Consumers Perspectives of Mental Health Care Essay

Consumers Perspectives of Mental Health Care - Essay Example This is known as consumer participation and simply refers to participation of consumers (mental illness patients) in the formal or informal development of plans, models of delivery, implementation and appraisal of the entire realm of activities that form mental health care. What really are the benefits and limitations of consumer participation in provision of mental health care? This study seeks to provide the answers to this question and the approach undertaken will be a review of literature focusing on the perspectives of researchers, policy makers, nursing text and relevant consumer accounts. This will be followed by a summary of the findings which will inform the conclusion of the essay. Benefits and Disadvantages of Consumer participation in Mental Healthcare The best way to study this is to establish the perspectives of the various stakeholders in mental healthcare i.e. consumers, carers, researchers, policy makers and health professionals. Timimi (2011, p. 4) weighs the import ance of the psychotherapeutic model adopted by healthcare professionals in terms of positive outcomes and indicates that the outcome is not significantly related to the psychotherapeutic technique selected instead stating that a strong therapeutic alliance with the patient is of primary importance. This is evidence-based as opposed to traditional expertise that places primary importance on mental healthcare under the paradigms of making a diagnosis and implementing treatment. Of particular note is that both biomedical and psychological aspects (for instance use of antidepressants and cognitive behaviour therapy respectively) have been studied and found to bear similar improvements on patients and no significant differences in terms of outcomes regardless of the technique used. One such study involved groups of depression patients treated with CBT, Interpersonal Therapy, antidepressants and placebos and the results indicated significant improvements in all the cases and no significan t differences between the first three versus the placebo group. The underlining factor evidenced by this study was the quality of the relationship between the therapist and the patient as perceived by the patient in the early phases of treatment. The conclusions from such studies and meta-analyses is that the treatment is important in placing the consumer in a given psychological state that is important for their healing especially as evidenced by the fact that such treatments are efficacious across several conditions regardless of diagnosis. The important cross-cutting factor during treatment instead lies in the therapeutic alliance between the patient and the therapist. Hence a good relationship with the prescribing doctor is far more important for a positive response to the treatment implemented than just merely offering the drug (Timimi 2011, p. 5). This study importantly points us to the role of the patient in treatment and thus participation. Griffith and Jenkins (2004, pp. 41 -50) conducted a study to find out the perceived advantages and disadvantages of consumer participation in mental healthcare research and inferred a number of pros and cons based on the views of the various stakeholders. The general view across all groups was an agreement that consumer participation led to improved health outcomes and improved services to the patients. Involving consumers was found to result in consumer empowerment through acknowledgement of their expertise,

International Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International Economics - Research Paper Example Capital regulation ensures that banks internalize losses. This helps guard deposit insurance fund reducing chances of losses by the deposit insurer. The recent economic crisis, which was associate with credit crunch started with the melt down of subprime mortgage, which is directly dependent on how banks are regulated. In the United States, the move by Clinton and Republican congress to deregulate the banking sector is liable for igniting the 2008 crisis. This paper focuses on the pros and cons of bank regulation and how it relates with global economics. The paper will also address the pros and cons of deregulation in the banking sector as well as how it relates with global economics. Additionally, the paper will analyze the effects of bank regulation and deregulation on and the financial crisis of 2008. Pros and Cons of Regulation in the Banking Sector The regulation process in US is such that a bank is supposed to take immediate moves to reinstate its capital ratio in case Losses o ccur. In case of losses, banks restore their capital by raising fresh capital or shrinking their asset base. The regulators force the banks to take either of the steps, which prevents instances of failure (Roubini 1-3; Delaney Web). Since United States resulted from confederation of states, there exist dual regulatory systems where banks are regulated by both the state as well as the federal government (Barthy, Liy and Lu 1-5). The 2008 economic crisis triggered numerous changes in bank regulation within United States. The bank regulators increased their inspection on banks particularly on capital and reserves. Additionally, the congress is expected to implement reforms aimed at increasing regulation and make changes on the regulatory systems (Pellerin, Walter and Wescott 1-4). Bank regulation entails chartering and authorizing banks to start business and examination of the activities of the banks through frequent auditing. The banks regulators in United States include Comptroller o f the currency, State Banking Authority, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (Pellerin, Walter and Wescott 6-7; Roubini 6-8). Pros of Bank Regulation Like mentioned above, banks regulate their capital by asset shrinkage or raising fresh capital. Each of these moves has its pros and cons. In case of asset shrinkage, the effect could be either credit crunch or fire sale. Shrinking of assets through reducing lending, the interest rate increases, which make it hard for firms to borrow money for investments. This results in eventual decrease in employment, which is detriment to the economy (Pellerin, Walter and Wescott 10). Bank regulation helps in protection customers and the taxpayer. The government agencies concerned with regulation of banks supervise the operations of financial institutions preventing them from abusing taxpayers. They ensure that taxpayers are not denied access to deposit insurance as well as loans (Roubini 7). The Federal Reserve ensure s that the central bank provides loans to banks. In case of financial crisis, the Federal Reserve inflates the safety net or increases the ease with which banks can access loans from the central bank. Therefore, safety net help to safeguard banks from bank runs reduces systemic risk in addition to reducing the cost of evaluating the health of financial institutions (Pellerin, Walter and Wescott 11-13). Another importance of bank regulation is to ensure safety and soundness regulation. The regulation agencies ensure