Question

You are approached by a 3rd year health sciences student who is trying to recruit you to participate in a study of student mental health. You are told that it involves an online survey, and covers topics like your current mental health, whether or not you access campus resources for mental health care, past experiences that may have been involved in the determination of your mental health experiences, and how your mental health relates to your academic outcomes during first year. The 3rd year student is a research assistant on this project that is led by a new faculty member. He is being paid to recruit students, and he tells you that he gets $25 for each successful recruit. He explains the survey protocol in detail to you. The protocol involves having you sign in to a web-based survey platform, provide a bit of information about yourself and your background, then answer questions about your mental health. You will fill out the survey and provide your student ID number which will be linked with your academic record over first year (provided by the University Registrar), and also your health care visits to Student Health Services over the year (provided by Student Health and Wellness Services). Once the survey is completed you will receive a coupon for Tim Hortons, and also be eligible to enter a draw for a new iPad. The study data will be kept by the student on his laptop, as well as the faculty members’ server. Your name will be provided as part of the survey, but will never be used in any reporting. In a one page response (maximum), please describe the types of questions you would ask the person recruiting you for study, in order to determine whether this research meets ethical standards.

Answer 1

Talking about mental health is considered taboo even in this day and age. People tend to look over and not pay a lot of attention when someone is talking about mental health. Everyone can suffer from mental health issues including Children, Adults, Celebrities, and Major Sports Athletes whom we consider almost invincible. It's time we normalize discussing mental health issues. We have seen athletes come out of their comfort zone and openly talk about mental issues. Some of the NBA players like Kevin Love, Demar Derozan, and others have openly come out on social media platforms and talked about how they suffered due to mental health and why it is good to talk and discuss mental health with friends, family, or counselor. Suffering from Mental health not only affects your performance and indulgence in day to day activities, but it also affects physical health because it leads to loss of appetite.

Talking about mental health provides the counselor or other helping person some insight into the state in which the person is. This can help in counseling the person in the right way which can prove helpful in curing the patient. For counseling, The counselor or any helping person should have some questions prepared to ask the patient. The session should start with a little introduction from both sides, after which the Counselor should begin asking questions. Some of the questions a person can ask from a mental health patient include:

• How are you feeling? This question can be a starter question which can help the counselor understand what discomfort or disorder the patient might be feeling.
• Do you experience panic attacks, anxiety attacks, or anything of that sort. If the patient can't say something definite, ask them to describe what actually happens during the attack.
• Do you feel uninterested or experience a lack of participation at work, school, or at home.

After the counselor gets the general idea about what the patient might be feeling, The counselor can move on with questions that give an insight into the daily routine of the patient which can unfurl more details about the patient. Questions like:

• Tell me about your sleeping pattern. Have you experienced any changes in it since you've started getting these attacks. Quality of sleep, restlessness, etc.
• Do you feel a loss of appetite or changes in eating habits?

Some other questions can include:

• How involved and confident have you felt while at work or at school.
• How often you felt that nothing is working for you and all hope is lost.
• Do you feel loved and supported by your friends and family members?

Questions may vary from patient to patient. Questions for a student might differ from a patient who is working in a corporate job. It's very important to take notes and listen carefully to the patient's description of his problems which can help develop a case study which could cator to the patient's needs and help the counselor in treating the patient.