Jalen Xavier Wesley from the College of Nursing at the University of South Alabama, enrolled in NU-607-811: Scientific Underpinnings of Advanced Practice Nursing, taught by Care McCarter, DNP, FNP-BC, completed a Phenomenon of Interest and Philosophic View Paper on the effect of diet and nutrition on mental health well-being.

The paper highlights the extensive research on the importance of diet and nutrition for physiology and body composition. Healthcare providers frequently discuss diet and nutrition while treating chronic illnesses like congestive heart failure, diabetes, and end-stage renal disease. However, the benefits of a healthy diet in improving mental health well-being in outpatient adults with mental illness are often ignored.

Mental illness is a prevalent health condition in the US, affecting over 51 million people and accounting for one-third of adult disability. Additionally, the scarcity of psychiatric hospital beds has led to an increase in the number of adults receiving outpatient mental healthcare. This sector presents a vast area for opportunity where PMHNP, a graduate-prepared registered nurse with mental health training, can bridge the gap between mental illness and treatment.

In outpatient mental health, PMHNPs are integral sources for mental health care management and can introduce treatment modalities to improve mental health well-being through diet. PMHNPs can explore and implement dietary changes, educate patients on current literature regarding the effects of diet, and improve clinical outcomes.

The paper concludes by highlighting the impact of mental health treatment on the US health system. Apart from the clinical workforce deficit, mental health treatments yield a significant national financial burden. The implementation of adjunct treatment through dietary changes can reduce healthcare spending costs and improve clinical outcomes.

Overall, the paper presents analytical and continental philosophic viewpoints on the importance of diet and nutrition in improving mental health well-being in outpatient adults with mental illness.

The use of analytical data is essential to collect reliable results that validate various phenomena. However, not all phenomena can be explained through reproducible data. Controlled experiments have a place in all sciences, but certain contexts may render phenomena unreproducible under controlled experimentation. When researching the impact of dietary changes on mental health and well-being, a considerable amount of data presents itself as empirical data, relying on improved quality of life, decreased symptomology, and enhanced mental health well-being based on the human experience.

In the role of a PMHNP, it is crucial to perform physical and psychosocial assessments. These assessments would require gathering both subjective and objective data to develop treatment plans. The utilization of only one philosophical viewpoint in treating a patient would be inadequate as it would only consider one aspect of the patient's well-being. Rather, enlisting both analytical and continental philosophical views allows for a comprehensive approach to treatment. Taking into account the patient's experiences, lab results, and symptom presentation provides more information than viewing only one aspect.

Carper identified four fundamental patterns of knowing: empirical, aesthetic, ethical, and personal knowledge. Empirical knowledge focuses on explaining and predicting phenomena through organized laws and theories but also requires empirical data in implementing new standards of treating mental illnesses like diet changes. The aesthetic pattern of knowing is considered the art of nursing, requiring the ability to create ways of helping that yield the appropriate results. When new treatment modalities are to be introduced, providers need to understand the feelings that accompany treatment and ensure that patients are willing to modify their current habits to improve their mental health. Ethics ask if actions are right or wrong and what should be done per moral obligation, which providers must consider when dietary changes align or don't align with religious beliefs or personal ideologies. Lastly, personal knowledge requires knowing and actualizing the concrete self, viewing the nurse-to-patient relationship as an authentic relationship between two people, requiring understanding of oneself to form a therapeutic relationship with a patient.

Diet and nutrition play a critical role in the well-being of outpatient adults with mental illness. Mental health costs contribute significantly to the clinical and financial burden of the U.S. health system, but leveraging new knowledge on the benefits of dietary changes on mental health can alleviate these costs. Both analytical and continental philosophical viewpoints and the four fundamental patterns of knowing act as a guide in making a significant impact. Providers can reflect on implementation methods that have the greatest potential to yield positive outcomes. By acknowledging these viewpoints and new data, providers can implement dietary changes to improve mental health well-being in outpatient adults.

References

Adan, R. A., Beek, E. M., Buitelaar, J. K., Cryan, J. F., Hebebrand, J., Higgs, S., . . . Dickson, S. L. (2019, November 14). Nutritional psychiatry: Towards improving mental health by what you eat. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X19317237

Carper, B. A. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13-24. doi:10.1097/00012272-197810000-00004

In order to promote a more transformative approach to mental health care, the article "Positioning Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing as a Transformative Force in Health Care" by Gabrielsson et al. (2020) advocates for a greater recognition of nurses in the field. This is particularly necessary given the declining psychiatric hospital bed capacity in the United States, as outlined in Gibbons et al.'s (2017) article "Suicide Rates and the Declining Psychiatric Hospital Bed Capacity in the United States". The national trend towards specialty outpatient mental health care among adults, highlighted in Han et al.'s (2017) study, also underscores the importance of addressing mental illness in a comprehensive manner.

To do so, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of what mental illness is. The National Institute of Mental Health offers statistical data on mental illness, while the Centers for Disease Control provides educational resources to learn about mental health. Additionally, Rich and Butts' (2017) book "Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice" explores different approaches to mental health care. It is important to note the high economic cost of mental illness in the United States, as reported in Roehrig's (2016) article "Mental Disorders Top The List Of The Most Costly Conditions In The United States: $201 Billion".

In order to address the urgent need for improved mental health care, healthcare organizations should adopt a more collaborative model of care, as discussed in MS' (2017) article "Urgent Need for Improved Mental Health Care and a More Collaborative Model of Care". Similarly, SIM's (2019) book "Contemporary Continental Philosophy: The New Scepticism" discusses how philosophical perspectives may inform mental health care. Overall, a more comprehensive and collaborative approach is needed to address the complex and pressing issue of mental illness.