Analysis Of Target Group Needs: Underpinning Knowledge Questions Assessment 1 Answer

ANALYSIS OF TARGET GROUP NEEDS

1. Identify Community services organisations that currently address the needs of the target group you have selected.

The community services organisations which address the needs of the individuals belonging to the target group of 4 -17 years are The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), Grow, BeyondBlue, Black Dog Institute and so on

2. List at least 2 opportunities for collaboration and service partnerships when developing a program for service delivery

Two opportunities are: 

• Facilitating productive conversion which can engage participants and understand the services under the consideration for collaboration

Highlighting of the partners in public and private non-profit partnerships which can be efficient and effective

3. Undertake research to determine a problem or gap in service provision; or unmet needs of that particular target group of individuals.

Research suggests that there is an utmost need for up-skilling and training for the mental health practitioners and mental health workers in order to improve the broader community service for the people below 17 years struggling with poor mental health

4. Research any existing program models and evidence-based interventions that could be used to address any identified gap, unmet needs in service provision that you have found through your research.

There are already multiple mental health support training programs which can be improved in order to bridge the aforementioned gap. Training programs such as Certificate IV in Mental Health, Diploma of Mental Health and others can deem beneficial

5. From your research, you will need to develop a service delivery program plan that includes the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the program to address the identified gap in services to meet unmet needs relating to the target group. 

As prior research suggested that the existing infrastructure are not adequate for the addressing of the needs of the target group, a mandatory training program for every licensed mental healthcare workers and practitioners will help with effective counselling of the victims.

CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS

6. Include in your report the strategies you would use to consult and engage the target group in the analysis of service needs:

a. List at least 1 engagement and consultation strategy for an individual from the target group 

Mental healthcare workers can conduct face to face interviews with an individual in order to understand the issues and suggest actions to overcome the barrier the young individual is facing

b. List at least 1 engagement and consultation strategy for a group of 10 people from the target group 

In order to engage and consult a group of 10 people from the target group, the mental health workers can visit schools to promote positive mental health and ask them to share if they are mentally depressed in order to overcome such mental state. 

c. List at least 2 barriers to engagement and consultation with the target group 

Two crucial barriers to engagement and consultation are:  

• The stigma associated with mental illness often makes the young individuals more reluctant towards seeking help from any mental health worker 

Limited availability of mental healthcare service workers is also another barrier

d. List at least 2 barriers to engagement and consultation with community service organisation and how these barriers might be addressed

Stigma and lack of awareness about community service organisation are critical barriers and they can be addressed by ensuring more mental health awareness from the community or social welfare groups as well as the Australian government. 

e. List the stages of the program planning that should include service user engagement 

The stages of the program planning are i. Identification of the objectives or requirements, ii. Identification of the stakeholders which may be involved, iii. Development of strategy or plan which includes service user engagement, iv. Procurement of funding

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

7. Planning this program includes the development of the following:

a. List the Target group and location (Urban, rural or regional) of the group you have selected 

The target group is aged between 4 and 17 years, hence preschooler, child, as well as adolescent, are the target group. The location of these individuals is in both urban as well as rural Australia. 

b. List of any multifaceted needs e.g. Mental health issues, Alcohol and other drug issues, CALD background, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or Age.

According to statistics published by the AIHW or Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the common and prevalent disorders among the target group are Depression, Anxiety disorder, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Conduct disorder 

c. Identified issues, problems, gap area and/or groups unmet needs; 

As previously stated, the most prevalent issues are Depression, Anxiety disorder, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Conduct disorder and their unmet needs are with the lack of proper or effective counselling as the majority of the parents of the target group has indicated that their needs related to counselling were unmet. 

d. List internal and external stakeholders in the community services organisation you have identified that currently address the needs of the target group you have selected. 

