This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

BEH2201 - Paramedic management of mental health

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Organisational Unit

Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice

Coordinator(s)

Mr Craig Taylor

Offered

Peninsula

First semester 2016 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit continues to develop the role of the paramedic as a clinician who is able to assess and care for patients with mental health problems in the community. The unit addresses the epidemiology and history of mental health in Australia, and the features of care systems with particular emphasis on community based care. Acute and chronic medical mental health problems commonly encountered by paramedics are investigated. The special needs of Indigenous persons and those from non-English speaking backgrounds are investigated. The unit is case-based, integrating material from the five themes and the underpinning biomedical, social and clinical sciences, and including clinical skills, laboratory and simulation scenarios to develop essential communication, assessment and management clinical skills, and clinical problem solving and decision making competencies.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Describe the epidemiology, population health, pathology and clinical manifestations of mental illness commonly encountered in paramedic practice.
Communicate effectively with people who are experiencing disturbances of thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
Perform a mental status assessment as applied to paramedic practice.
Comply with the Mental Health Act (2014) guidelines when carrying out a search and search procedure on patients with a mental health emergency.
Identify and apply therapeutic interventions and techniques appropriate to managing a mental health emergency in the community setting.
Initiate appropriate care for patients with mental health issues, family members and carers in response to correctly identifying factors contributing to the situation.

Assessment

Mental status assessment (20%)
Pamphlet (20%)
Mid-semester exam (1 hour) (20%)
Exam (2 hours) (40%)
Attendance (Hurdle)

Workload requirements

6 hours per week involving lectures, tutorials and small group exercises.

Chief examiner(s)

Mr Craig Taylor

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Emergency health

Co-requisites

Must be enrolled in Bachelor of Emergency Health (Paramedic) or the Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice stream in Bachelor of Health Sciences.