Posted: December 9th, 2022

What is a mental health assessment?

Are you a health practitioner or patient trying to familiarize yourself with mental health assessment? The mental health diagnostic assessment is a straightforward process that requires excellent expertise. A large population of individuals is exposed to risky mental health issues globally. Health practitioners strive to deal with these issues through mental health risk assessment.

Mental health assessment tools are essential in helping nurses and doctors to assess the treatment necessary for their patients. In the article below, we navigate you through different mental health assessment templates to help you conduct mental health assessments online.

Definition of mental health assessment nursing

A mental health assessment thoroughly examines all aspects contributing to the patient’s mental health intake assessment history. The information included on the mental health assessment form should be comprehensive and detailed. The assessment influences the patient’s mental health history, medical records, and social background.

Why is mental health assessment important?

A mental health assessment gives your clinician a description of how you think, experience, argue, and recall. A series of mental health assessment questions and a physical examination determine your emotional well-being during the full mental health assessment.

Your doctor will first establish whether you are in danger of injuring yourself or others. A child mental health assessment will be adapted to the child’s developmental stage and age. The main advantage of conducting a mental health assessment is to:

• Identify mental health issues like anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, postpartum depression, eating disabilities, and psychotic conditions
• Distinguish between psychological and physical health issues
• Evaluate an individual referred due to school, work, or home issues.

Preparation for conducting a mental health evaluation

It is always essential to consider your reasons for conducting the mental health needs assessment before an appointment. Below are some of the facets you should consider:

• What are the symptoms of your patient’s mental disorder?
• What ideas, feelings, or behaviors have been bothering you?
• Has a specific incident, such as the death of a loved one, triggered these symptoms?
• How frequently do you experience the symptoms, and what do you do when you do?
• How long will the symptoms persist?

It may be beneficial to record a diary in the days or weeks preceding the patient’s mental health assessment online. It may also be helpful when the patient brings along a friend or family member who can walk you through the patient’s mental illness symptoms from their point of view. When conducting a child’s mental health assessment, you should make some notes regarding the child’s behavior. It may be beneficial to inquire about any observations made by their professors.

Make a list of any prescription or illegal drugs used by the patient. Some medicines can alter your patient’s thinking or reasoning, which could explain some symptoms.

What takes place during a mental health evaluation process?

The components of your mental health intake assessment will vary depending on your situation. There are a few aspects you have to consider during the mental health evaluation procedure. Below are some of the elements you have to consider:

•         Psychological assessment

Although there is no need to research or prepare for psychological evaluations, these assessments provide vital information to mental health practitioners during the appraisal. The tests are generally in the form of a questionnaire and might be written or oral. Bringing a friend or relative with you may be beneficial in providing more details about the patient’s symptoms.

•         Patient’s interview

As part of your evaluation process, you have to interview your patient to know their illness and the source.  You might inquire about the patient’s symptoms and whether they have any worries. The interview will also enable you to assess the patient’s ability to contemplate and recall the information and how they communicate with others.

•         Medical examination

 Physical and mental health conditions are linked. A basic physical evaluation is an essential component of a mental health assessment. As a health practitioner, you may inquire about your patient’s medical history and any health problems associated with their family. You will certainly ask about any prescriptions the patient might be taking. This will help you test your patient’s reflexes and balance.

•         Laboratory tests

Urine tests and blood test results are standard components of a mental health assessment. Thyroid function diagnostics or toxicology screens may also be done in rare situations. If a neurological condition is suspected, your doctor may request tests such as an EEG, CT scan, or MRI.

Expected results of a mental health assessment

After conducting a thorough mental health assessment, you can determine your diagnosis and choose the best course of therapy for your patient. The patient’s diagnosis and conditions will determine the prescribed treatment plan. Hospitalization may be the best therapeutic choice when the patient is in severe distress or in danger of harming themselves or others. In other circumstances, counseling and perhaps a medication-based treatment plan may be appropriate for the patient’s needs.

There is no reason for the patient to suffer from the symptoms of mental illness when excellent therapy is available. As a health practitioner, mental health disability assessment provides an accurate view of your emotional and psychological condition, enabling you to choose the best treatment for your patient.  After providing the patient with a diagnosis and treatment plan, they can learn how to manage and deliver mental health self-assessments.

What is the procedure for mental health assessment?

As a profound health practitioner, when conducting mental health evaluation, you must combine your questions, a physical examination, and a written questionnaire.

1.      Interview your patient (GP)

When questioning your patient about their mental illness symptoms, it is always essential to evaluate their physical condition, how they communicate, and how they feel to see if this provides any clues to explain the source of their symptoms. This will be subtle, and your patient will most likely not notice.

You will also inquire about your patient’s personal history, such as their employment history, marriage history, family history, and present social condition (what supports they have at home). You will inquire about any traumatic situations you have lately or in the past, your upbringing, and any problems with alcohol or drugs. They may inquire about your religious beliefs and goals, and objectives.

