Mental Health Programs for
the UK-Based LGBTQ Community Through Education and Employment Opportunities
Jacob
Ninan Tharakan
East And North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, UK
*Corresponding
author: Jacob.Tharakan@nhs.net
Submitted: 18.02.2024 Accepted: 24.05.2024 Published: 27.05.2024
Keywords: Mental
Health; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Social Determinants of Health.
Introduction
This
study focusses on mental health programs aimed
at the LGBTQ community in the United Kingdom, emphasizing education and
employment opportunities and presenting an evaluation plan. The complexity of
such interventions stems from the diverse backgrounds within the LGBTQ
community, including variations in race, demographics, sociolinguistics, and
socio-cultural factors. Economic challenges, particularly low annual incomes
among LGBTQ individuals, hinder their purchasing power and limit access to
education and employment, exacerbating mental health issues. Moreover, the
study also considered a range of factors for analysing the issue (Peryer et
al., 2022). introducing the complexities of this intervention and highlights
the need to address economic, social, and communication challenges faced by
LGBTQ individuals.
Social factors, such as
inequality and discrimination, further marginalize LGBTQ individuals, leading
to feelings of exclusion and exacerbating mental health concerns like
depression and anxiety. Communication gaps between LGBTQ individuals and
society hinder their integration and access to support systems. Addressing
these gaps requires psychological support from enthusiastic volunteers to
rebuild confidence and facilitate access to employment opportunities.
Education and employment
opportunities emerge as crucial area for LGBTQ individuals to enhance skills,
employability, and economic participation. Inclusive education policies are
pivotal for fostering a supportive environment and promoting mental well-being
among LGBTQ students. However, implementing mental health programs requires
navigating various challenges, including obtaining permission from local
authorities.
Method
Study
Design: This Review employs a complex intervention framework to
address mental health issues within the LGBTQ community based on exisiting
publications in the United Kingdom. The intervention focuses on providing
education and employment opportunities to improve mental wellbeing.
Theoretical Framework: The theoretical foundation for this study is
based on addressing the social determinants of health within the LGBTQ
community, including economic factors, social inequality, communication
barriers, and access to education and employment. The study targets members of
the LGBTQ community in the United Kingdom, encompassing individuals from
diverse racial, demographic, sociolinguistic, and socio-cultural backgrounds.
Results and Discussion
Arranging mental health
programs for the LGBTQ community through education and employment opportunities
can be a complex intervention. The members of the LGBTQ community belong to
different races, demographic, sociolinguistics, and socio-cultural backgrounds
(Berner et al., 2021). Hence, it can be a challenge to address all the mental
health issues of each community member.
On the other hand, the lack of opportunities in society regarding
education and employment has impacted mental wellbeing (Patel, 2019). The
community members face critical challenges in social interaction, which also
hampers their employment opportunities. Before arranging the mental health
programs, it is necessary to consider the economic factors, social factors,
communication gap, education opportunities, employment opportunities, and
behavioural traits of the members of the LGBTQ community (Freeman, 2020).
Arranging mental health programs in public for the LGBTQ community members can
require the permission of the local authority (Kneale and Becares,
2020).
Economical factor
It
has been noticed that the annual income of the LGBTQ community members is
significantly low in the United Kingdom. It can also impact their purchasing
power in the country. This can be a barrier to implementing the complex
intervention plan. The net disposable
personal income of LGBT community members in the United Kingdom was 150 billion
US dollars, which is significantly less than Germany, China, and the USA. This
highlights the lack of employment opportunities for the community members, and
this also impacts their purchasing power in the country.
Social Factors
Inequality and gender
discrimination can be the main reason for separating the LGBTQ community
members from mainstream society, and for this reason, they feel left behind
(Huang, 2021). This condition also raises depression and anxiety for the group
members of the LGBTQ community. In many cases, they can hardly receive common
treatment and behaviour from society. They also face several problems in
travelling (George, 2021).
Communication Gap
Due to the lack of
importance and attention in mainstream society, the members of the LGBTQ
community have been facing a communication gap with society (Rubinsky and
Hosek, 2020). We should allow enthusiastic people and volunteers to provide
psychological support to the members. This can help restore the confidence and
potential of the LGBTQ community members. It can also help them to feel free
about approaching an Employment opportunity in different organisations and
companies in the UK (Abdullayev, 2020).
