NURS3524 (D) - Week 1
Mental Health
Week 1 Part 1
Objectives
1. Describe mental health and mental illness
2. Discuss the influence of culture on mental health and illness
3. Examine key concepts related to mental care
0. recovery, resilience, emotional intelligence, social determinants of health, cultural
competence, cultural safety
2. Examine the impact of stigma on illness recovery
WHO Definition of Mental Health
● Mental health is:
o Not just an absence of mental disorder or disability
o A state of well-being in which every individual realizes [their] own potential and
can…
▪ Cope with the normal stresses of life
▪ Work productively and fruitfully
▪ Contribute to [their] community
● Lifelong process that includes a sense of harmony and balance in the individual, family,
friends, and community (Fountaine, 2009)
● Poor mental health =/= mental illness
● Emotional distress and psychosocial impairment can contribute to poor mental health
● Not static, fluctuate over a person’s life
● Cope with or adjust to changes in situations
Mental Illness - Defining Characteristics
● “...characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior (or a combination),
and impaired functioning over an extended period of time. The symptoms vary from
mild to severe depedning on the type, the individual, the family, and socio-economic
environment”
o Public Health Agency of Canda
, Key Concept - Culture
● Commonly
● Understood
● Learned
● Traditions and
● Unconcious
● Rules of
● Engagement
● Culture is an aggregate construct which is a reflection of/consists of:
o Multiple identities at an individual level (values, beliefs, rituals, practices)
o Interactions at a group level (communication)
o Assumptions/policies/politics at a system level
▪ (what is provided/offered by the system) - value for
autonomy/individualism/choice
Worldviews
● Influences beliefs, views, thinking, decisions, the way we communicate and our actions,
and more…
● Influences our beliefs about health, illness, mental illness, how we treat/address health
issues
Mental Illness - Attitude Influence Beliefs About Cause
Attitude Treatment
● Evil ● Punish
Mental Health
Week 1 Part 1
Objectives
1. Describe mental health and mental illness
2. Discuss the influence of culture on mental health and illness
3. Examine key concepts related to mental care
0. recovery, resilience, emotional intelligence, social determinants of health, cultural
competence, cultural safety
2. Examine the impact of stigma on illness recovery
WHO Definition of Mental Health
● Mental health is:
o Not just an absence of mental disorder or disability
o A state of well-being in which every individual realizes [their] own potential and
can…
▪ Cope with the normal stresses of life
▪ Work productively and fruitfully
▪ Contribute to [their] community
● Lifelong process that includes a sense of harmony and balance in the individual, family,
friends, and community (Fountaine, 2009)
● Poor mental health =/= mental illness
● Emotional distress and psychosocial impairment can contribute to poor mental health
● Not static, fluctuate over a person’s life
● Cope with or adjust to changes in situations
Mental Illness - Defining Characteristics
● “...characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior (or a combination),
and impaired functioning over an extended period of time. The symptoms vary from
mild to severe depedning on the type, the individual, the family, and socio-economic
environment”
o Public Health Agency of Canda
, Key Concept - Culture
● Commonly
● Understood
● Learned
● Traditions and
● Unconcious
● Rules of
● Engagement
● Culture is an aggregate construct which is a reflection of/consists of:
o Multiple identities at an individual level (values, beliefs, rituals, practices)
o Interactions at a group level (communication)
o Assumptions/policies/politics at a system level
▪ (what is provided/offered by the system) - value for
autonomy/individualism/choice
Worldviews
● Influences beliefs, views, thinking, decisions, the way we communicate and our actions,
and more…
● Influences our beliefs about health, illness, mental illness, how we treat/address health
issues
Mental Illness - Attitude Influence Beliefs About Cause
Attitude Treatment
● Evil ● Punish
