Mental Health Policy Research Paper

Mental health is an essential factor that policymakers need to pass laws that prevent its occurrence. That is because mental health is a vital determinant of overall socio-economic and health development. Also, mental health is a key determinant in community and individual outcomes like better physical health, healthier lifestyles, and improved illness recovery, including productivity and relationship with other people in the society. Therefore, any proposed mental bill should be more focused on improving the community’s mental health conditions and preventing cases of stigmatizing or desegregation of mentally ill patients. The paper will assess a bill proposed in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Hence, the main assessment areas include Bill’s opposition or support based on the policy, ethical and legal considerations, including the Christian worldview. Also, the paper will consider the Act in my State and other state-level documents on the practice, the bill funding, and Bill’s impact on the PMHNP. Mental Health Policy Research Paper

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The Selected Bill

The selected Bill is the 2021 H.R.1368 Mental Health Justice Act, a federal Bill. According to Congress.Gov (n.d), H.R. 1368 aims to create a grant program that local and State governments will use to dispatch and train healthcare providers in responding to healthcare issues. That will prevent instances where law enforcement officers respond to emergencies containing individuals that possess behavioral health requirements. Also, the Bill requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to collaborate with the Department of Justice. However, the Bill gives SAMHSA the authority to cancel the grants, which may increase institutionalization or incarceration. Also, the grantees need to ensure that the funds are used for various purposes like anti-racism training and de-escalation. It will also be essential for the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. The Bill has been pending since its introduction on 25^th February 2021, though on 28^th April 2021, the House referred the Bill to the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security subcommittee. Mental Health Policy Research Paper

The Bill’s Opposition or Support basing it on the Policy, Ethical and Legal Considerations, Including the Christian Worldview

After assessing the effectiveness of the bill H.R.1368, I support it, considering that it puts the healthcare professionals at the forefront of taking adequate care of mental health patients. For instance, the Bill proposes the need for healthcare professionals to respond to behavioral-related issues, unlike when law enforcement officers respond. According to Akther et al. (2019), healthcare professionals are more likely to respond to behavioral-related problems like incarceration better since they know how to evaluate the individuals using the medical perspective. As a result, they will strategically manage to realize the individual’s problem compared to when law enforcement responds to the issue since using the force portrayed when arresting individuals with behavioral problems may further implicate their behaviors. Currently, the criminal justice department has been facing a lot of incarceration cases, leading to prisons and rehabilitation overcrowding. Hence, by engaging healthcare providers in areas that need counseling and medical-related interventions, the criminal justice department will have reduced the issue of higher incarceration rates. Mental Health Policy Research Paper

Ethically, the Mental Health Justice Act reflects one of the nursing ethical principles: The justice principle. According to Peteet (2019), the Justice principle indicates that patients possess the right to impartial and fair trials. Therefore, the justice principle requires observation of fairness when making decisions. Hence, through the healthcare professions being induced into training through the grants that will be provided to the healthcare facilities, the nurses will be trained on the factors to consider when evaluating and attending to individuals with behavioural issues. Hence, if the nurse comes across an individual with any type of behavioural disorders, they will assess their situations easily without subjecting them to social stereotypes to ensure that they attain the right medication and management, especially for mental health issues like bipolar disorders. Mental Health Policy Research Paper

The Mental Health Act is essential since it will prevent mental health patients from being subjected to scenarios that may deprive them of their rights to seek and access healthcare services. For instance, SAMHSA can cancel grants that may increase incarceration rates (Congress.Gov, n.d). That is because incarceration changes the society’s perceptions of an individual while impacting the individuals’ interaction with other society members, thus implication their social lives. Also, through the engagement of healthcare professionals, they will help the law enforcement team identify criminals from those suffering from mental health, thus preventing them from punishing them in a way that will affect their health further. Using the Christianity perspective, the Act will be essential in terms of protecting individuals with mental health issues. Christians believe that all individuals are equal in God’s eyes; thus, having conditions that seem unnatural should never be a ground to judge them (Peteet, 2019)Mental Health Policy Research Paper. Instead, the policymakers should seek more effective ways to help individuals with mental health using godly ways to improve their conditions since they deserve to be treated with humanity and dignity.

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The H.R.1360 Law in Our State

In 2021, the Bill NV SB70, which was aimed at revising the governing mental health provisions in Nevada State, was introduced, which I also support (Billtrack50, n.d). The NV SB70 provides healthcare professionals, patients’ families, or legal guardians with the ability to apply for emergency admission in a mental health facility for patients with alleged mental health issues. Hence, through Bill H.R1360, the nurses in Nevada will have the authority to intervene for mental health patients within the State to prevent them from being subjected to harsh punishments like incarceration when they should be receiving behavioural therapies. Hence, if the patient had committed crimes like violence, the healthcare professional who is aware of their condition can apply for emergency intervention in a mental healthcare facility. That way, it will be easier to identify mental health patients from violent criminals. Mental Health Policy Research Paper

The American Nurses Association Social Policy Statement mainly explains how nurses should interact with society. The statement provides the frames and forms of nursing involvement in care practices while shaping the society using health policies. Hence, through the introduction of the Mental Health Act (2021) and Nevada’s NV SB70, both bills will be essential in ensuring that mental health patients are differentiated from criminals. That is because mental health patients, especially those that experience episodic mood disorders, end up being misunderstood by society, where society believes that they should be incarcerated rather than receive mental healthcare. In such a case, nurses who are also patients’ advocates will be in a better position to ensure that these patients are treated with justice to avoid developing adverse health conditions that may impact society negatively.

