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Mental Health Program Post COVID Lockdown: Action Plan Proposal Assessment 3A Answer

Assessment 3A (30%): Action Plan Proposal

This assessment builds on your theoretical knowledge and applies that theoretical learning to a practice situation. The assessment consists of two parts: 3A) an Individual written assessment-Action Plan Proposal; and 3B) a Group Presentation. 3A: Individual Written Assessment (Action Plan Proposal) : word count: 1200-1500 words (30%)

You are required to work in small groups of 3-4 during class tutorials, in order to work towards the preparation of an individual action  plan  proposal for a community development project based on the case study option listed below (each student will submit an individual proposal). To complete this task, you must use the provided template.

Work done in tutorials during weeks 1-5 will inform your proposal, but you will also need to do your own individual out-of-class research to inform your proposal, including researching  on capacity building  models and innovative community development  programs relevant to the case study_ You will also need to consult the relevant literature and the community toolbox in order to inform you proposal., 

CASE STUDY

Three schools in the same regional community have identified the need to set up a mental heal program specifically designed to work with students post Covid-19 lockdown. I Students at the three schools 'have reported to teachers that they have been feeling isolated, scared and overwhelmed during lockdown. They have advised that they are also feeling anxious about returning to 'school after three months of online learning from home. The Federal Government has allocated funding for a three-year for schools to assist them in helping to address the issues faced by students. Although the funding will be allocated for a three year period, limited amount, therefore the three Student Wellbeing Coordinators have decided to work together and pool the funds to enable them to provide a more comprehensive service to students within their community. The Coordinators believe that by combining their efforts and the funding, this will allow them to collectively make better decisions about the use of resources such as infrastructure, knowledge and skills. 

Answer

Action Plan Proposal
Project title
Setting up of mental health program for working with students post COVID Lockdown 


Target Group


The age group of students selected for the specific mental health program are 8-12 years, 12-15 years and 15-18 years respectively. 
The selected community is Blacktown City Council which has a population density of approximately 15.59 individuals per hectare ( Profile.id.com.au, 2020). The overall land area covered is 240,013 Km and the total popular is around 3,74451. 
The pandemic situation has transformed the living the living style of mass, including the students as well. It has been observed that while the teaching staffs were very much cooperative during the pandemic situation, it was noticed that lacking of computer related skillsets and perception of increasing work load restricted the students from delivering better performance while adjusting to the conceptualisation of distance education (Lee, 2020). Due to social distancing and lack of communication with peers, students have become bored, tensed, anxious, aggressive and frustrated (Talevi et al. 2020). The fear of the academic career getting hampered is taking a toll on their mental health. Students who lack educational expertise suffered the cost. They were unable to clear all their queries online and isolation have affected their mental health status as well 
In accordance to the pandemic situation, the locality is still experiencing hazards. Issues related to transportation, availability of essential products and services are still not fluent as before. It is not possible for the students to get all the access of their educational needs in this kind of situation. 
Mental anxiety is affecting the academic performance of students. However, the black town council has been successful in helping the individuals suffering from COVID. While the medical assistance is effective and timely, there is lack of mental assistance for the students. In this context, setting up of a mental health program is essential for alleviating the issues. 

Funding available

The total funding allocated for the specific project by the federal government is $40000 every year for a span of 3 years. Therefore, the total funding for the project accounts for $120000. For increasing the funding, the coordinators of student well being will be working together for pooling funds which could be included alongside the financial assistance provided by the federal government. 
Rationale and Background




Overall purpose / Rationale and relevance

Aim of Project
The project is needed as the mental health program will probe for both mental and physical well being of the students and get them accustomed better with the distance education aspect (Salari et al. 2020). Furthermore, the program will assist in raising awareness regarding the steps that needs to be followed for avoiding anxiety, depression or boredom. Counselling facilities shall be provided to students who are already suffering from mental illness. In case, the students are not recovering from counselling, medicines shall be prescribed by the therapists or psychiatrist (Wang et al. 2020). If the students stay mentally fit, automatically their educational pursuit will not be hampered. 
The main aim of the project is to improve the mental well being of students so that the students can provide an improved academic performance. 


Outcomes / Impact


Upon completion of the project, the students of the school community will have the following impact
To express their concerns about any symptoms of anxiety, stress or depression openly 
To self-monitor their mental health and seek medical assistance if there are any symptoms
To spread awareness about the need of maintaining mental well being amongst other students 
To get better accustomed with the concept of distance education until the situation is totally stable 
To increase virtual communication for staying connected in the period of social distancing. 
Approach


