LHD

FEEDBACK ON ASSESSMENT (CASE STUDY) MENTAL HEALTH ACRROSS LIFESPAN

The case of Jane was certainly interesting to read about. The case featured many morbidities and became quite complex … I wonder if this made your job more difficult?

As a reader I found it difficult to understand the presentation of Jane, one example is the fact that during the background discussion you mentioned she has psychotic features however this is not further discussed until the section in your formulation on protective factors.  If she is hearing voices and potentially has a psychotic depression this needs to be investigated.  Perhaps she is dissociating?  The citation you use suggests psychotic depression.

The reader is also advised Jane has a history of suicide attempts using a knife, however later in the paper the description changes to ‘suicide ideation’.  These are quite different things. In any event neither were dealt with in the treatment plan very well.  If she is thinking of killing herself, the clinician (you) needs to discuss with her and her mother a plan of how she might manage a situation where she feels like hurting herself… A collaboratively developed Safety plan.  It is not enough to quote Beck and tell the reader what options there are.  Additionally the section containing this information comes after your formulation and is titled ‘ Assessing and mitigating…’ The assessment should have been done prior to writing the formulation (otherwise how do you write it?) The Safety Plan needs to be part of the treatment plan and contain more detail than given.

Keeping her alive should be the primary concern in the treatment plan.  CBT may be useful in order to treat her depressive symptoms, so this was an appropriate treatment suggestion.

The paper has many unsupported propositions which require a citation

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please take the time to read through both first marker and marked review comments. These will help you see where your grades have come from, as well as guide you in your future assessments. 

To start your assessment, your background was completed to quite a high standard and you should be really happy with your work here. It would be nice to see it set out in a more narrative/academic style, but overall it was a good start to your paper. Your formulation was also fairly well done. While there were a few areas to improve on, you achieved what was asked of you. 

Moving to your treatment plan, unfortunately this is the area that has let you down. You have the basics here but are really missing the specifics for the GP and future clinicians. Remember that a treatment plan should be able to be picked up by the GP or whoever you are referring Jane to, and they should be able to easily implement your recommendations (which should include the exact 'what, where, when, how' of interventions). Please also make sure you are referencing each time you use information from another source. You may also choose to use the EndNote program which can assist you with referencing.

Finally, your GP letter is written well and addresses what is needed. Again it would have been helpful to have a few more details surrounding the treatment plan for the GP,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

. Please see in text comments below for more detailed feedback.

2- Please explain this acronym to the reader

3- This needs to be described more fully as abuse may mean a number of different things

4- So based on this it is reasonable to suggest various risk....

5- I would say her non attendance perpetuates the problem.... It is something which can be changed

6- Please explain to the reader what this is and use a citation to Eriksons work

7- BMI??

8- If you are making a case that Jane has a psychotic illness.  Psychotic depression perhaps? The discussion should not be under protective factors...It belongs elsewhere in the formulation

10- .... What are you going to with Jane?  If she has a history of suicide attempts with a knife, do you think her risk warrants a plan?  Tell the reader...It is your opportunity to advise me how YOU would handle the situation

11- Yes... but if you are assessing her prior to making any referrals... what do YOU think?