Anxiety, depression, burnout, and post-traumatic stress are common among many other mental issues in the United States, especially among international students. The main reasons behind the health problems among international students are language barriers, cultural shocks, the struggle to adjust to a new environment, homesickness, and financial issues ( Acharya, Jin & Collins, 2018 ). Although most learning institutions have come up with counseling programs to help promote mental health, there are still barriers to their effectiveness. For instance, fear of stigmatization, language barriers, and cultural differences make counseling programs ineffective. The students shy away from the programs because they do not want their peers to learn that they have mental health problems ( Ammigand et al., 2018 ). Language barriers and cultural differences become a problem when those in charge of the program do not effectively understand the international students' cultural backgrounds or languages. Purposely, the quality improvement initiative aims at addressing mental health issues among international students.
The Target Population
University management and the Students, both local and international, are the primary targeted audience since they are the leading players that can help address mental health problems. They are also majorly affected in that poor performance resulting from mental health issues reflects negatively on an institution. Therefore, when the populations mentioned earlier work together, measures to handle the problem automatically become effective.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The Benefits of the Quality Improvement Initiative
Just like body fitness exercise makes people stay strong, mental fitness enables achievement as sustainability of a perfect mental health state. Handling psychological health problems among international students will create a perfect platform for them to realize their full potential and make better contributions in society work productively. A mentally healthy individual automatically finds life, the environment, and people in it enjoyable. In terms of realizing the full potential, the quality improvement initiative will put the students in a perfect state of mind to learn new things by being creative and taking risks to realize exceptional outcomes ( Forbes-Mewett & Sawyer, 2019). ). The ability to develop unique and most effective outcomes will positively impact society and work productivity. The quality improvement initiative will also enable the students to avoid physical illnesses associated with long-term mental illness. For instance, mental illness has been identified as a significant contributor to high blood pressure and heart disease. Therefore, getting rid of the problem is an effective mechanism to avoid the above-named chronic illnesses.
Interprofessional Collaboration required to Implement the Quality Improvement Initiative
Interprofessional collaboration is important when dealing with any problem as it creates a platform for a variety of ideas, resources, and workforce to handle an issue effectively. The collaboration should include psychologists, representatives from university managements, and student leaders from the affected universities. International students' representatives from different learning institutions should also be included to make the collaboration more effective. The group can then share ideas about the best techniques to solve health issues among international students ( Liem et al., 2020 ). They can then develop proper implementation techniques, with each party explaining a method that can be effective when used in their departments. Therefore, the interprofessional collaboration will enable effective implementation of the quality improvement initiative properly at manageable costs and using the available resources sparingly.
Budget Justification
The primary procedures to address the mental health issues are creating guiding and counseling programs in the universities, training the local students to support their peers by helping them settle in their new environments, and creating cultural days to create a period for people to enjoy practices from their unique backgrounds. According to the above-outlined measures, each learning institution will have its budget to ensure full implementation because of the differences in students' number and accessibility to resources.
The Basis upon which the Quality Improvement Initiative will be Evaluated
Evaluation of the quality improvement initiative can occur using different techniques, but majorly through observation. Through observation, people in Incharge of the evaluation process can assess the international students' change in behavior ( Tembo, Burns & Kalembo, 2017 ). Increased socialization with others, performance in class, and other activities can be the perfect proof of the quality improvement initiative's effectiveness.
References
Acharya, L., Jin, L., & Collins, W. (2018). College life is stressful today–Emerging stressors and depressive symptoms in college students. Journal of American college health , 66 (7), 655-664.
Ammigand, R., Drexlerd, M. L., Williamson, A. A., & Guerra, N. G. (2018). Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among international students: Implications for university support offices. Journal of International Students, 2019 Vol. 9 No. 1 , 9 (1), 129-148.
Forbes-Mewett, H., & Sawyer, A. M. (2019). International students and mental health. Journal of International Students, 2016 Vol. 6 (3) , 6 (3), 661-677.
Liem, A., Wang, C., Wariyanti, Y., Latkin, C. A., & Hall, B. J. (2020). The neglected health of international migrant workers in the COVID-19 epidemic. The Lancet Psychiatry , 7 (4), e20.
Tembo, C., Burns, S., & Kalembo, F. (2017). The association between levels of alcohol consumption and mental health problems and academic performance among young university students. PLoS One , 12 (6), e0178142.
