Mental Health Nursing

Assessment 3: Holistic Care Plan

Semester 1, 2026

Course Code: NURS3005

Course Title: Mental Health Nursing Practice

Assessment Name: Holistic Collaborative Care Plan

Type: Written Report

Due Date: Friday 27 March 2026, 11:59 pm AEST (end of Week 6)

Length: 2000 words (±10%)

Weighting: 40%

Submission: Word document via Turnitin on Blackboard

Referencing: APA 7th edition required (minimum 10 high-quality, current evidence-based sources)

Purpose

This assessment enables students to demonstrate skills in developing a person-centred, trauma-informed, recovery-oriented holistic care plan for a consumer with mental health needs. It builds on identification of needs from Assessment 2, emphasising collaborative, evidence-based planning.

Description

Develop a comprehensive, collaborative care plan addressing the recovery needs of the consumer from Assessment 2. The plan must reflect a holistic approach integrating physical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions.

Your care plan should:

• Describe the current context of care, including healthcare setting, admission type, and legal status if applicable.
• Outline the consumer’s recovery goals and future aspirations.
• Identify the consumer’s strengths, skills, and resources supporting recovery.
• Prioritise needs for safety, care, and recovery.
• Propose evidence-based strategies and interventions for each priority, demonstrating consumer collaboration.

Evidence a consumer-focused, recovery-oriented approach throughout, supported by high-quality literature. Discuss how the plan incorporates trauma-informed principles and cultural safety, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers.

Format

Structure your report using these subheadings:

• Introduction
• Current Context of Care
• Consumer Goals for Recovery and Future Plans
• Consumer Strengths and Resources for Recovery
• Priorities for Safety, Care and Recovery
• Strategies and Interventions to Support Priorities for Care, Safety and Recovery
• Conclusion

Avoid tables, graphs, bullet points, or lists for main content. Use continuous prose. Include a reference list (not counted in word limit).

Case Study

Birrani is 19 years old and identifies as male (he/him). He is the father of a one-year-old boy and lives with his girlfriend in a small public housing unit. Birrani has recently withdrawn from both his TAFE studies and job. He maintains a good relationship with both his parents, although he rarely sees his dad as his dad lives in a remote Aboriginal community in Central Australia.

He presented to his local Aboriginal Health Service (in a metropolitan area) with symptoms of severe depression. Birrani is worried (this is why he has come here) as he has a history of depressive symptoms between the ages of 12-16 and he had mood swings such as extreme lows through to “highs” (including train surfing and wanting to have sex “a lot”). It nearly got him in legal trouble and he’s worried the government will “come and take his kid”.

On presentation and during the assessment (in a quiet room), he tells you that he has insomnia and likes to binge drink most nights as this helps him fall asleep. He also smokes cannabis daily and Birrani describes his motivation and energy levels as “scarily low”; frequently thinks how easy it would be to just “disappear”. He sits slumped in his chair while he is talking with you and avoids eye contact with you. His movements are pretty slow and even when talking about his girlfriend and child, he doesn’t really react at all, and his voice is monotone.

He tells you (with no emotional response) that his dream was to become a Hollywood actor, but he now can’t get motivated to go to any auditions and worries about even more rejection. Until recently, Birrani was working full time at a local café but as he struggled to get to work on time (if at all), he was recently fired. This started after he experienced some “Sorry Business”. The owner of the coffee shop said he’s “just like all the Aboriginal people and never shows up”. He’s now decided not to look for any other work. Birrani continues and tells you that he often does not get out of bed for days at a time.

His mum arrived, and, with permission from Birrani, you ask his mum about Birrani’s current symptoms and if she would be comfortable to talk to you about anything else that is worrying her. She tells you that at around 15 years old, Birrani asked for help for his depressive symptoms and was prescribed an SSRI (Fluoxetine). He also attended 10 sessions of CBT with a psychologist. She states that Birrani thinks getting this type of care helped him “get through” high school but added Birrani thought that the “CBT was for white fellas”.

She shares with you that 10 years ago, she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (Birrani is also aware of this diagnosis) and has attempted to take her life on three occasions. She has encouraged Birrani to visit Aboriginal Community Controlled Health services, because she found once she engaged with these services and especially the culture care connect program, she “feels better”.

Marking Rubric

Birrani presents at a metropolitan Aboriginal Health Service with severe depression symptoms amid concerns about child welfare. The context involves voluntary admission to community-based care under no legal orders. Recovery goals include regaining employment motivation and stable mood to parent effectively. Future plans focus on resuming TAFE studies and pursuing acting auditions. Strengths encompass supportive family ties and past resilience with SSRI and CBT. Priorities address suicide risk through safety planning and cultural support. Interventions incorporate culturally safe therapy like narrative approaches from Aboriginal services. Regular monitoring of mood swings prevents escalation. Collaboration with family ensures holistic recovery (Happell et al., 2020). Evidence supports integrated care models for Indigenous youth mental health.

References

• Happell, B., Wilson, K. and Platania-Phung, C. (2020) ‘The role of lived experience mental health workers in collaborative care: A systematic review’, International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 29(6), pp. 1070-1083. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12736
• Day, A. and Francisco, A. (2019) ‘Social and emotional wellbeing in Indigenous Australians: Identifying promising interventions’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 53(6), pp. 495-506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867419836901
• Newton, D., Day, A., Gillies, C. and Fernandez, E. (2021) ‘A review of evidence-based evaluation of measures for assessing social and emotional well-being in Indigenous Australians’, Australian Psychologist, 56(1), pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12477
• Usher, K., Jackson, D., Walker, R., Durkin, J., Smallwood, R., Robinson, M., Sampson, U., Adams, I., Porter, C. and Marriott, R. (2021) ‘Indigenous resilience in Australia: A scoping review using a reflective decolonizing collective dialogue’, Frontiers in Public Health, 9, p. 630601. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.630601
• Garvey, G., Anderson, K., Gall, A., Butler, T.L., Cunningham, J., Whop, L.J., Dickson, M., Ratcliffe, J., Cass, A. and Howard, K. (2021) ‘What matters 2 adults (wma2adults): Understanding the foundations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), p. 6193. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126193