Webquest

Mental Health Issues

Dr. DeMarie

Columbus High School

Introduction:

You are a leading academic expert on mental illness and its effects on society who also suffers from a diagnosable mental illness. You are part of a government task force will evaluate existing policies on mental health issues and make recommendations to revise existing policies or formulate new ones . Your input (in the form of a public policy analysis-PPA) is critical for the formation of a policy to deal more effectively with mental illness. You will select a mental health condition, describe what is known about the causes and treatments for the condition, how it impacts individuals, families, and local and national communities. You will suggest the best ways to manage the condition and to minimize negative impacts on individual quality of life and on our society by focusing on one public policy issue that affects the mentally ill.

In order to communicate your ideas effectively, you need to be well informed about the condition you choose.

Task:

Your study group has an important task to undertake. You must develop a convincing report for high level policy makers concerning your condition and offer realistic ideas for public policies. To achieve this goal your group will use the TIPS Public Policy Analyst steps to develop your policy recommendations. Your recommendations will have to be well researched in order to be convincing – many people, including yourself, depend upon the development of effective public policies to deal with these conditions.

Process

Your group will prepare a public policy analysis (PPA) by:

1. Defining the Problem

2. Gathering Evidence of the extent of the problem

3. Identifying the Causes of the Problem

4. Evaluating the Existing Policies to deal with the Problem

5. Developing New Policies

6. Selecting the Best Policy

1. Select a condition and familiarize yourself with its causes, symptoms, prognosis, and treatments.

2. Prepare a written report that includes the above information on the condition and your assessment of how seriously it impacts society. Your report also must include a policy you have developed to deal with the condition to improve the lives of those with it and improve their functioning so as to benefit our society. Develop a poster that would be useful for a public agency that is trying to educate people about the condition so as to counteract stereotypes and to better cope with the condition.

3. Present your work before the class (oral presentation) and effectively explain and defend your suggested policy. All members of the group must participate for each group member to receive full credit.

Review the steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA). You need to follow these steps and complete all six worksheets in order to develop a rational and potentially effective policy. These steps and worksheets may be viewed at:

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html

Resources:

The following links provide information on specific diseases and newly emergent diseases in general. Feel free to use links within these sites to find more information as well as to utilize other sites out of the many informative websites on the internet relating to mental health issues.

Various mental disorders: www.nimh.hih.gov/

Advocacy and various disorders: www.nami/org/

Depression: www.depression.org

Bipolar disorder: www.bipolar.about.com

Panic disorder and anxiety disorders: www.algy.com/anxiety

Schizophrenia: www.schizophrenia.com

Adolescent mental illness: www.aacap.org/

Mental Illness in Workplace and School: www.bu.edu.sarpsych/jobschool/

Mental Illness in parents: www.couns.uiuc.edu/brochures/parents.htm

History of mental illness in the USA: www.ohiou.edu/~ridges/history.html

Creativity and mental disorder linkage: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031001061055.htm

Evaluation:

Each group will receive a grade which applies to each member. Each group will be graded on their written report, presentation, and poster. The average of these three grades will be the group's (and individuals in that group) project grade.

Rubric: Point values from 1 (poor) to 4 (outstanding) are assigned for each category and then added, and an average is computed for the grade. The criteria for these point grades in each category are explained below.

Written Report:

1 2 3 4

PPA analysis	3 or less PPA steps present	5 or less steps present	All steps present, but one or more weak	All steps accounted for and done well
Research and Content	Minimal research, poor information, minimal or no policy	Some research but very weak information presented to back up policy	Research minimally sufficient to address the problem and the information supports the policy	Solid research which is evidenced by comprehensive information which strongly supports the policy
Grammar and Spelling	More than 10 errors	More than 5 errors	More than 1 error	No errors
Logical Thought and Policy Development	No originality and no or poor logical thought	Minimal originality and some logical thought	Some originality and evidence of logical thought	Originality and logical thought processes are clearly evident

Presentation:

1 2 3 4

Group dynamics	Obvious lack of participation by all group members except one	Two or more group members unable to participate in a meaningful way	One group member fails to contribute meaningfully	All group members participate fully in the presentation
Organization	Weak to none	Fair but lacking in coordination between group members	Good, showing evidence of good prior planning	Superior, shows strong evidence for prior planning and thought
Content	Weak content fails to support policy	Content sufficient to weakly support policy	Content sufficient to support policy but fails to engage other students' interest	Strong content supports policy, engages other students' interest

Poster:

1 2 3 4

Artwork	2 or less colors used, poor originality	3 colors used, fair originality	4 colors used, good originality	5 or more colors used, shows obvious originality
Content and Message	Was not clear	Message understood, but only after explanation by group member	Message and content good	Message and content clear and compelling

New York State Standards:

Science Standards:

S5c Uses evidence from reliable sources to develop descriptions, explanations, and models, and makes appropriate adjustments and improvements

S5d Proposes, recognizes, analyzes, considers, and critiques alternative explanations, and distinguishes between fact and opinion

S5f Works individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas

S8a Demonstrates scientific competence by completing secondary research

S7a Argues from evidence

S7e Communicates in a form suited to the purpose and the audience

ELA Standard

a	Independently and habitually demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.
b	Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

Conclusion:

Mental health conditions are extremely common and are a serious problem for many individuals, their families, and ultimately for society. How society deals with individuals who suffer from mental disorders says a lot about what kind of people we are. Science has made rapid progress in understanding these disorders, but much remains to be learned. Society has been slower in developing new ways of thinking about these conditions and coming up with policies that effectively address this issue in an informed, cost effective, and compassionate way. By studying this issue students gain information and develop improved policies to deal with mental illness. In so doing students better understand the interactions between science and stereotypes, ethics and economics, and policy development, which are essential in formulating national strategies to deal with contemporary challenges to the public welfare.