Information 1-5
- The social-emotional wellbeing questions aim to identify adults who may be:
- experiencing thoughts or feelings that impact negatively on their lives e.g. suicide or self-harm
- finding it difficult to make positive decisions about any chronic conditions or health issues they may have
- at risk of Depression or Anxiety disorders
Health check recommendations
- All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people > 15 years of age annually
- All people > 15 years of age opportunistically
1. Procedure 6,7
- Ask the Table 1. questions in your own words or words the person understands
- Observe the person’s facial expressions, eye contact, reactions and vocalisations, including:
- impatience, anger
- speaking negatively
- silence, withdrawn
- fidgety or anxious
- Be mindful of cultural nuances e.g. averting eye contact, head bowed
- Be prepared for the person to debrief with you. See Engaging our patients
- The questions are:
- general exploratory questions of a person’s wellbeing. They are not diagnostic
- based on general anxiety disorder and depression based screening tools
- Determine if the person requires a referral and place on a follow-up and recall register
Table 1. Exploratory questions for those > 15 years 6,7 |
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Responses: (1) Not at all (2) Several days (3) More than half the days (4) Nearly every day |
Over the last 2 weeks:
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A score > 3 for the first 2 questions or the last 2 questions require a referral for further investigations. See 2. Results |
2. Results
- If the person talks about harming themselves or some other person, do not leave them alone or send away. Refer to the Primary Clinical Care Manual, the MO/NP or mental health services
- If the person scores > 3 for the first 2 questions or the last 2 questions:
- perform:
- a 25 item Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). See Resource 1. or
- a Depression, Anxiety, Stress scale (DASS). See Resource 2. or
- for a teenager a HEADDS assessment. See Resource 3.
- refer for further investigation. See Table 2.
- provide brief intervention
- perform:
3. Brief intervention
- Most people experience social-emotional changes throughout their lives
- Unresolved social-emotional issues:
- can have life-long impacts on work, maintaining positive relationships and developing healthy identities
- are often associated with physical health problems, intellectual disability, learning disorders, anxiety, substance abuse, self-harm, psychosis and trauma
- Discuss how the body reacts in times of stress, fear, confusion and sadness (provide Resources 4–5.) including:
- heart beating fast
- sweating
- crying
- shaking
- Ask the person to identify someone they feel safe to talk to about the way they feel
- Provide 24 hour health service details to seek help if their feelings become more regular, intrusive or impact on their ability to function
4. Referral
- If the person talks about harming themselves or some other person, do not leave them alone or send away. Refer to the Primary Clinical Care Manual, the MO/NP or mental health services
- Refer to the MO/NP or mental health services, along with the SDQ, DASS or HEADDS assessment, if:
- patient scores > 3 for the first 2 questions or the last 2 questions
- concerns are raised by person
- you are concerned about the person
- Refer to Child safety reporting if you have any child safety concerns
- For further referral options see Table 2.
Table 2. Referral options |
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Queensland Health |
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Other services |
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5. Follow-up
- Place the person on a recall register if required
- Ensure all referrals are actioned
- Provide the person with details for the next scheduled follow-up appointment
6. References
- All Chronic Conditions Manual references are available via the downloadable References PDF