This is a poster assignment.
The subject Learning Outcomes (SLO) for this assessment covers 5 and 6:
5. Plan evidence-based initiatives that promote mental health, prevent and intervene early in illness, facilitate recovery, and promote wellbeing.
6. Explain how to facilitate the recovery of mental health consumers by focussing on their strengths and wellbeing.

Aim of the Assessment
Students will have the opportunity to develop their creativity and written skills as they create a mental health educational poster that can be used by consumers their carers / family and significant others. The poster will provide educational information that is easy to understand by non-professionals. With the use of non-jargonistic language and some visual information, you will be able to communicate your knowledge and provide education to help promote mental health and recovery of consumers and their carers/family/significant others. You will need the scenario called Mike’s story for both Assessments 2 and 3.

Mike’s story

Mike is a 21-year-old male who presented in Emergency Department (ED) with thoughts of self-harm, agitation and insomnia. He was brought in by his flatmate who
is a student nurse, who had noticed the changes in his mental health. He has not been sleeping well and gained weight over the last two years. Mike has moved
from Melbourne to Sydney to study engineering at university. After two years of working part time in a construction firm, he was given the opportunity to supervise
some of his co-workers. This is a new role and Mike found this to be very challenging, particularly as he is required to supervise a crew. He wants to show his
supervisors that he can do the job. When he arrived in ED, he was agitated, had minimal eye contact, difficult to engage and would only engage with a handful of
the nurses.

Lately, he has been having trouble sleeping. A GP from a medical centre prescribed Temazepam 20mg nocte. He also started taking Phenergan 10mg to help him
sleep. He has previously taken Phenergan for his allergies which he can buy from the chemist without a prescription. He thought this might help with his sleepless
nights. He has been watching shows in his iPad in bed at night, in the hope that it would help him go to sleep. The medications did not help and instead, he stated
that it kept him more awake at night. He started smoking marijuana to help manage his insomnia with very little effect. He stated that he has intermittent sleep and
has not slept properly for 6 days.

He has been supported by his GP and a private psychologist since he was 19 years old, when he was first diagnosed with anxiety. However, since he moved to
Sydney, he has not found a GP in Sydney that he can trust. He continues to be on Fluoxetine 20mg daily but feels that he needs it reviewed because of his low mood.
He voiced that his long-term goal is to cease the medication and ‘this would what make me feel like I have recovered’. He expressed that he is not ready to stop his
medications. Mike admitted that he previously had thoughts of harming himself by crashing his car. This was the reason his GP commenced him on Fluoxetine and
Mike started seeing a psychologist who helped him with his self-harm thoughts which helped him. However, these self-harm thoughts and feelings are starting to
return, and he does not want these thoughts to consume his life again.

He does not have any family in Sydney. He is reluctant to tell his family in Melbourne about the changes in his mental health. They do not know that he is on
medications for his anxiety. He stated that although his family are very supportive, he did not want to burden them with his problems. He knows that his mother
would want him to go back home to Melbourne. He said that going back home would make him feel like he failed. ‘I am an adult and not a child anymore’.
Mike started to feel inadequate, constantly second guessing himself and was irritable at work. He also started to gain weight since he started on Fluoxetine two
years ago. He does not have the time nor the energy to exercise due to work and study. He really wants to lose weight and go back to his ideal weight to play football
again. But he feels unmotivated at the moment due to his mood. He is too scared to go to Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at work and does not want to let his
supervisors know. He does not want to be seen as incompetent at his new role as a supervisor.

Task
You are to create and submit a 400-word A4 poster via Turnitin with a reference list in a separate Word document.

Using the scenario Mike’s story, you will choose a topic to create a poster that will help Mike and his carers/family and significant others to have a better understanding of Mike’s mental ill-health or illness and help the consumer move closer to their recovery.
This poster should be educational, help promote good mental health and easily understood by non-health professionals.
HINT: To help you, think of some topics that you would like to provide Mike and his carers/family/significant others from the scenario (Mike’s story), that would help promote positive mental health and recovery. Think of information that could help with early intervention to prevent mental ill-health or mental illness for Mike. The poster should effectively communicate the key message in an engaging and succinct manner.
Use evidence-based information with a minimum of 5 relevant, current, peer-reviewed academic resources.

Here are some ideas and topics that you many find helpful and would like to use:
What is anxiety?
Antidepressants – information for consumers’ carers/family/significant others
Mental Health Recovery
Preventing Stigma in mental health
Importance/role of carer/family / significant other in mental health recovery.
If there are other topics that you would like to explore and use for your poster that are not in the list, please contact the Subject Coordinator and the Deputy Subject Unit Coordinator for some guidance.

What to include in my poster?
At a minimum students should include:
Student name and student ID
A title that clearly indicates your topic (you can make it catchy)
Significance of topic – You can start by explaining why your topic is important.
Statement about the incidences of the mental health issue/s in Australia.
Explain how your topic can facilitate recovery and promote wellbeing.
Future directions (consider what needs to be done to sustainably support recovery and wellbeing of mental health consumers).
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN MY POSTER?
AT A MINIMUM STUDENTS SHOULD INCLUDE:
1. STUDENT NAME AND STUDENT ID
2. A TITLE THAT CLEARLY INDICATES YOUR TOPIC (YOU CAN MAKE IT CATCHY)
3. SIGNIFICANCE OF TOPIC – YOU CAN START BY EXPLAINING WHY YOUR TOPIC IS IMPORTANT.
4. STATEMENT ABOUT THE INCIDENCES OF THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE/S IN AUSTRALIA.
5. EXPLAIN HOW YOUR TOPIC CAN FACILITATE RECOVERY AND PROMOTE WELLBEING
6. FUTURE DIRECTIONS (CONSIDER WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO SUSTAINABLY SUPPORT RECOVERY AND WELLBEING OF MENTAL HEALTH CONSUMERS)
PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE CASE STUDY SCENERIOS
TIPS
•A POSTER IS A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC.
•USE GRAPHS, TABLES, DIAGRAMS AND IMAGES WHERE APPROPRIATE. USE COLOURS TO ATTRACT ATTENTION AND GIVE YOUR WORK SOME IMPACT.
•ENSURE THAT ALL GRAPHICS AND VISUAL IMAGES ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR TOPIC.
•KEEP IT SIMPLE, CLEAR AND CONCISE. USE LANGUAGE THAT IS ACADEMIC, PROFESSIONAL AND RECOVERY ORIENTATED. AVOID JARGON, ACRONYMS AND STIGMATISING.
•THE POSTER NEEDS TO BE EYE-CATCHING, ATTRACTIVE AND ENGAGING BUT AVOIDS OVERCROWDING OF INFORMATION
•THE POSTER NEEDS TO BE AN A4 PAGE.
•WHAT SOFTWARE TO USE: YOU MAY USE POWERPOINT, WORD, ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR, PHOTOSHOP OR CANVA TO NAME A FEW.