In this activity, you will compare the impact of vulnerability in various mental or substance use disorders (180 min).

Step 1: Review Substance Use Disorder Treatment for People With Co-Occurring Disorders from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration and choose one of the following vulnerable populations according to the relevance they have in your country:

• People experiencing homelessness
• People involved in the criminal justice system
• Women
• People of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds

Step 2: Prepare a 400-600 word discussion post to summarize your response to the following questions:

• Which vulnerable group to mental and substance use disorders did you choose, and why is it relevant to address this group in your country?
• What mental or substance use disorders are they at risk of developing?
• What challenges make them more susceptible to relapse and complicated recovery?

Step 3: To share your work, click the “Reply” button under this post and paste your work into the “Message” box. Make sure to reference others’ intellectual property when necessary. All references should follow 7th edition APA formatting. For further instructions, see the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library: APA citation resource (N.B.: references are excluded from word counts).

OPTIONAL Step 5: Interact (10 minutes)

If you would like to, you can reply to your peers' posts in a respectful and professional manner. Ensure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click on “Post to forum.”

In this activity, you will discuss the social repercussions occasioned to people with mental and substance use disorders, particularly those related to prejudice and segregation inside a community (240 min).

Step 1: Based on the observations from Peer Activity 1: The role of epidemiology in assessing the burden of mental health disorders, choose one of the three most significant mental and substance use disorders producers of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in your country.

Step 2: Search for published articles, guidelines, news, or any other literature that addresses the social repercussions of these disorders.

Step 3: Prepare a 400-600 word discussion post to summarize your response to the following questions:

• What are the repercussions of this disorder on the community/population in regard to prejudice and segregation?
• What are the possible causes of prejudice and segregation against people with substance use and mental health disorders?
• What interventions could be done within your country to reduce the stigma associated with this disorder?

Step 4: To share your work, click the “Reply” button under this post and paste your work into the “Message” box. Make sure to reference others’ intellectual property when necessary. All references should follow 7th edition APA formatting. For further instructions, see the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library: APA citation resource (N.B.: references are excluded from word counts).

OPTIONAL Step 6: Interact (10 minutes)

If you would like to, you can reply to your peers' posts in a respectful and professional manner. Ensure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click on “Post to forum.”

In this activity, you will design an educational tool to raise awareness of the impact of substance abuse on mental health (350 min). 

Step 1: Select a substance use disorder of interest in your country based on either prevalence or mortality. You can use information from the Drug Use research published at OurWorldInData.org or any other resource of your preference. 

Step 2: Create an educational tool that addresses the following points, using language that is adequate for a general audience (children, young people, and adults) to understand.

• What is the impact of the selected substance use disorder in your country (i.e., high prevalence, high mortality, etc.)?
• Identify at least three (3) myths regarding your chosen substance use disorder and counter them using evidence-based information.
• What actions can be taken into account at an individual level to decrease the impact of this disorder on your country? 

Step 3: Your educational tool should be created using either a PowerPoint presentation, a piece of writing in a blog format (with pictures included), or a video. If you feel comfortable presenting your work, we suggest you record yourself or your screen using the online tool Loom. Your educational tool should have a maximum of 20 slides for a presentation, 500 words for a blog format, or five minutes in length for a video format. 

Step 4: To share your work, click the “Reply” button under this post and paste your work into the “Message” box. Make sure to reference others’ intellectual property when necessary. All references should follow 7th edition APA formatting. For further instructions, see the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library: APA citation resource (N.B.: references are excluded from word counts).

Step 5: Evaluate and categorize the work from one of your peers based on items A - E of this rubric. Provide a rationale for the grade you provided as well as comments or suggestions for improvement. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click “Post to forum.”

You can use the list below as an example:

Item A is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item B is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item C is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item D is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item E is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….

OPTIONAL Step 6: Interact (10 minutes)

If you would like to, you can reply to your peers' posts in a respectful and professional manner. Ensure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click on “Post to forum.”

In this activity, you will formulate a potential evidence-based intervention to be implemented to improve mental health care addressing community mental health needs and gaps, goals to achieve by addressing those gaps and activities or interventions needed to achieve those goals, as well as the resources and providers required to implement said activities (350 min).

Step 1: Review the mhGAP Community Toolkit from the WHO, Part 1: Guide for Program Managers. 

Step 2: Download and complete the community mental health services framework table from the mhGAP Community Toolkit attached here. Complete all of the questions in the toolkit. The complete document should have between 600-800 words. 

Step 3: To share your work, click the “Reply” button under this post and paste your work into the “Message” box. Make sure to reference others’ intellectual property when necessary. All references should follow 7th edition APA formatting. For further instructions, see the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library: APA citation resource (N.B.: references are excluded from word counts).

Step 4: Evaluate and categorize the work from one of your peers based on items A - E of this rubric. Provide a rationale for the grade you provided as well as comments or suggestions for improvement. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click “Post to forum.”

You can use the list below as an example:

Item A is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item B is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item C is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item D is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item E is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….

OPTIONAL Step 5: Interact (10 minutes)

If you would like to, you can reply to your peers' posts in a respectful and professional manner. Ensure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click on “Post to forum.”

In this activity, you will explore the community mental health services framework regarding needs and availability (350 min). 

Step 1: Prepare a mental health intervention to be used after an emergency, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic. Create the intervention based on the mental health needs you identified to be implemented in your country/region in Peer Activity #3. You can use the Mental health in emergencies webpage from WHO as a reference.

N.B.: This assignment is a continuation of the community mental health services framework evaluation you performed in Peer Activity #3.

Step 2: Prepare a 700- 900 word document establishing the defining characteristics of your chosen need, the desired outcomes, the planned interventions, and the evaluation methods to be applied. You should answer the following questions and any others you might have:

• Which mental health necessities of the population suffering from an emergency must be reckoned with?
• How can local professionals promote and encourage mental health reforms, and how can they transmit their recommendations at a national level?
• What is the role of the government during an emergency, and in terms of mental health, which coordination measures must it lead towards improving after a crisis?
• What is the role of individual or communal advocacy in planning long-term sustainable interventions?
• Which benefits can the implementation of demonstration projects bring to mental health reforms after an emergency?

Step 3: To share your work, click the “Reply” button under this post and paste your work into the “Message” box. Make sure to reference others’ intellectual property when necessary. All references should follow 7th edition APA formatting. For further instructions, see the resource on the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library: APA citation resource (N.B.: references are excluded from word counts).

Step 4: Evaluate and categorize the work from one of your peers based on items A - E of this rubric. Provide a rationale for the grade you provided as well as comments or suggestions for improvement. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click “Post to forum.

You can use the list below as an example:

Item A is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item B is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item C is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item D is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….
Item E is  .…. because….  my suggestions for improvement are….

OPTIONAL Step 5: Interact (10 minutes)

If you would like to, you can reply to your peers' posts in a respectful and professional manner. Ensure that your post engages your peers' ideas by including a reflection on their comments, sharing ideas of other potential difficulties and parties involved, or asking thought-provoking questions. If a peer comments on your posting, please reply. To post a reply, click “Reply” on a particular discussion, write your feedback and then click on “Post to forum.”