Student's Name Course number and title Date

Student’s Name Course number and title Date. Health Promotion Plan.

[Audio] The health promotion plan focuses on improving the health of adolescents in Montana community who are faced with the menace of mental illnesses. In essence, mental issues such as depression, anxiety, psychosis, schizophrenia affect the health, quality of life, and productivity of several adolescents in the Montana region (NAMI, 2021). This is one of the States in the U.S. that is adversely impacted by mental health issues hence the need to incorporate a plan to help improve the mental health and overall well-being of individuals in the community. Face-to-face educational session will be conducted in which 15 adolescents will be involved..

[Audio] The objectives of Healthy People 2030 seek to improve the well-being and health of individuals between 2020 and 2030 (Healthy People, n.d.). The objectives can also help in tracking progress toward realization of the Healthy People vision. Mental health is one of the areas of concern of Healthy People 2030 (Healthy People, n.d.). In essence, to reduce cases of mental illnesses and improve the mental well-being of adolescents in the Montana community, the educational session sought to overcome the obstacles that deter access to mental health support and care. The adolescents were educated on the significance of engaging in healthy behaviors and avoiding those that predispose them to mental health issues such as binge drinking, smoking, and drug and substance abuse. All the participants agreed to change their behaviors to help improve their mental well-being..

[Audio] Another area of focus during the educational session involved understanding the rate of access to health insurance to help understand the ability of individuals in the Montana community to access affordable mental health services. Out of the 15 adolescents who took part in the educational session, only seven of them confirmed that their families have health insurance. The participants were educated on the vital role played by health insurance in minimizing healthcare costs and ensuring affordability of mental health services among individuals from low-income families (Duong et al., 2021). All the participants were in agreement and argued that they would strive to access health insurance. Through this, there will be increased access to mental health services..

[Audio] One of the changes that would be made is to increase the number of individuals involved in the educational session. When a high number of people from the community engage in the session, they would most likely share the information learned with several other people within the community, thereby increasing mental health awareness. Another change would be to collaborate with mental health experts, especially those within the Montana community who understand the mental health needs of the population. The professional can provide guidance on better strategies to incorporate to enhance realization of objectives of Healthy People 2030 (Duong et al., 2021)..

[Audio] One of the goals that was reached at in collaboration with the participants is provision of incentives for the population to give their views on mental health issues by conducting a short survey. The survey was successful as the incentive motivated many people to engage in the process. One of the issues raised was the stigma associated with mental health illnesses that makes it challenging for affected individuals in the Montana community to seek help. The individuals were educated on ways of destigmatizing mental health issues such as talking openly about mental health, being conscious of their language, as well as showing compassion for people with mental illness (Lindow et al., 2020)..

[Audio] Another issue raised from the session was inadequate mental health personnel and infrastructure. Within the rural Montana community, individuals may be forced to travel long distances to access mental health services due to insufficient number of facilities that offer healthcare services for people with mental health disorder (NAMI, 2021). The participants were encouraged to improve their self-care such as through engaging in regular exercise, eating healthy diets, and having good sleep patterns. This will reduce the number of those who seek professional mental care services (Ali et al., 2019)..

[Audio] Another goal involved creating awareness about mental health issues. The participants were educated on the warning signs and symptoms of mental issues and illnesses. When individuals are taught about the potential causes, symptoms, as well as treatments for mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and bipolar, they can discuss the issues with others in a supportive way (Ali et al., 2019). Some of the warning signs consist of mood changes, antisocial behavior, and change in sleep patterns. The last goal involved fostering adolescent mental and emotional health. In this aspect, the participants were encouraged to connect with others and share their problems with other people. These goals were successfully realized..

[Audio] Based on 2020 statistics, the total adult population in Montana is 850,123 (NAMI, 2021). From this population, 9,351 individuals have schizophrenia, while 19,553 people have severe bipolar disorder. Moreover, 35.1% of the adults have been reported to have symptoms of depression or anxiety (NAMI, 2021). In essence, 17.9% of these people could not get counseling or therapy. Also, 10,000 of Montanans aged between 12 and 17 years suffer from depression (NAMI, 2021). Considerately, 573,811 individuals living within the Montana community cannot access adequate mental health personnel. 8.3% of the population also lack health insurance hence many people may not access the required mental health care due to costs (NAMI, 2021). These call for a health promotion plan to improve the mental state of adolescents in the community..

[Audio] Mental illnesses bring forth various risks to adolescents. For instance, when adolescents are depressed, they are more likely to drop out of school compared to their peers. In addition, mental health issues can lead to increased cases of suicide. In Montana community, suicide among youths aged between 10 years and 14 years is the leading cause of preventable deaths (Federal Communications Commission, 2022). Also, in 2021, 265 people lost their lives in Montana due to suicide (NAMI, 2021). Though the health promotion plan, adolescents within the Montana community will be well informed about mental health issues and advised on the need to seek help when faced with such..

[Audio] In conclusion, for individuals and communities to be productive, they need to have better mental health and overall well-being. However, there may be some barriers to realization of proper mental health services. A health promotion plan can help address the barriers and help ensure improved mental health of the population (Lindow et al., 2020). The health promotion plan in this assessment focused on three goals that were successfully achieved through an educational session. The population was incentivized to provide their views on mental health illnesses. Awareness creation was also vital for the community. Finally, the session fostered mental and emotional health of the population..

References. Ali, M. M., West, K., Teich, J. L., Lynch, S., Mutter, R., & Dubenitz, J. (2019). Utilization of mental health services in educational setting by adolescents in the United States. Journal of School Health, 89(5), 393-401. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12753 Duong, M. T., Bruns, E. J., Lee, K., Cox, S., Coifman, J., Mayworm, A., & Lyon, A. R. (2021). Rates of mental health service utilization by children and adolescents in schools and other common service settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 48, 420-439. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10488-020-01080-9 Federal Communications Commission. (2022, July 20). 988 suicide and Crisis Lifeline. https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline Lindow, J. C., Hughes, J. L., South, C., Minhajuddin, A., Gutierrez, L., Bannister, E., ... & Byerly, M. J. (2020). The youth aware of mental health intervention: impact on help seeking, mental health knowledge, and stigma in US adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 67(1), 101-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.01.006 National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). (2021). Mental health in thoughts of suicide in the last year. - NAMI. https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMI-Media/StateFactSheets/MontanaStateFactSheet.pdf U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy People 2030. https://health.gov/healthypeople.