Christianity has long advocated for human rights protection to ensure that every human being is treated with value. Hence, since the nurses are patients’ advocates, they should aim to protect their rights by upholding the proposed values of the bills that will benefit the patients. The reason why the Christianity worldview is essential in upholding these two bills is based on the fact that no human is lesser and that despite the condition that one has, they should be treated equally without any bias (Peteet, 2019)Mental Health Policy Research Paper. Such reflection on Christianity worldview aligns with the nursing ethics principles of justice, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and autonomy. That means nurses should treat the patients equally and ensure that no harm occurs to them while ensuring that every action will benefit the patients as they respect the patients’ choices in treatment. Hence, policymakers, nurses, American Nurses Association, and religion advocate for promoting and protecting human rights in healthcare and health.

The Bill Funding

Funding of the Mental Health Act 2021 will depend on the authorized sums within the fiscal year 2022 after the Bill is passed, which will also be effective for subsequent years. In that case, the Health and Human Services secretary will be responsible for awarding grants to political and State subdivisions who shall be responsible for hiring, employing, training, and dispatching mental health professionals that will take over from the law enforcement officers (Congress.Gov, n.d)Mental Health Policy Research Paper. The Human and Health Services Secretary will also be responsible for awarding the grantees additional funds every fiscal year, especially those whose programs will have reduced incarceration rates and usage of force by police for mentally ill patients.

The Bill’s Impact on the PMHNP

The psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) is an essential healthcare provider on issues relating to mental health. That is because the nurse practitioner helps communities, families, and individuals that struggle with mental health needs (Akther et al., 2019). Currently, the world is experiencing a rise in mental health cases, with the United States registering 52.9 million adults in 2020 while only 24.3 million received treatment (National Institute of Mental Health, 2022)Mental Health Policy Research Paper. Of the 24.3 million patients, females seeking mental health care were 51.2 percent compared to males at 37.4 percent. That means, if the Mental Health Act 2021 is passed soon, the PMHNP will manage to receive training and workshops that will help them identify and intervene in mental health cases in different communities and patient populations across the United States. In Nevada State, specifically, the federal Mental Health Act will reinforce the NV SB70 Bill that Nevada passed to ensure that mental health patients would be taken the appropriate care by the healthcare providers and legal families when caught up in a law enforcement cases. Also, healthcare organizations will form groups that can receive grants to enable the PMHNP nurses to work closely with the communities to create awareness of mental health issues. As a result, these communities can collaborate with them to prevent high incarceration rates and arrests of people with mental health disorders. Also, by such awareness, the community will be in a better position to know ways to handle mental health patients to prevent them from harming other community members.

Conclusion

The paper has evaluated the federal Mental Health Act 2021, which is still pending in the House since 28^th April 2021. The main of the Bill is to provide grants to healthcare organizations to ensure that the healthcare trains and dispatches its healthcare providers to ensure that they take over mental health cases. That is unlike the current situation where the law enforcement team arrests people with mental health issues and may end up harming them more. When reflecting on the Bill, it is supported by Christianity, legal, policy, and ethical grounds, which all view the need to ensure that all human beings need to be treated with dignity and humanity no matter their circumstances. Hence, combined with Nevada’s revised Bill on mental health, it is proof that the U.S. government is working towards ensuring that the plight of mentally ill patients is considered at all levels Mental Health Policy Research Paper.

References

Akther, S. F., Molyneaux, E., Stuart, R., Johnson, S., Simpson, A., & Oram, S. (2019). Patients’ experiences of assessment and detention under mental health legislation: systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis. BJPsych Open, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2019.19

Billtrack50 (n.d). NV SB70: Revises provisions governing mental health. https://www.billtrack50.com/BillDetail/1247741

Congress.gov (n.d) H.R.1368 – Mental Health Justice Act of 2021. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1368/text

National Institute of Mental Health (January, 2022). Mental Illness. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness

Peteet, J. R. (2019). Approaching religiously reinforced mental health stigma: A conceptual framework. Psychiatric services, 70(9), 846-848. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900005 Mental Health Policy Research Paper

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Select a House of Representatives or Senate bill (national or state level), either currently in process or one that has been passed within the last year that impacts mental health care operations, advanced practice nursing, or mental health care financing. (Include the name of the bill: e.g., H.R. 4909 (115th): Stop School Violence Act of 2018. Note if the bill is federal or state level legislation and indicate the state, if applicable. Also note if the bill was passed and the date, if in committee [House or Senate], or if awaiting the president’s signature)Mental Health Policy Research Paper.
1. Discuss your support or opposition of the bill based on policy, legal, and ethical considerations, and the Christian worldview.
2. Consider the nursing practice act in your state and other state-level documents pertaining to practice, the Social Policy Statement of the American Nurses Association, and your biblical worldview as you support your viewpoint.
3. Consider funding of the bill and who should pay, if applicable.
4. Discuss how the bill impacts, or will impact, the role of the PMHNP. Discuss the impact on health care quality and outcomes.

I live in Nevada. If I do not agree with viewpoints I will change those areas when I receive paper back, I am not overly concerned with this. Thank you. Mental Health Policy Research Paper