Implementation




Activities and Strategies


The implementation strategy can be achieved through effective scheduling and policy Implementation. For maximising the mental well being of individuals, primarily the physical and societal environment in which the students are residing will be analysed in details. Intersectoral collaboration shall be prioritised so that the advantages can be attained from the educational programs and mental health policies simultaneously. The implementation strategy will mainly be influenced through volunteers, medical practitioners and students itself.  A regulatory body will be monitoring the proceedings of the project. A module will be circulated amongst the students and orientation sessions shall be held at regular intervals for increasing awareness amongst the students. Upon identification of the issues, medical and counselling measures shall be proposed. 
For working with the young people, the project will mainly be considering online and social media sessions to raise awareness. Likewise, the urgency of mental well being will be expressed through the orientation sessions. Online interaction sessions can be arranged where the students can freely express their concerns to the medical practitioners and other concerned individuals (Husky, Kovess-Masfety & Swendsen, 2020)
For addressing the mental health, counselling sessions shall be held with the students (Felton et al. 2020). The counselling sessions shall be held through Zoom communication. Depending on the severity, practitioners will decide whether few more sessions or medicinal advices are needed. 
For challenging the stigma, the practitioners will apply techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy so that students can freely express their concerns. 

Project timeline


The total duration allotted for this specific project is 36 months. 
1st month – the makers will look to include more volunteers, students and medical practitioners to click start the project. 
2- 6 month- mental awareness programs shall be promoted through social media platforms. Online interactive sessions shall be held for sharing concerns. 
6-12 months- Along with spreading of mental awareness through orientation sessions, counselling sessions shall be provided. 
12- 24 months- the performance shall be evaluated and the ratio of mental well being amongst the students shall be measured. Depending on the success rate more volunteers, practitioners and therapists shall be included within the program 
24-36 months- More changes shall be included for improving student mental health satisfaction. More investments shall be made on marketing for increasing awareness. The number of counselling sessions will be increased by including more practitioners and therapists. 
Milestone 
1st month- to hire industry best practitioners, therapist and willing volunteers
2- 6 month – enhance online presence and create the urgency amongst students for mental wellbeing. 
6-12 month – effective counselling sessions with the help of CBT therapy 
12-24 month – to provide maximum mental health assistance to students with improved success ratio 
24-36 month – improve the quality of mental health service by proposing changes. 


Stakeholders
The key stakeholders involved in the project are medical practitioners, therapists, community volunteers, federal government and students’ coordinators. 
The federal government will be providing the funding for setting the mental health program initially. 
The community volunteers will be providing the needful assistance in spreading awareness and setting up the infrastructure of mental health program. 
The medical practitioners and therapists will be taking care of arranging counselling and orientation sessions. The medical practitioners in particular will be suggesting any key medicines for treating severe mental complications (Felton et al. 2020)
The student coordinators will take active participation in arranging the extra funding needed for setting up the mental health program properly. 
The other key stakeholders who will get benefits from the project are school authorities and students itself. The mental health program will help the students to improve their academic performance by alleviating issues related to mental health. Improved results will improve the reputation of school authorities and ensure a successful academic career ahead for students. 
The basic rights concerning the stakeholders shall be protected in regards to registration and transferring of ownership.  The shareholding of the investors shall be recorded and a special register shall be included for keeping account of all personal information.  The data included in the register shall be encrypted. 
Budget
The total budget allotted for the specific project is  $120000 . 
For all the needful details of the costs involved refer to Annexure A of project Budget. 
Project management and implementation


The marketing personnel will be taking care of the awareness programs in social media and other forms of online platform. 
The therapists will take active participation in providing specialised counselling to the students. The medical practitioners shall be suggesting any medicinal treatments if the situation is severe. The software engineer shall be maintaining all the technicalities for carrying out the project successfully. The school coordinators shall be working together for arranging additional funding. The community volunteers will assist in building up the infrastructure of the mental health program 








Monitoring and Evaluation



Outcome
Method
Who will conduct it
Stage of project
Enhancing social interaction 
Participation in events and interactive sessions 
Students and staffs 
Through out and post the completion of project 

Strengthening awareness for mental well being 
Social media campaigning and orientation classes
Medical practitioners and marketers
Throughout the project phase

To participate voluntarily in counselling sessions 
Application of Cognitive behavioral therapy 
Therapist 
Throughout the project phase and post completion as well 

Sustainability
Sustainability is to be discussed in the group presentation

Annex A:

Budget Expenditure

Item

Details

Cost

Total
Art Therapist
1 x 2-hour session weekly
$100 per session x 40 sessions
                           $4,000
Medical practitioner 
1x 3-hour sessions weekly 
$150 per session x 40 sessions 
                            $6000
Software engineer 
4-hour session 3 to 4 times in a week 
$100 per session x 100
                           $10000
Marketing personnel 
5-hour session every alternative day 
$ 50 x 200 sessions 
                           $10000
Marketing expenditure
Social media, newspaper, television 

                           $60000
Software packages 
MIS software, performance review software 

                           $20000
Miscellaneous 
Additional overheads 

                          $10000

Annex B:  Timeline


Quarters (3 month blocks)
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Key Activities

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Hiring Art Therapist





















Hiring marketing personnel










Hiring software engineer 











Hiring voluntary committee members 










Hiring medical practitioners 










Hiring staffs 










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