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Health Promotion Plan

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Course

Instructor

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Health Promotion Plan

Depression is gradually emerging as an important public health problem that has huge

impacts on the wellness and development of young individuals. Consequently, early intervention

and prevention are extremely essential in addressing this issue since untreated depression can

result in permanent consequences, including academic impairments, social disconnection, and

increasing rates of substance abuse and suicide (Benton et al., 2021). This challenge offers a

detailed view into the design of a comprehensive health promotion program that will help to

identify, provide support for, and prevent depression among adolescents. The scheme therefore

aims at creating a safe environment conducive to mental well-being by reducing the stigma

surrounding mental illness and allowing young people to reach out when they need assistance.

Moreover, the scheme combines different evidence-based interventions such as cognitive

behavioral therapy, mindfulness practices, and peer support, thereby facilitating a multiple attack

on the complexities that are involved in treating youth depression.

Plan

The first stage involves conducting a thorough needs assessment aimed at understanding

specific challenges and risk factors contributing to youth depression within the target

community. Information will be obtained from various sources, including surveys, focus groups,

and existing data from local health departments or community organizations for mental health

reasons. Earlier studies have argued for culturally sensitive interventions developed based on an

understanding of the unique sociocultural context present in such settings (Benton et al., 2021).

At the same time, an extensive literature review will be carried out pertaining to existing

evidence-based practices. Gautam et al. (2019) pointed out CBT as an effective treatment

modality for adolescent cases of depression throughout many studies conducted over several
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years. Interpersonal therapy has also shown effectiveness, with a recent randomized control trial

showing significant reductions in depressive symptoms between those receiving IPT and those in

the control group (Zhou et al., 2021).

Based upon these best practices from research and the needs assessment findings, a multi-

component program will be designed that will incorporate the following elements: School-based

screening with validated instruments such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is effective in identifying at-risk youth.

Secondly, they may develop CBT-based workshops for school students that concentrate on

cognitive restructuring, problem solving, and behavioral activation using existing frameworks

like the TADS CBT program. Additionally, adolescent depression can also be treated through

support groups run by mental health experts who have been trained in group therapy techniques.

These groups are beneficial due to the possibility of peer support among patients. This might

include training for school staff and parents using evidence-based programs such as ADAP, or

Families for Depression Awareness Programs (Benton et al., 2021). Throughout this planning

stage, there will be the establishment of measurable objectives and indicators around the AHRQ

Measures of Patient-Centered Care or IHI Triple Aim measures related to access to mental health

services, quality of care, and overall health outcomes for youth in the community.

Activity Details
Needs assessment  Surveys
 Focus Groups
 Existing data from local organizations
Literature Review  Evidence-based practices
 Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
 Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
Multi-component program  School-based screening
 CBT-based workshops for students
 Support groups for adolescents
 Training for school staff and parents
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Measurable indicators/objectives  AHRQ measures of patient-centered care

 IHI triple aim measures

Do

Toward the Do phase, it will start by piloting the program in a chosen school district or

community center. Before rolling it out to a larger population, the pilot implementation will

allow testing and refining of the program. Therefore, involving such stakeholders as youth,

parents, educators, and community leaders is essential at this stage, as their buy-in and feedback

throughout the process are important. Further, several key activities will occur concurrently

during the pilot implementation. First, starting with school-based screening and the early

identification process using the planning phase, identify validated screening tools. By using

methods like social media outreach, educational workshops, and community events,

psychoeducation and awareness campaigns aimed at reducing stigmatization and fostering help-

seeking action can also be carried out (Padmanabhan, 2022). The youth’s skill development

workshops shall therefore commence simultaneously based on evidence-based techniques such

as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness practices. Trained mental health

professionals will facilitate these workshops to equip youths with practical skills for managing

their mental wellbeing.

Training sessions will be provided to teachers, school counselors, and parents so that they

may recognize depression symptoms and provide initial support before referring them

accordingly. Consequently, local mental health providers will enter into partnerships with them,

ensuring a seamless transition between more involved treatment or specialist services for kids

needing assistance of this kind in the future. Over the pilot period, data on various process

measures, including program participation rates, screening rates, and referral rates, among other

things, would be collected throughout the pilot implementation of various process measures.
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Details on assessment scores following depression screenings, along with symptom reports

completed individually by respondents, could also be obtained in order to determine how

effective this initiative has been over time. These results would then inform both the subsequent

study phase and any modifications required for the program.

