Question

Discuss four legal and/or ethical considerations related to mental illness/chemical dependency treatment.

Discuss essential elements (must address at least five) to include in psychiatric interviews and the assessment process

Answer 1

Four legal or ethical considerations related to mental illness/chemical dependency treatment

Equity: The mental health treatment should be received by all clients and easy access to services. The treatment should be equally distributed for all needed clients. The denied access to services due to discrimination should be avoided. Health professionals should be worked with justice. While giving counseling to a client with chemical dependency should work with comfortable rather see them awkward.

Beneficence: It is the doing good for the client. The counselor needs to consider the wellness of the client and should respect the culture, rituals and social norms of the client. For Ex: some families will not socially acceptable for mental health treatment. The clinician has to think in client's point of view and treat them accordingly.

Fidelity: Keep promising on client's health and telling truth to the client. Give assurance to the client that information shared with the physician should be truthful and it should be kept confidential. Minimize the competency issue will resolve the conflict issues. Once the promises have broken the relationship between the client and physician will be spoiled.

Autonomy: It is the individual rights to decide on their own treatment choices. Health professionals should play an important role if the client is competent to take his/her own decisions. Chemical dependency client requires long-term care and client are allowed to take their own decisions.

Elements to include in psychiatric interviews and assessment process:

• Ethnicity and culture: It is necessary because the immigrant client will have negative experiences and influenced by cultural factors. some ethnic groups are addicted to substance abuse naturally. It also helps to use the appropriate linguistic. So the ethnicity and culture should be included in the assessment process.
• cognitive and learning abilities: It is essential to know their difficulties in learning and special requirements for the client. Inability, severity, and cognitive impairment will need assistance throughout the assessment process.
• Socioeconomic status: It helps to identify substance abuse is more common in the upper or middle class and poverty influence in substance abuse. Likewise, higher educated persons will not disclose to substance abuse whereas uneducated will be more addicted even during pregnancy.
• Acculturation: The patient origin of country, the age of immigrant, mother tongue, cultural values should be assessed in order to identify the cultural standards and practice. If the client can speak the immigrant languages but still the minute terms can be difficult that can be translated using proper understandable languages.
• Risk for suicide and violence: Client's living atmosphere and the mental status to harm themselves should be assessed in order to prevent injury. His/her past history of violence and suicidal thoughts should be interviewed properly.