Mental health is one of the most important components of a healthy life, especially when it comes to accessing home care. Because of the taboos surrounding mental health, it often remains invisible among home care services and individuals. Addressing mental health within the services of home care not only increases the quality of home care but also alleviates the stigma surrounding the issue of mental health. This article clearly illustrates the importance of integrating mental health care into home care services. In addition, it highlights the challenges that may arise from this integration, and finally, it explores practical strategies to overcome these issues.
Understanding the Importance of Mental Health in Home Care
The delivery of home care services is designed to support people in their homes where, most often, social care practitioners are working with elderly people who suffer from a chronic condition or disability or who may not have any specific medical issues other than the aging process itself. The fundamental mechanism of home care is addressing the care needs that are related to an individual’s physical health, although it is not incorrect to perceive that mental health is inextricably connected to physical health, and the impact of neglect is likely to result in less than optimal home care.
Key Reasons to Address Mental Health in Home Care:
- Systemic Approach: Mental health is intertwined with physical health and vice versa. When we help one, we should also help the other.
- Better lives: mental health care can contribute to better mental stability, greater life satisfaction, and improved behavior towards caretakers and family.
- Improved Adherence with Treatment Plans: People with mental health support can be better at adhering to treatment plans and getting the most out of their care.
Breaking the Stigma Surrounding Mental Health
However, mental health stigma can influence the reluctance of someone to seek help and obtain vital support from others. Unfortunately, such examples of stigma are ubiquitous in society, especially at home and in other settings that provide care. The stigma needs to be addressed if mental health care is to be truly effective.
1. Understanding Stigma
Stigma is the label attached to a mental illness (or the carrier of the illness) – negative attitudes and behaviors, as well as a lack of understanding, that can lead to isolation and marginalization of individuals with mental health issues. Examples of this in HCW might be refusal to discuss aspects of mental health, misunderstanding of different illnesses, or lack of support for a colleague experiencing mental health issues.
2. Impact of Stigma
- Barriers to seeking help: People may not discuss mental health problems or seek help because they’re afraid of feeling misunderstood or stigmatized.
- Diminished quality of care: hospitalized individuals may receive inadequate care from care staff who are not properly trained or sensitized to mental health problems and may neglect to provide critical aspects of good care.
- Additional emotional distress: Stigma can increase feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression and, by extension and insidiously, worsen mental health.
Integrating Mental Health Care into Home Care Services
To effectively address mental health in-home care, several strategies can be implemented:
1. Training and Education for Caregivers
Mental health carers play an important role in encouraging the elderly to seek support and ensuring better mental health. Training mental health carers and providing them with necessary information can help them better address mental health problems.
- Mental Health Training: Provide training in basic mental health knowledge, symptom awareness of mental health conditions, and communication skills.
- Continuing Education: Offer caregivers an ongoing source of education to keep up with the latest in mental health practices and research.
2. Developing Comprehensive Care Plans
Mental health should be an integral part of the care plan:
- Holistic Assessments: Conduct comprehensive assessments that include mental health evaluations alongside physical health assessments.
- Personalized Care Plans: Design customized plans that address physical and mental healthcare needs, therapeutic interventions, social supports, and lifestyle changes.
3. Fostering Open Communication
Encouraging open communication about mental health can help reduce stigma and improve care:
- Make it Feel Safe: Cultivate an atmosphere where people are comfortable expressing concerns about their mental health without fear of censure.
- Regular Check-In: Set aside regular 15-minute check-ins to visit and discuss emotional well-being. Validate any worries and show genuine concern.
4. Incorporating Mental Health Support Services
Access to specialized mental health services can enhance home care:
- Therapeutic services: Onsite access to mental health professionals (eg, counselors, therapists, or psychologists) for additional support and interventions.
- Community Resources: Connect people to community resources and support groups providing community mental health support or community socialization opportunities.
5. Promoting Self-Care and Coping Strategies
Empowering individuals to manage their mental health through self-care and coping strategies is essential:
- Self-Care: Knowledge of self-care techniques, including mindfulness, relaxation, and healthy lifestyle choices that promote well-being.
- Coping Skills: Teach and encourage the development of coping skills to manage stress, anxiety, and other emotional challenges.
Overcoming Challenges in Addressing Mental Health
To deal with the challenges in dealing with mental health needs in home care provision, one must address how to overcome this dilemma. Below, you will find some information that you can paraphrase into human-sounding text while retaining citations and quotes.
1. Resistance to Discussing Mental Health
Some individuals may resist discussing mental health issues:
- Normalize the Conversation: Embed discussions around mental health into standard care processes to normalize the conversation and make it part of standard care.
- Educate Families: Educate families about the need for mental health and encourage their involvement in tackling mental health issues.
2. Limited Resources and Access
Access to mental health resources may be limited:
- Telehealth Services: Use telehealth services to provide access to mental health professionals and support when needed.
- Partner with organizations: Work with mental health organizations and local resources to expand access to mental health resources.
3. Balancing Care Needs
Balancing mental health care with physical health needs can be challenging:
- Integrated Care Models: Utilise integrated care models, which take account of physical and mental health needs simultaneously for people experiencing both sets of care and treatment needs.
- Care Planning: Prioritise care planning based on a person’s health and well-being needs by naturally balancing physical health with mental health demands.
Case Studies and Success Stories
Here are some snapshots of the beneficial effects of mental health in-home care and the deeper insights that case studies have allowed us to understand.
Case 1: For the 72-year-old woman with a chronic illness who received mental health care in addition to her physical care, the added mental health support allowed her to fundamentally improve her quality of life. After seeing a counselor regularly and after her caregiver underwent training in mental health, she was less anxious about her condition and felt better.
Case study 2: An elderly gentleman, Mr Thompson, aged 85, with a history of dementia, displayed an improvement in mood and engagement after receiving mental health input as an integrated part of more general care. Enhancing engagement with reality orientation activities and occupation therapy led to him, with his consent, helping with the gardening.
Training should be provided for home caregivers to have a better sensitivity to the mental health agenda of the person in care. Mental health needs to form part of a comprehensive and holistic care plan with open and two-way communication between the person in care and the caregiver. Specialized services such as a psychologist or psychological therapist-friendly home care service can also be provided to build the mental health quality of the service offerings. Home care is not only about physical wellness but also about emotional support to give caregivers a breather for self-care.
Getting rid of the stigmas that hinder access to mental healthcare and creating an open, tolerant environment will benefit both individuals and help create a culture of empathy in home care services.
