Introduction
Trauma is one of the common conditions that individuals experience in a society that should be taken seriously due to its impact. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) is a profound public health burden in American society. The condition has various causes and is spread across a large population. Trauma is not age specific and develops among individuals of all ages. There is the need to design a plan that would provide adequate services to the individuals experiencing the condition to reduce its prevalence across society. An analysis of the condition is necessary to ensure sufficient deployment of resources for effective service delivery.
Healthcare Concern
PTSD is a serious issue not only in the American society but across the world. Studies show that there is a high prevalence of individuals suffering from trauma in American society. According to healthcare records, every 6 out of 10 men experience at least one trauma (Veterans Affairs, 2018). In the general population, government statistics show that most people experience multiple incidences of trauma in their lives. For example, records obtained from mental health systems indicate that 34 to 53 percent of people who visit mental healthcare facilities report exposure to child sexual and physical abuse (Veterans Affairs, 2018). Globally, it is stated that approximately 70 percent of the world’s population has been exposed to a traumatic incident in their life, resulting in mental health issues (Veterans Affairs, 2018). These statistics create a picture of how trauma is a critical aspect of American society, prompting the need to establish an effective plan. Management of post-traumatic stress disorder poses a significant public health challenge.
Assumptions
Most people believe that trauma is something simple that they can deal with on a personal level. This perception makes them ignore the signs of the condition and fail to visit mental health facilities to seek healthcare assistance. Most traumatic incidences are linked to events people are shy to talk about, worsening the condition (Bütz, 2020). Most individuals exposed to incidences like sexual violence and harassment question their self-worth and identity. Such doubts makes it challenging for them to seek mental health services as they assume that mental health providers will look down on them. Other people argue that PTSD is a short-term condition that they can deal with personally without the involvement of second or third parties (Bütz, 2020). The long-term impacts of trauma require critical assessment and continuous therapy to prevent individuals from developing adverse conditions like suicidal thoughts or substance use.
Specific Goals
The main goals for the development of a preliminary coordination plan for trauma entail:
- Increasing the effectiveness of identifying and preventing the different triggers of traumatic episodes;
- Enhancing the rate of behavioral predictability;
- Providing opportunities that would be used to assist other people experiencing the condition;
- Developing a support team would make it easy to deal with the issue;
- Providing a platform for collaboration with other healthcare stakeholders to enhance effective healthcare delivery;
- Incorporating programs that would provide movement and sensory opportunities;
- Creating programs that would be used in learning facilities to enable children who have experienced traumatic events to engage effectively with other students;
- Building facilities that would provide psychological services to individuals undergoing PTSD.
Physical Needs
Patients of traumatic conditions need time to be ready to talk about the incidents they are going through. During this time, the patients require space to reflect on their lives, accept the situation and prepare themselves for the treatment journey (Gilmoor et al., 2019). Likewise, those suffering trauma accompanied by physical injuries requires time to heal. Such individuals need physical support from family and mental health specialists to give them the guidance they need during treatment. These people should interact with the patients, listen to their stories, and provide counseling or therapy to enable the quick recovery (Olff et al., 2020). The patients can be advised to eat a balanced diet and drink more water to ensure they get all the necessary nutrients for physical fitness. Through such resources, individuals can engage themselves physically in the program.
Psychosocial Needs
Traumatic patients experience conditions like loneliness, fear, anxiety, depression, grief, self-care issues, low self-esteem, neglect, and lack of confidence. In most cases, the victims of sexual and physical violence lack social and support networks, which makes them live in isolation, increasing the impact of their conditions (Gilmoor et al., 2019). Individuals require effective programs that would enable them to raise their self-esteem and confidence and develop a sense of belonging. The planned treatment should focus on enhancing patient engagement to keep them occupied and busy throughout the treatment process.
Cultural Needs
Individuals experiencing trauma need people they can easily relate with and feel comfortable around for them to speak freely about their situations. Such practices require that mental healthcare providers understand the culture of the clients they are treating. Through cultural intelligence medical practitioners can avoiding making assumptions behind cultural intelligence and having complete awareness of the other person’s culture and beliefs (Gilmoor et al., 2019). Healthcare practitioners can build trust and rapport with clients through such practices.
Available Resources for Care
In the community, resources like mental health facilities are accessible with specialists trained in handling various mental health conditions. The availability of mental health consultants within the locality provides a great resource that people with traumatic conditions should use in cases of mental health issues (Olff et al., 2020). The communities are vast, with rehabilitation facilities that provide adequate services for individuals with traumatic conditions. Most organizations currently have social workers who are specialized in handling different cases of abuse and bullying. Such processes make available resources at the community level that can be deployed to handle similar cases among school-going students and other individuals in society who may not be able to access specialized mental health facilities that can help in the condition. These resources at the community level would play a critical role in reaching out to individuals undergoing trauma, reducing the adverse impacts linked to the condition.
Best Practices
- Building a safe space and environment would enable individuals to deal with their mental health issues.
- Developing creative ways enables individuals suffering from trauma to ease emotional pain and engage the victims in constructive activities.
- Creating a tracking system to avoid thinking about bad experiences.
- Building mental health facilities across all communities and making the services accessible to the public.
- Undertaking programs that increase awareness among the members of the community on the signs, impacts, and available treatment to keep the people enlightened.
Conclusion
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a condition affecting many people in the United States and across the world. The prevalence of PTSD spreads across people of all age groups, increasing the need to establish effective programs that enable society members to manage the condition effectively. Individuals suffering from traumatic conditions have carried needs that should be highly considered when developing mental health facilities and support teams. Due to this reason, stakeholders should evaluate the available resources for dealing with the burden of traumatic patients to initiate effective mechanisms to promote mental health in the community.
References
Bütz, M. R. (2020). Parental alienation and factitious disorder by proxy beyond DSM-5: Interrelated multidimensional diagnoses. Routledge.
Gilmoor, A. R., Adithy, A., & Regeer, B. (2019). The cross-cultural validity of post- traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic stress symptoms in the Indian context: A systematic search and review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10. Web.
Olff, M., Bakker, A., Frewen, P., Aakvaag, H., Ajdukovic, D., Brewer, D., & Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress (GC-TS). (2020). Screening for Consequences of Trauma: An update on the global collaboration on traumatic stress. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. Web.
Veterans Affairs (2018). How common is PTSD in adults? Va.gov. Web.