Mental Health Disorders in Adulthood

This course is open to student learners in the health science areas including social work, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry. This course will present state-of-the-art knowledge and research of mental disorders of adults across the lifespan, as well as factors that promote mental health, and prevent mental disorders and substance related problems. Using a clinical case discussion format, this class will highlight mental health diagnoses, comorbidity, and team collaboration across health professions. Social determinants of health/mental health will be used as an organizing framework for discussing the impact of factors associated with health and mental health across diverse cultures, groups and populations. Classification systems of adult mental functioning and mental disorders will be presented, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9/10). Ethical considerations regarding the development and application of classifications will be explored in addition to critically analyzing both the strengths and limitations of these classification systems with diverse populations. Competencies related to teamwork and collaboration, values and ethics, and communication will be addressed.