I am supposed to write a community teaching plan on mental health and honestly I AM NOT SURE WHERE TO START. Can somebody please help me??????????

approach this as nothing more than a fancy care plan with a focus on teaching. use the steps of the nursing process to keep you focused and organized. i had to do something very similar in my bsn program. your biggest problem is going to be finding an assessment guideline. what i mean is that we know how to assess a body (head-to-toe, body system), but how do you assess the mental health of a community? did your textbook or instructor give you any direction on that? if not, you'll have to hit the library for that information. i'm not sure if there is a community mental health assessment link in the health assessment resources, techniques, and forms sticky thread on the nursing student assistance forum. in any case, the nursing process tells us to assess first, pick out the abnormal findings which leads you to the nursing diagnosis, develop outcomes and interventions (there again, you'll most likely need to go to the library), indicate how you will implement this plan and how you plan to evaluate it's effectiveness.

i post this nursing process guideline for the students all the time:

1. assessment (collect data from medical record, do a physical assessment of the patient, assess adl's, look up information about your patient's medical diseases/conditions to learn about the signs and symptoms and pathophysiology)
   
   • a physical assessment of the patient
     
   • assessment of the patient's ability and any assistance they need to accomplish their adls (activities of daily living) with the disease
     
   • data collected from the medical record (information in the doctor's history and physical, information in the doctor's progress notes, test result information, notes by ancillary healthcare providers such as physical therapists and dietitians
     
   • knowing the pathophysiology, signs/symptoms, usual tests ordered, and medical treatment for the medical disease or condition that the patient has. this includes knowing about any medical procedures that have been performed on the patient, their expected consequences during the healing phase, and potential complications. if this information is not known, then you need to research and find it.
     
     • https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/medical-disease-information-treatment-procedures-test-reference-websites-258109.html - medical disease information/treatment/procedures/test reference websites
       

[*]determination of the patient's problem(s)/nursing diagnosis (make a list of the abnormal assessment data, match your abnormal assessment data to likely nursing diagnoses, decide on the nursing diagnoses to use)

• it helps to have a book with nursing diagnosis reference information in it. there are a number of ways to acquire this information.
  
• your instructors might have given it to you.
  
• you can purchase it directly from nanda. nanda-i nursing diagnoses: definitions & classification 2007-2008 published by nanda international. cost is $24.95 http://www.nanda.org/html/nursing_diagnosis.html
  
• many authors of care plan and nursing diagnosis books include the nanda nursing diagnosis information. this information will usually be found immediately below the title of a nursing diagnosis.
  
• the nanda taxonomy and a medical disease cross reference is in the appendix of both taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary and mosby's medical, nursing, & allied health dictionary
  
• there are also two websites that have information for about 75 of the most commonly used nursing diagnoses that you can access for free:
  
  • http://www1.us.elsevierhealth.com/evolve/ackley/ndh7e/constructor/
    
  • http://www1.us.elsevierhealth.com/merlin/gulanick/constructor/index.cfm
    

[*]planning (write measurable goals/outcomes and nursing interventions)

• goals/outcomes are the predicted results of the nursing interventions you will be ordering and performing. they have the following overall effect on the problem:
  
  • improve the problem or remedy/cure it
    
  • stabilize it
    
  • support its deterioration
    

  [*]interventions are of four types

  • assess/monitor/evaluate/observe (to evaluate the patient's condition)
    
    • note: be clear that this is assessment as an intervention and not assessment done as part of the initial data collection during step 1.
      

    [*]care/perform/provide/assist (performing actual patient care)

    [*]teach/educate/instruct/supervise (educating patient or caregiver)

    [*]manage/refer/contact/notify (managing the care on behalf of the patient or caregiver)

[*]implementation (initiate the care plan)

[*]evaluation (determine if goals/outcomes have been met)