It is always essential for your patient to answer honestly and accurately as possible. This increases the possibility of you achieving an accurate assessment. Depending on their underlying medical condition, some questions may disturb or irritate your patient. Since some mental health conditions are difficult to detect, you may not immediately receive a positive diagnosis or explanation for their symptoms

2.      Extensive physical examination

A physical examination is frequently included in a full mental health assessment. As a healthcare practitioner, you will review your patient’s medical history and the medications they are presently taking. You will also inquire about any family history of mental illness or psychiatric illnesses.

The mental health needs assessment aims to determine physical explanations of existing mental health problems.

3.      Alternative medical examinations

If your doctor suspects a specific cause, like anemia or B12 deficiency, they may recommend you take lab tests like a blood or urine test. Your thyroid function or electrolyte levels may be tested. If you are suspected of having a nervous system disorder, you may be sent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), an electroencephalogram (EEG), or a computerized tomography (CT) diagnostic.

You may also be required to complete a predefined written questionnaire or a verbal test. These exams are typically used to evaluate:

• Specific issues like depression
• Your ability to think, explain, and remember
• Your ability to carry out daily life activities like eating, dressing, and shopping.

Child mental health assessment will vary depending on their age but may include drawing pictures to convey their feelings or glancing at photographs and discussing how the images make them feel.

4.      Specialist mental health diagnostic assessment

Some mental health issues are challenging to diagnose, as a health practitioner may be unable to pinpoint the source of your symptoms. Even professionals may require more than one mental health assessment or additional testing to accurately diagnose the patient’s illness.

Your primary care physician may recommend you to a mental health professional, like a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist may use a variety of standard tests. One good example is the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a brief assessment used to assess cognitive problems.

Other assessments are utilized to aid in the diagnosis:

• Anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and bipolar disorder are examples of mental health illnesses.
• Developmental issues such as dyslexia and autism spectrum disorders
• Problems with alcohol and other drugs
• Additional issues like thyroid disorders and brain tumors

What are mental health assessment tools?

Assessment tools are materials aimed at assisting individuals in recognizing the need to see a physician or for clinicians to use while speaking with a patient. These materials can be in either paper or mental health assessment form. Assessment tools use a standardized questionnaire to identify an individual’s mental health and whether they constitute a risk to themselves or others.

What are the perks of conducting mental and behavioral health evaluations and screenings?

Mental and behavioral health evaluations are useful tools when treating your patient. The main challenge is how these tools operate and what they can do for your profession.

What is the definition of behavioral health assessment?

A behavioral health evaluation is a sequence of questionnaires, interviews, and mental and physical examinations used by doctors to understand their patients better. Behavioral health evaluations are not meant to establish a comprehensive diagnosis. They are there to build the basis and frame your patient’s worries. The utilization of behavioral health assessments benefits both children and adults.

Why are mental health evaluation tools necessary?

The data gathered by mental health assessment tools provide vital insight into patient health and serve as a starting point for diagnosis and treatment. Standardized mental health assessment techniques allow doctors to grasp better their patients’ difficulties, worries, routines, and behaviors. You can examine these symptoms, habits, and concerns using evaluation tools and assemble them to produce a personalized profile of their situation.

Assessment tools enable you to develop a broad picture of your patient’s overall health. Online mental health assessment enables the patient and the physician to create and monitor treatment goals.

Elements of a mental health assessment

•         Interview

In primary interviews, you might take note of your patient’s demeanor and presentation. Inquiring into the patient’s symptoms, worries, life situation, and cognitive habits can assist in highlighting early areas to work on.

•         Physical test

A physical health assessment may be required to assist in distinguishing between symptoms caused by a mental disease and symptoms caused by a physical ailment. Inquire about your patient’s personal and family health history and any drugs they are currently using.

•         Lab tests

Some symptoms may necessitate lab testing or scanning. When evaluating a patient, blood or urine specimens and MRI, EEG, or CT scans

•         Written or oral health assessments

You may want to perform a diagnostic to aid in the identification of certain disorders, evaluate specific functions, or better assess a patient’s well-being. By highlighting symptoms and giving vital data, mental and behavioral evaluation tools can aid and steer your mental health assessment process.

Factors to consider when choosing a mental health assessment tool

•         Reliability

Is the test reliable enough to generate consistent results?

•         Validity

Is the test reliable enough to distinguish between patients with and without a predicament?

•         Responsiveness

Is the test sensitive enough to correctly identify a problem?

•         Precision

Is the test accurate enough to select individuals who do not have a problem?

Choosing a test that meets the above criteria will ensure that your results are as precise and helpful as feasible. When interacting with patients, disorder-specific evaluations are valuable tools, but how do you decide which aspects of testing for? Screening methods can serve as a starting point for identifying these risk areas.

Top nursing mental health assessment examples of tools used by health professionals

Mental health assessment tools can help patients (young, old, and in between) with various mental and behavioral health issues. The following are ten facets of mental health tools for adults and children, along with popular examples from each genre.