The internal stakeholders in the community service organisation are Director of Public Health, Public Health Management Analyst, Trustees, Director of Programmes and Services. Whereas the external stakeholders are Local Authority/council, Providers, Service users, Funders, Wider public health workforce and others.

e. Describe any new potential partnerships that might be needed to contribute to the planned program delivery

There is scope for potential partnerships which will contribute to the planned program delivery, community service organisations can partner with government agencies looking after public mental health welfare or international bodies such as WHO can benefit the programmes

f. Estimate the budget for the program  

According to a government report, in 2016 the National Mental Health Commission stated that the cost of mental ill-health was AU$4,000 or overall AU$60 billion for Australia. Hence, the budget estimation for the program should be somewhat similar to this financial number

g. Describe the program purpose (outcomes) and program objectives (outputs) of this program

The purpose of this program is to address the gap related to mental health counselling among the young people and the objective is to effectively address this issue to achieve success in Australia

h. Identify two potential sources of funding and any key performance indicators that need to be met as part of the funding source e.g. most government funding requires key performance indications to be listed in program planning. 

Two potential sources for funding would be AIHW or Australian Institute of Health & Welfare and DSS or Department of Social Services. The Key Performance Indicators are related to experts availability, infrastructure, efficiency as well as the responsiveness of the program 

i. List all tasks (developed from objectives) with a timeline for their completion and allocate tasks to match roles amongst internal and external stakeholders.

8. Attach to the report examples of relevant community service organisational procedures including:

a. Example of a community services complaints and/or grievance procedure 

Example from a community healthcare service organisation demonstrates that the complaint grievance process first should acknowledge the issue, then the actions to fix the issue should be communicated. Following which there should be a sincere apology.

Example of Complaint and Grievance Policy 

b. Example of a Client Service Agreement outlining the client rights and responsibilities 

This example has identified that the client’s rights and responsibilities require to respecting the client, keeping the client informed, paying for the service obtained

Example of Client’s Rights and Responsibilities Policy

c. Example of policy and procedures related to consumer engagement or participation

The policy and procedure related to consumer engagement needs the provide to partner with their consumers and mechanism to enhance the engagement requires shared decision making, referral and community services, compliment and complaint management system and so on

Example of Consumer Engagement Policy and Procedure

d. List in the report relevant codes, best practice standards and relevant legislation that applies to community service work.

. According to the Australian Community Workers Association guidelines following are the practice standards: Ethical Practice, Provision of service and supports, Confidentiality in the workplace, Diversity, Professional development. The relevant legislation is the Children and Young People Act 2008

e. Determine human, financial and physical resources required and explore how you might meet resource needs 

Human Resources are the healthcare workers or mental health practitioners, financial resources requirements are related to the infrastructural development, salaries and physical resources are healthcare equipment. 

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING

9. During the implementation and monitoring stages of the program discuss the following issues:

a. What issues might impact the success of your program or ability to meet program objectives

Issues such as unavailability of the required funding for the program will jeopardise the attainment of the program objectives as the required infrastructure will not be procured. Moreover, the issue with the training of the mental healthcare workers will also impact the success of the program 

b. How might you go about identifying training gaps (information / knowledge, skills) in your human resources in terms of what is required to implement program delivery?

The training gaps related to the knowledge or skills among the Human Resource involved within this program can be identified through proper evaluation session by the coaches or the trainers. Furthermore, field review of the Human Resources will also help with the assessment of them and will identify the area of improvements or the gaps

c. Describe ways of interacting or communicating with service users during monitoring to assess any of their changing needs, complaints, grievances and feedback?

The interactions or the communications with the service users during the monitoring process can be conducted through face to face interviews, through telephone sessions or through a digital written medium such as the email in order to assess their changing needs or their complaints 

EVALUATION

10. The success of the program will be evaluated based on the following key points:

a) What methods will you use to evaluate the success, progress/outcomes of your program/activity? 

The success or the progress of the program can be evaluated by relying on the data about the process as well as by conducting a pre-post study to understand the improvements. Therefore, constant or continuous monitoring of the program will be required to acquire the data from the program as they will be studied in order to evaluate the program progress. In other words, proper documentation of the program will be required 

b) What will you do if feedback or changing requirements recommend modification of program?

If the feedback or changing requirements recommends certain modification to the program to help the target group, the requirements for the facilitation of those changes or recommendations will be reviewed first. Based on the understanding of the requirements the required resources will be procured and required changes will be made to the program 

c) List three (3) reasons for maintaining accurate program documentation.

Three reasons for the maintenance of accurate program documentation are: 

• Accurate documentation helps the team to remember the goals or objectives of the program 
• Improves the efficiency of the team as the goals or objectives are clear for every individual 
• Ability to measure the progress or achievement is another crucial requirement