Understanding Depression and Developing Prevention Strategies: A Public Health Assignment

This assessment addresses the following learning outcomes: 

1. Analyse the impact of social, environmental and behavioural factors on the health of different populations 

2. Analyse population health outcomes and the major social, economic, political and cultural forces that contribute to health inequalities 

3. Analyse health outcomes in specific populations 

4. Apply theoretical frameworks to develop effective health promotion interventions

Background  
According to the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, depression is now the second leading cause of disease burden (as cited in Ferrari et al., 2013), whilst WHO (2012) declares depression to be the leading cause of disability worldwide. There is a distinct pattern along gender lines when it comes to prevalence rates of depression: unipolar depression is twice as common in women (WHO, n.d.). Depression has been linked to the experience of discrimination (Belle & Doucet, 2003), violence (Pico?Alfonso et al., 2006; Ludermir et al., 2010) and human rights abuses. 

Choose a population group in Australia (for example: young Australians aged between 12?25 years, males above the age of 40 years, pregnant women, prisoners, Aboriginal Australians). Your population group can be a specific group of women, men, or both. In 1500 words, address the following:  

1. Describe current evidence (within the last 10 years) relating to levels of depression for your population group.  

2. Discuss how these patterns of depression among this group are socially determined. Refer to issues of gender and human rights in your explanation.  (see WHO, 2019)  http://www.who.int/gender?equity? rights/understanding/gender?definition/en/) 

3. Propose a health promotion intervention to prevent depression and promote positive mental health for this population group. Consider a social?ecological model to explain the effects of potential prevention strategies, and identify the level of intervention for your proposed initiative (primary, secondary or tertiary). 

Provide a short introduction which gives the reader an overview of the whole assignment. Briefly introduce the public health problem (depression) and identify the specific population group that your report will focus on. Explain that your report will propose an intervention to prevent depression and promote positive mental health for this population group.  

Section 1: Understanding depression within [Chosen population] 

In this section, provide an overview of evidence relating to depression within your chosen population. Discuss the determinants of depression for this group. Pay attention to analysing social and gendered determinants of depression for your population group. Support your statements with evidence from references, both from grey literature sources such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and peer reviewed academic literature.  

Section 2: An intervention to prevent depression and promote mental health for [Chosen population]  

In this section, propose an intervention to prevent depression and promote mental health for your population group. Locate this intervention with a social?ecological framework, and identify whether it is a primary, secondary or tertiary intervention. Refer to readings from module 3 in regard to these concepts. Your proposed intervention can be a completely new idea or it can draw on existing interventions. Either way, it must be clearly explained how your intervention addresses depression, and you must support your claims with evidence.  

Conclusion  
Provide a brief conclusion which does not introduce any new information, but ‘ties the assessment together’. It should provide a recap of the information discussed in regard to patterns of depression in your population group and the determinants of this. It should also give a short overview of the intervention that was proposed. This provides a useful overall summary for the reader.