It's the nature of society: assessing the adult mental health education needs in the Lower Hutt community: an exploratory study

Abstract

This study sought to identity and assess the adult mental health education needs in the Lower Hutt community by using the key informant technique. Information was collected through structured individual face-to-face interviews about two populations of people:- Population 1, being adults in the Lower Hutt community and Population 2 being adults within the Lower Hutt community who had a severe and persistent mental illness. Population 2 therefore was a subset of Population 1. The data from both groups was then analyzed individually and then was compared to determine any striking differences between them. The mental health education needs were identified within the context of the community's environment. The economic environment in New Zealand and the lack of community mental health care were two major contextual issues in this study. Looking at both Populations together, community mental health care factors for Population 2 were found to be the most significant problem. Economic problems for both Populations 1 and 2 was found to be the next most significant problem. From these findings it was concluded that a portion of the community was in a survival mode at the present and therefore mental health education needs at first impressions, were not an obvious priority for them. Mental health education programmes however were suggested as a result of these findings and they included budgeting courses, habit cessation courses, coping with change or problem solving courses, depression awareness/management courses, communication skills courses and helping skills courses as well as the usual personal development courses of stress management, self esteem, assertiveness grief and anger management To meet the needs surrounding the service that Hillview provides, which in turn affect the promotion of mental health through education in its widest sense, a number of additional solutions are described to target a client group, improve accessibility and provide a quality service. Also, Model for Targeting Client Groups considered "at risk" for developing mental health problems to receive mental health education was developed. Evidence was found to suggest that rates of mental health problems are related to social class and other measures of economic and social disadvantage. The development of the Model for Targeting Client Groups emphasizes the importance of identifying client groups who need mental health education according to their "at risk" life circumstances. These include severe mental illness status, low socio-economic status, minority ethnic group status and poor social health status.