These notes were brought to you by Kim Carter – Thanks Kim!

• All nurses contribute to mental health promotion & illness prevention in the course of their work with patients, families & communities.

• Is an agenda to prevent unnecessary disease & disability & achieve a better quality of life.
• There are 3 categories: health promotion, health protection & preventive services.
• Health promotion – strategies are tied to lifestyle choices that have powerful impact on the person’s present & future health status. These strategies which are largely the result of individual’s behavior include – physical activity & fitness, nutrition, tobacco, alcohol & other drugs, mental health & disorders, violent & abusive behavior.
• The Healthy People 2000 report has also proposed that a reduction must take place in violent deaths, violence & adverse health effect from stress.
• Health promotion – strategies are related to environmental or regulatory measures that protect large population groups. Examples – are prevention of injuries, occupational safety, reporting of suspected child or elder abuse.
• Preventive services – include counseling, screening & prophylactic interventions within clinical settings. Examples – are interventions to prevent chronic disabling conditions, HIV & STDs.

• This stands for Depression/Awareness, Recognition & Treatment.
• The projects message is to communicate the following:
• Depression is a disorder that when recognized, can be treated.
• Effective medications & psychological treatment exist & may be used in combination.
• Even the most serious forms of depressive disorders respond rapidly to treatment.

• People that are mentally healthy display resilience, freedom, hardiness, androgyny & balance.
• Psychosocial Resilience – is the ability of the person to readily recover from or adjust to difficult, painful situations & events & to mobilize coping resources & strength. An example – would be a child’s ability to "bounce back" quickly from a loss or misfortune.
• Research shows that how people respond to stress & adversity depends on their – protective responses. The protection resides in the ways individuals perceive & deal with life changes & cope with stressful life circumstances.
• Hardiness – is a personality characteristic that has been identified in healthy individuals. It has been proposed that hardiness allows people under high levels of stress to remain healthy & resist illness.
• The three components of hardiness are - Control (of one’s own life), Commitment (feeling your life & activities are of importance) & Challenge (knowing change is normal & obstacles as challenges & opportunities).
• Androgyny – is the interaction & balance of feminine & masculine characteristics in an individual. It allows a person to adapt behavior according to various situations & needs, rather than gender. One study showed that professionals viewed androgynous behavior as more acceptable in female clients than male clients.
• Balance in Life – is something healthy people strive toward – balancing physical, spiritual, emotional & social aspects of life.
• One aspect of a person’s life dominating other aspects can be a detriment to their health.

• There are 3 types – Primary, Secondary & Tertiary.
• Primary prevention – refers to reducing the incidence of disorders, preventing disorders from occurring in the first place. Nurses engage here by – teaching stress management & relaxation techniques etc.
• Secondary prevention – refers to reducing the prevalence or severity of the disorder – which can be accomplished by – screening, early detection or diagnosis, & prompt treatment of mental disorders. Nurses engage here by – screening for s/s of disorder, participate in case management, & help in crisis & health promotion after crisis.
• Tertiary prevention – refers to reducing the severity of disorder & associated disability by means of rehabilitation – this is when mental illness already exists & efforts are toward minimizing or managing symptoms. Nurses engage here by – giving medications, teaching assisting with self-care & relapse prevention.

• Is defined as the "Continuous & comprehensive services necessary for the promotion of optimal mental health, prevention, maintenance & management of mental health.

• Strategies to promote mental health & prevent mental disorder fall into 3 categories – universal, selective & indicated preventive interventions.
• Universal preventive interventions – are targeted at very low risk groups. Example – teaching parenting classes for all new parents.
• Selective preventive interventions – target groups at risk for mental problems. Example – someone mourning the death of a loved one (is a risk for depression).
• Indicated preventive interventions – target those at high risk for a disorder – those who show minimal but detectable signs or a biological marker for a disorder.

• Nurses should practice all those self-care measures they teach their patients! Absolutely!

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