A Lesson Plan on Healthy Eating Among Patients with Mental Illness

A Lesson Plan on Healthy Eating Among Patients with Mental Illness

Table

 Rationale

Introduction

Mental health is essential since it involves how individuals think, feel, and behave. In most cases, researchers and scientists use mental health to mean the absence of a mental illness. As Galderisi et al. (2015) suggest, mental health is vital since it can adversely affect daily living, physical health, and relationships. When individuals suffer from mental health conditions, the common treatment options include psychotherapy, medication, hospitalization, and support group, as Demmin and Silverstein (2020) assert. However, mental health can be guaranteed by simply observing healthy eating (Patterson et al. 2020). When mental health patients stick to a healthy diet, they have a happier outlook and an improved ability to focus. As a result, the risk factors to the mental health condition will be lower, improving an individual’s mental health. This essay provides a rationale for the lesson plan for teaching healthy eating among patients with mental health.

Topic Justification

Mental health disorders range from anxiety and depression to bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and insomnia. On a global scale, mental health disorders have increasingly led to the death of more people due to the lack of appropriate measures to curb them. Wainberg et al. (2017) state that in 2017, 10.7% of the world population lived with a mental health disorder of some kind. From the data above, Wainberg et al. (2017) claim that anxiety represented 3.8% and depression 3.4%. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), annually, depression contributes to more than 700,000 suicidal deaths, making it the fourth leading cause of death in the world (CDC 2021). According to NAMI (2021), in 2020, 21% of United States adults experienced mental illness while 16.5% of the nation’s youths experienced a mental health disorder in 2016, representing 52.9 and 7.7 million people, respectively. Therefore, there is a need to opt for alternative strategies to curb mental health disorders outside medication, psychotherapy, and hospitalization.

Since childhood, we have been taught to eat balanced diets to promote our physical and mental health. Good nutrition positively affects our mental health. Therefore, according to Galderisi et al. (2015), healthy eating enables individuals to think clearly and feel more alert. The above improves concentration and attention and, in turn, reduces fatigue, improves reaction time, and enhances decision-making. However, Tapsell et al. (2016) discuss that most individuals are reliant on processed foods. Processed foods are not healthy for the brain since they are high in flour and sugar, making the brain crave more (Rumiati and Foroni 2016). Melo et al. (2019) add that processed food and sugar lead to brain inflammation that leads to mood disorders. As a result, patients with mental health disorders should exercise healthy eating by adding nutrient-rich foods such as vegetables and fruits.

Target Audience/Participants

This lesson plan will involve 10 patients with mental health issues as the sample. The 10 patients with mental health illnesses represent the specific group involved in the lesson. Having a sample of 10 learners will effectively manage and assess the lesson's objectives. Mental health patients can have mood fluctuations that might interrupt learning from time to time. As a result, the sample population will be expected to be attentive and avoid disorderly behaviors. The sample will involve men, women, and children with mental health disorders to support diversity efforts. The above will help determine and encourage learners to establish effective strategies to improve healthy diets for patients of all ages and genders. If a participant quits or has worsened mental health, relevant adjustments will be made.

Lesson Objectives

As discussed earlier, children are taught the importance of maintaining healthy diets regarding physical and mental health during childhood. Therefore, the first lesson objective aims at applying the cognitive domain that involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills (White et al., 2017). Learners will be expected to recall specific facts they learned when growing up concerning the importance of healthy eating on mental health. With the above, Compton and Shim (2015) claim that learners are expected to apply, synthesize, and evaluate the lesson information to determine whether it is individually useful.

The second objective requires learners to use food and nutrition knowledge to encourage mental health. For example, Hinkle and Dean (2017) state that starchy vegetables and brown rice can give individuals energy to keep them satisfied longer. The affective domain will influence nutrition knowledge use. Hoque (2016) emphasizes that the affective domain involves dealing with feelings, appreciation, values, motivations, and attitudes. As a teacher, I will determine how well the learners have appreciated and valued information on nutrient requirements to promote mental health. Patients with mental health conditions should be willing to appreciate healthy eating information as well as create positive attitudes and feelings towards eating healthy diets to promote mental health.

Lastly, encouraging teamwork involves the psychomotor domain. The psychomotor domain includes coordination, physical movement, and application of motor-skill areas (Chandio et al., 2016). In support of the above, the two teams will be expected to use the recipe pamphlets, food types, and menu calendars in writing and practically preparing meals that will promote mental health based on the lesson materials. In practicing the above activities, team members will be assessed for their unique techniques, precision, and procedures. When every individual understands the types of food that should be included in the healthy diet, food-related risks on mental health will be reduced or eliminated, effectively promoting mental health among patients.