Education and Employment
Opportunities
Education and employment
opportunities can help LGBTQ community members to improve their knowledge and
skills (Nowaskie and Sowinski, 2018). It can allow
them to develop their employability in the United Kingdom. It also improves the
purchasing power parity that can allow them to contribute to the economy of the
country. An inclusive education policy can help LGBTQ community members to
attain the common classroom (Carlile, 2020). It can contribute to mental
wellbeing and satisfaction. Through the complex intervention framework, the
members of the LGBTQ community must be provided with an opportunity for
education and employment in society for that improvement.
Weakness of complex
intervention
several factors must be
considered, such as social factors, economic factors, communication gaps, and
behaviour. Moreover, permission from the authority is needed for arranging the
mental health program (Lambert et al., 2019). This can be the weakness factor.
Evaluation Plan:
To assess the
effectiveness of mental health programs, an observational research design is
proposed. This design allows for the monitoring of participants'
characteristics, behaviours, and mental health issues throughout the
intervention. Key factors for measurement include social behaviour, job and
education opportunities, and skill improvement. Stakeholder involvement,
including government entities, local education administrations, NGOs, and
community leaders, is essential for the successful implementation of the
intervention. Their contributions ensure policy alignment, resource allocation,
and community engagement. Also, for monitoring the details of the complete
intervention plan for ensuring the mental health of the LGBTQ community by
improving education and employability factors (Epps et al., 2021, Pingault et al., 2018).
Range of factors
required for measurement:
There are different
ranges of factors that can determine the success of a complex intervention
plan. Social behaviour and communication, improvement in job opportunities and
education for the LGBTQ community and skill improvement are the range of
factors that can be chosen for the measurement in evaluation. Social behaviour
and communication can play an important role in the evolution process. Social
behaviour and communication can help the community members to establish a
positive relationship with society. It can provide them with an opportunity to
take part in different activities in society. This factor can provide efficient
data to the complete intervention plan for making strategies. It is also
necessary to provide job opportunities to the LGBTQ community members (Taylor,
2018). Hence, it is important to monitor the available job opportunities for
the community members that can help them to maintain sustainability. Job
opportunities can also help them to be independent. This is an important part
of the evaluation incomplete intervention plan. Job satisfaction can provide
mental satisfaction to the community members and can improve their
psychological aspects (Hünefeld et al., 2020).
Besides monitoring the job opportunities in society, it is also important to
monitor the available education opportunities for the community members. It can
reduce the stereotypical social views of the LGBTQ community members.
Improvement in skill can contribute to the improvement of employability in
society that can help them to find jobs in the United Kingdom.
Relevant stakeholders
and their importance:
The role of relevant
stakeholders is also important for developing a complex intervention plan for
providing mental stability to the LGBTQ community (Vanness et al., 2021). The
government of the United Kingdom, local education administration, NGOs, public
bodies, and the community head of the LGBTQ community of all relevant
stakeholders in this complex intervention plan (Lawton, 2018). The Government
of the United Kingdom is one of the most important stakeholders in the complex
intervention plan (Maine, 2022). The policies regarding the development and
education of the LGBTQ community and its members are dependent on the decisions
of the government in the United Kingdom. It is also important to take
permission from the government before implementing the conflict intervention
plan for the development of the LGBTQ community in the country. The local
education administration is also important for implementing the inclusive
education policy for the community members so that they can avail education in
the common classroom with others. This can improve the knowledge about
different subjects and improve the decision-making capability (Woulfe and
Goodman, 2021). Different school and college authorities are also responsible
for implementing inclusive education as a framework for providing education to
the LGBTQ community members in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, NGOs can
also play a critical role in arranging different activities that can help to
improve the participation of the LGBTQ community members in society. These
non-government organisations are also responsible for developing communication
between different stakeholders associated with the complex intervention land in
the United Kingdom.
The
study undergoes the importance of comprehensive mental health programs tailored
to the LGBTQ community's unique needs. By addressing economic, social, and
communication barriers and enhancing education and employment opportunities,
these programs aim to promote mental well-being and social inclusion. An
effective evaluation plan, supported by stakeholder engagement and rigorous
research methods, is crucial for assessing program efficacy and guiding future
interventions.
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