, J., Odgers, C., Ambler, A., Moffitt, T., & Arseneault, L. (2016).
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Morgan, V., Waterreus, A., Jablensky, A., Mackinnnon, A., McGrath, J., Carr, V., . . . Saw, S.
(2012). People living with psychotic illness 2010: the second Australian national survey
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Violent relationships at the social-ecological level: A multi-mediation model to predict
adolescent victimization by peers, bullying and depression in early and late adolescence.
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Reisner, S., Katz-Wise, S., Gordan, A., Corliss, H., & Austin, S. (2016). Social epidemiology of
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Reupert, A. (2017). A socio-ecological framework for mental health and well-being. Advances in
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Rich, J., Byrne, J., Curryer, C., Byles, J., & Loxton, D. (2013). Prevalence and correlates of
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