Teaching and Learning Strategies

Since promoting mental health is optimal for this lesson, there is a need for a safe learning environment. Wentzel (2016) discusses that a safe learning environment fosters positive relations between learners and the tutor. Also, Allen et al. (2018) claim that such an environment enables learners to develop effective interpersonal skills in teamwork. Hence, teachers play a significant role in creating a conducive learning environment by applying effective learning strategies (Hugerat 2016). For this lesson, a PowerPoint presentation will guide the teacher and the learners in focusing on the topic and the main objectives of the lesson. The above will ensure that learners and the teacher understand and follow the outline as directed. Direct involvement in the preparation of healthy meals can be supported by connectivism learning theory. When students are involved in preparing healthy meals, they will be able to combine thoughts and general information acquired through experience to prevent food-related risks on mental health.

Observation is mainly for the tutor, but in group work, students will be expected to observe others gain more understanding and insight into preparing healthy diets for mental health patients. The tutor, throughout the lesson, is expected to observe learners’ behaviors to determine whether they are attentive and taking notes on important concepts. Teamwork will be involved when developing effective strategies to reduce food-related risks to mental health. Teamwork is supported by cognitive learning theory. Through teamwork, learners will be expected to reflect on their past experiences (Fidalgo-Blanco et al., 2015). Additionally, the tutor will help learners find new solutions, through a diverse approach, to preparing healthy diets for mental health patients. Further, the tutor will encourage discussions about the topic and help them understand how healthy eating and mental health are connected. The tutor and learners will have created a safe learning environment by applying the above strategies.   

Learning Theories

As explained earlier, connectivism learning theory supports this lesson’s teaching and learning strategies. Goldie (2016) states that connectivism learning theory suggests that learners strategically combine thoughts and general information. Therefore, learners should use their thoughts and acquired information to prepare meals that promote mental health in this lesson. For example, learners can prepare chicken and brown rice meals. The brown rice comprises complex carbohydrates that increase the amount of energy in the brain, while chicken allows the brain to think and react quickly (Utecht and Keller 2019). In doing so, learners will have gained nutrition knowledge on healthy eating while reducing food-related risks on mental health.

Likewise, cognitive learning theory supports this lesson’s teaching and learning strategies. According to Waters and Craske (2016), cognitive learning theory focuses on the influences of the environment on learning. Throughout the lesson, the tutor, with the help of the theory, will ask learners to reflect on their experiences that might have promoted the development of mental health disorders. Additionally, working as a team, learners and the tutor will find effective nutrients to include in healthy diets, enabling learners to understand the importance of eating healthy for patients with mental health (Owen and Corfe 2017). The cognitive learning theory will also enable learners to improve their mental health since when they are increasingly exposed to such a diet, their behaviors and actions will be positively influenced (Illeris 2015). As a result, they will continuously encourage other mental health patients, promoting mental health for the entire population. 

Learning Assessment

Frequent progress monitoring is the applicable assessment approach for this lesson. Frequent progress monitoring is regularly assessing the performance of a lesson between its benchmarks to determine if the applied interventions positively impact learners’ achievement (Jensen-Doss et al., 2018). For this lesson, frequent progress monitoring will be based on determining if the participants have understood the importance of healthy eating and gained nutrition knowledge that promotes mental health. Additionally, during the group work, learners will be assessed based on effective materials in preparing a healthy meal to reduce food-related risks to mental health. Further, learners’ participation in the lesson will be evaluated based on frequent questions throughout the class sessions. Having increased questions throughout the class is an indication that students are gaining knowledge and becoming interested in promoting mental health through healthy eating.

Conclusion

This lesson plan promotes healthy eating among patients with mental health disorders with connectivism and cognitive learning theories. By the end of the lesson, learners will be expected to understand the importance of healthy eating, gain nutrition knowledge, and work as teams to reduce food-related risks to mental health. Throughout the sessions, learners will be expected to watch, listen, and actively participate by asking questions and answering questions based on their experiences and information learned during the lesson. Moreover, realizing the lesson’s objectives will borrow knowledge from bloom’s taxonomy domains, from developing intellectual skills to applying motor skills in the healthy meal preparation activity. Therefore, it is vital to use teaching and learning strategies to promote a safe learning environment, such as direct involvement, PowerPoint presentation, and teamwork.

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