1.      Anxiety

Anxiety assessment tools, like the ones given below, can assist in determining which form of anxiety is most closely related to your patient’s condition, as well as the intensity of those symptoms:

• Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS)
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7)
• Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale
• Zung Anxiety Scale

2.      Addiction

There are various tools available to treat all forms of addiction, including drug, alcohol, and gambling addiction. Among the valuable addiction assessment techniques are:

• Addiction Severity Index (ASI)
• Brief Addiction Monitor
• Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST)
• Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C)
• South Oaks Gambling Screen Assessment

3. Mood-associated diseases

Since the symptoms of various mood disorders can be similar, evaluation techniques can be used to assist in determining which disease your patient most closely resembles. For instance, the Mood Disorder Assessment and the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale could be used to identify whether your patient has bipolar disorder rather than borderline personality disorder or anything similar.

4.      Depression

Each patient has a unique experience with anxiety and depression symptoms. Depression assessment tools can assist you in tailoring sessions or evaluations to your patient’s requirements. The Geriatric Depression Scale and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale are two such instances of depression assessment tools.

5.      Personality disorders

The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, a popular personality disorder assessment, is used to assess the signs of adults who may have ADHD.

6.      Suicide

If a patient exhibits suicidal inclinations, diagnostic methods such as the Columbia Suicide Degree Rating Scale can aid in determining the severity of those characteristics.

7.      Trauma

Trauma is divided into various sub-categories. The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale are commonly used for identifying trauma.

8.      Eating disorders

When dealing with cases of probable anorexia, bulimia, or binge-eating disease, the Eating Disorder Assessment Scale comes in handy.

9.      Behavioral

Behavioral health exams offer a more comprehensive picture of the patient’s home life, mental health, daily activities, habits, and other factors. Data from these exams can be utilized to supplement and interpret information from another test. Here are a few examples of behavioral evaluation tools:

• Wahler Self-Description Inventory
• Daily Living Activities
• Parental Stress Scale

10.  Children and youth

Adults are not the only ones who can benefit from mental health evaluation tools. Numerous screening tools are available to assist in diagnosing and treating children and adolescents. Here are several child mental health assessment examples:

• Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)
• Traumatic Events Screening Inventory for Children (TESI-C)
• Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ)
• Child PTSD Symptom Scale
• Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT)
• Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC)

How is a mental health evaluation performed?

A mental health assessment often begins with a patient making an appointment with their primary care physician. The GP will perform physical examinations and another medical testing. After ruling out physical sickness, they will send the patient to a mental health expert, performing a quick problem checklist and conducting different mental health assessment forms.

These assessments will be either formal and standardized or informal and non-standardized. They might be self-reported evaluations performed by the patient or assessments performed by a therapist. Some standard formats for mental health assessments are as follows:

1.      Observation

Observation can assist you in determining the condition of the patient. Take note of your patient’s moods, expressions, phrases, and behaviors in diverse settings to grasp better their predicament than what they communicate. Pay great attention to your patient and study them with an expert, neutral demeanor to get the most out of this instrument.

2.      Interview

Psychiatric interviews can assist you in building rapport with your patients while gathering information about their symptoms and experiences. Authorize your patients to talk freely and direct their replies with open-ended inquiries. While asking questions, keep diagnostic reasoning in mind. To gain your patients’ trust, make them feel recognized and understood.

Enabling your patients to express their feelings and experiences can help you identify the causes that are causing their symptoms.

3.      Interview the patient’s family

In some cases, mainly when dealing with ill children, it is always important to interview the patient’s family members. Family interviews can provide extra information on a patient’s health condition and help the family comprehend what the patient is going through. Before involving family members, you should read the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

4.      Checklists

Like many screening tools, mental health assessment tools incorporate checklists to provide information about the patient’s mental health status. A focused list can be a quick and effective approach to expanding your knowledge. The DSM-5 includes lists to help you identify and categorize clinical conditions, but you should use them with discretion.

Checklists do not consider all biological, psychological, social, and cultural elements that may exist in a patient’s life. On the other hand, checklists can be helpful tools when used with different evaluation approaches.

5.      Scales of assessment

Rating scales deliver numerical information and assist patients in distilling complex sentiments and emotions into simple reactions. They can be helpful when working with individuals having trouble communicating about their condition or as a comprehensive analysis tool to determine the degree of symptoms at any particular time.

6.      Questionnaires

Assessment questionnaires are similar to diagnostic questionnaires in that they provide more information on a specific ailment and its severity. If screening test results indicate the possibility of particular problems, a disorder-specific examination might assist you in gathering additional data. The Global Mental Health Assessment Tool, which can monitor and evaluate many mental health conditions, is an example of a typical comprehensive evaluation. 

Final remarks

You can use the above article as your guide in conducting mental health assessments. Thanks to our professional nursing authors, any information included above is well-written and researched from reliable sources. During these evaluations, practitioners take note of a patient’s appearance, behavior, attitude, mood, understanding, cognition, and other characteristics. All the data gathered from health evaluations and mental health assessment tools may now be combined to create a profile that provides a comprehensive picture of your patient’s mental and emotional health status.

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