Study

In the study phase, the information collected during the pilot implementation will

undergo meticulous evaluation to measure the efficacy of the program and suggest areas that can

be improved upon. This analysis will present both a figure-based perspective and a qualitative

method so as to have a better comprehension of what this scheme has achieved. The study will

examine figures such as depression screening scores, program participation rates, and referral

rates and employ appropriate statistical techniques to analyze them. This may involve the

calculation of effect sizes, significance tests, and comparison with benchmarks or control groups

(Garbutt et al., 2022). The analysis will evaluate whether or not the projects were successful in

achieving predetermined objectives and indicators like improving access to mental health

services, enhancing quality of care, and positively impacting overall health outcomes for youth

in the community.

The survey stage further requires that stakeholders closely consider whether this initiative

mirrors evidence-based practices in existence. Researchers as well as subject matter experts will

determine whether or not these programs are being implemented, according to recent research on

youth mental health. Such deviations or adjustments that were made when implementing this

project at its initial stages should be checked thoroughly so as to find out their implications for

its results’ accuracy. This approach will take into account inputs from diverse groups, including

mental health professionals and researchers, among others, at different stages of data collection.
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For example, other than ensuring varied interventions are employed, Garbutt et al. (2022) argue

that this approach enables stakeholders to give their views concerning the refinement process,

especially if it concerns the decision-making process, hence ensuring the credibility of findings

by looking through various lenses, which makes them realizable for improvement purposes.

Act

Accordingly, all deficiencies revealed in the exhaustive research work conducted within

study phase necessitate some modifications aimed at the renewal of the program as a whole. This

repetition will ensure its flexibility when it comes to meeting the community's needs as they

change and keeping up with the latest evidence-based practices. The first action should include

careful examination of both qualitative and quantitative data obtained during pilot

implementation. This information can be summarized into various inputs given by participants,

stakeholders, and subject matter experts, for example, on which areas need to be changed or

adjusted in relation to this program. If research results indicate that some topics covered in

workshops or their presentation methods are less effective in engaging youth, then they should

be modified so that they can work better (Garbutt et al., 2022). In addition, any deviation from

best practice protocols or evidence-based models established in the previous stage must also be

addressed promptly.

A comprehensive plan for scaling up the program to other settings or communities will be

developed after all necessary revisions have been made. Factors considered in this plan include

resource allocation, staffing needs, and potential partnerships with local organizations or

institutions (Garbutt et al., 2022). Moreover, the scale-up plan will incorporate effective

strategies for sustaining community engagement and ongoing stakeholder involvement. As such,

the identification of sustainable funding sources and partnerships is crucial for its long-term
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success. This could mean working together with local health care systems, educational

institutions, and community foundations to acquire financial resources as well as in-kind support.

It would also involve advocacy efforts aimed at influencing policy changes or securing

government funding for mental health programs targeting adolescents.

Conclusion

This program brings together evidence-based practices and engagement with community

members to address the problem of youth depression. The program uses the PDSA cycle to plan,

implement, evaluate, and improve iteratively, thereby offering screening services combined with

psychoeducation trainings, skill training sessions, and peer trainers and mentors services

integrated with mental healthcare providers’ networking under an umbrella approach while

others collaborate with these professionals directly. This focus on prevention efforts within a

framework supporting early intervention, reducing stigma associated with mental illness among

youth, and continuous quality improvement makes it a viable option for promoting mental

wellness among adolescents that comes up frequently in many circles involving practitioners

working in this field globally.

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References

Benton, T. D., Boyd, R. C., & Njoroge, W. F. (2021). Addressing the global crisis of child and

adolescent mental health. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(11), 1108–1110.

Garbutt, J., Dodd, S., Rook, S., Graham, S., Wang, R., Sterkel, R., & Plax, K. (2022). Improving

follow-up for adolescents with depression in primary care. Pediatrics, 149(6),

e2021051107.

Gautam, M., Tripathi, A., Deshmukh, D., & Gaur, M. (2020). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for

depression. Indian journal of psychiatry, 62 (Suppl. 2), S223–S229.

Padmanabhan, S. (2022). Psychoeducational intervention for the mental health of college

students. Sci Front, 3(1), 17.

Zhou, Y., Arend, J., Mufson, L., & Gunlicks-Stoessel, M. (2021). Change in dysfunctional

attitudes and attachment in interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed

adolescents. Psychotherapy Research, 31(2), 258–266.