Objectives that Affect the Community
The Healthy People 2020 Mental Health and Mental Disorders section includes two aspects that affect many individuals in my community. The first issue involves adolescent eating disorders, while the second relates to depression.
Reason for Choosing the Objectives
MHMD-3 aims to reduce the proportion of adolescents that engage in disordered eating behavior in an attempt to control their weight. In this instance, the research involves observations on adolescents who engage in disordered eating between grades 9-12 (Healthy People 2020, 2021a). Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in the US, necessitating interventions by healthcare organizations. Obesity puts children and adolescents at risk for poor health as the rates as very high. The information provided in Health People 2020 demonstrates childhood obesity rates between 2003 and 2013. It is important to note that most groups from 9th to 12th grade have exhibited a tendency for obesity (Healthy People 2020, 2021a). The most significant increase is observed in Hispanic adolescents as they demonstrate higher rates of increasing body weight than their white and black American compatriots. However, all the groups still demonstrate growth, indicating a problem for the adolescent populations in the US.
Healthy People 2020 also illustrated another problem in my community, labeled MHMD-12. The government provides statistics on a study illustrating the increase in the proportion of homeless adults with mental health problems that receive mental health services. The chosen group for this paper includes individuals aged more than 18 years (Healthy People 2020, 2021b). After the 2009 financial crisis, a large number of people were evicted from their homes, with some having to live on the street. These individuals have high amounts of stress and anxiety but cannot access the necessary healthcare due to financial reasons. However, in the recent past, US Medicaid has provided these services to a growing number of mental health patients. This is a positive activity as it would enable such people to seek gainful employment and contribute to the economy, further alleviating the number of homeless adults with mental health issues in the community.
Helping the Community
Adolescent with eating disorders needs counseling to give them a better self-image. These individuals develop these problems primarily due to low self-esteem and a distorted self-image. They should be taught to seek healthy alternatives if they want to lose weight rather than starving themselves and using laxatives. Developing a positive and healthy eating habits would prevent them from eating fast food constantly and focus on monitoring their eating habits, factors that would help them lose weight.
Furthermore, as a nurse, I would provide homeless individuals with good information to access healthcare systems. The provision of extra medical institutions would enable more depressed individuals to gain access to these systems. I would also give homeless individuals recommendations to respected mental health experts to provide them with such services. Finally, I would offer these people free clinical care to help them cope with issues such as anxiety that may contribute to depression.
References
Healthy People 2020. (2021). MHMD-3 Reduce the proportion of adolescents who engage in disordered eating behaviors in an attempt to control their weight. Web.
Healthy People 2020. (2021). MHMD-12 Increase the proportion of homeless adults with mental health problems who receive mental health services. Web.