Adults with Mental Illness and Discharge Planning

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Literature Review3

Concept of Compliance4

Definitions of Terms6

Research Question7

Synthesis of Studies8

Implications of Findings for Clinical Practice11

Conclusion15

References16

Adults with Mental Health and Discharge Planning

Introduction

Mental health is a concept that aims to create stable living conditions and environments that enable individuals to maintain a normal lifestyle and share in the benefits of the state. These efforts include measures to increase the chances of more people living a normal health life with full mental well being and stability. Dankert et al. (2008) describes mental health promotion as promoting positive mental health by increasing psychological well-being, competence and resilience and by increasing supportive living conditions and environments.

Osborn (2001) describes depression as a common mental health disorder that presents with depressive mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feeling of guilt and low self-worth. The lonely society Report for Mental Health Foundation (2010) describes loneliness as a situation experienced by the individual as one where there is an unpleasant or inadmissible lack of quality of certain relationships. This includes situations in which a number of existing relationships is smaller than considered desirable or admissible or situations where the intimacy one wishes for has not been realized. Thus, loneliness is seen to involve the manner in which a person experiences and evaluates his or her isolation and lack of communication with other people. Relationship between nurse and patient can be defined as a continuous process of interaction and communication that would create understanding, honesty, humility and mutual respect.

Research has shown that treatment adherence plays a major role in influencing treatment response for mental health illness. For instance, patients who are compliant with treatment report an improvement in quality of life factors. In particular, medication adherence and attending sessions have been shown to improve a patient's ability to function physically, psychologically, occupationally, and interpersonally (Osborn 2001). However, patients who are in need of mental health treatment and have numerous psychosocial problems frequently have difficulty following treatment recommendations.

For instance, the poor traditionally have a lower educational attainment, fewer people in the labor force, limited access to resources, lack of insurance, higher illiteracy and disability rates, and elevated rates of poverty as compared to people whose income is above the poverty line. This population often has to deal with environmental stressors such as limited financial resources, a limited access to food, and homelessness, which might cause them to appraise their situations as hopeless and view their mental illness as an irreversible loss. Patients who believe they are helpless in the face of illness-related demands also show high levels of emotional distress. This vulnerability places them at a high risk for treatment noncompliance. Research studies indicate that the main reasons for re-hospitalization of the elderly are noncompliance or difficulty in the management of medications, diet, and symptoms. The most common precipitant for mental illness and subsequent hospitalization has been considered to be medication nonadherence (Birchwood & Jackson 2002).

In this research, we will examine the reasons behind hospitalization and medication of adult patients with mental ...