Mental Health Gap Action Programme

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between ages 15 – 34. Now, the question is where’s the effort to stop it? If 90% of people who commit suicide have a mental illness,

If you do not already have a good disability policy, this may be an important opportunity to request disability awareness training for managers and union reps. Even disabled members may not be aware that they qualify for protection under the Equality Act 2010, or that they are ‘disabled’ according to the Act’s definition of a disabled person. Knowledge can be power, so publicise disabled people’s rights.

A national strategy for promoting mental wellbeing and mental health is No Health Without Mental Health.

as initiatives such as ‘Our Health Our Care Our Say’, ‘Putting People First’ and ‘Valuing People’ are changing how we look at disability and making people aware that all disabled people have the right to take a full part in society.

In the course of proper identification, evaluation, and treatment, children and adolescents suffering with mental illness can conduct positive, normal lives. Nevertheless, the devastating majority of children with mental illnesses are unsuccessfully identified and the lack of treatment or support services have led to a subordinate worth of life and violence. The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013 (S. 689) is an inclusive bill proposed to address the extensive issue of mental health. By strongly considering the United States’ struggle against mental illness and school violence, as well as utilizing theoretical constructs to examine the Senate’s bill, a social worker can develop a more holistic perspective that can productively integrate practical insights reached from a variety of different points of view.

Healthy People 2020 is a government site that identifies health concerns based on statistics observed and collected over a ten-year period. Mental Health and Mental Disorders is one of the many health concerns or topics listed on their website and has been further subcategorized into objectives and goals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2015). The first objective listed under this topic states “reduce the suicide rate” (HHS, 2015). The goal of this objective is to “reduce the suicide rate by ten percent” (HHS, 2015). Suicide is prevalent among varying age groups, ethnicities, and genders (HHS, 2012). It is an increasing problem prompting Healthy People 2020 to label it as a Leading Health Indicator or an extremely important issue (HHS, 2015). To meet their goal, Healthy People 2020 partnered with the U. S. Surgeon General and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (NAASP) to create a plan that can be utilized throughout the nation. Their plan focuses on removing the stigma associated with mental health and mental health disorders while simultaneously building supportive communities with increased access to care, creating a standardized model promoting the collaboration of health care professionals in order to increase identification and data collection of high-risk patients and provide continuity of care, and ensuring the education and the adequacy of patient support systems.

Healthy People 2020 has chosen twelve health indicators and has set a goal to improve them. Public health has a significant role in ensuring that these topics are addressed and that the goal is achieved. The leading health topic and indicator that I chose is within the Mental Health Status Improvement, and the indicator is reducing the suicide rate. In 2010, when the 10-year initiative started, the baseline measurement for suicides was 12.1; however, in 2015, it had increased to 13.3. The HP2020 target goal is 10.2 (Healthy People, 2017). The increase denotes that there was no progress made and that the measure worsens instead of improving.

Suicide rates are at a 30-year high. Nearly 800,000 people commit suicide each year in the United States. (World Health Organization). Nearly every 30 seconds someone has completed a suicide, in addition, for every suicide that is completed, 20 people have tried to end their lives. Approximately 90% of all suicides committed in the United States have a direct relation to mental illness. The president and CEO of Mental Health America, Paul Gionfriddo, stated that “We must improve access to care and treatments, and we need to put a premium on early identification and early intervention for everyone with mental health concerns.” (mentalhealthAmerica). Without proper treatment and early detection, many families will continue to be affected by mental illness.

“40 percent of countries have no mental health policy” (Nullis). Ghana and other third world countries do not have the financial means to care for those with mental disabilities. This is due to the fact that they do not understand the seriousness behind these disorders, and see it as less of an epidemic then it truly is. Clare Nullis reported that “two thirds of countries spent 1 percent or less of their health budget on mental health, and half had only one psychiatrist per 100,000 people.” For most of these countries they either cannot afford to spend their budgets on taking care of the mentally challenged, or they do not understand how serious the problem actually is, and feel that their finances are better spent elsewhere. Mentally ill people all over the world are not being seen as human beings, who still possess the same rights and protections as everyone

In all its work, the Commission is guided by the lived experience of people with mental illness and their families and carers. The Commission promotes policies and practices that recognise the autonomy of people who experience mental illness and support their recovery, emphasising their personal and social needs and preferences as well as broader health

Policies have an important role in regulating and shaping the values in a society. The issues related to mental health are not only considered as personal but also affecting the relationships with significant others. The stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health can be traced to the lack of legislation and protection of rights (Rodriguez del Barrio et al., 2014). The policy makers in mental health have a challenging task to protect the rights of individuals as well as the public (Swigger & Heinmiller, 2014). Therefore, it is essential to analyse the current mental health policies. In Canada, provinces adopt their own Mental Health Acts (MHA) to implement mental health services. As of January 15, 2016, there are 13 mental health acts in Canada (Gray, Hastings, Love, & O’Reilly, 2016). The key elements, despite the differences in laws, are “(1) involuntary admission criteria, (2) the right to refuse treatment, and (3) who has the authority to authorize treatment” (Browne, 2010). The current act in Ontario is Mental Health Act, 1990.

Mental health: new understanding, new hope, the theme of a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001 (1), demonstrated a remarkable recognition of mental disorders globally. Since then, policymakers and researchers have increasingly raised their voices and commitment to improving the health and well-being of people with mental disorders. Despite this, empirical evidence suggests a large and persistent gap in access to health services by people with mental disorders in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) particularly in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). (2, 3)Therefore, this study aimed to identify and explore available evidence to the persistent gap and propose a model to improve access and utilisation of health services by

With so many diseases and medical conditions to take care of, mental health often takes last place on the list of priorities. Dementia, depression, post-traumatic stress and other disorders affect every country alike. While developing countries need to develop access to mental healthcare, developed nations will need to improve their current facilities. Most westernized nations are experiencing a gradual aging of their population. As the populations aid, mental health will need more mental health professionals in place to handle their care.

Three people in my life have completed suicide; my uncle, my mom’s late fiance, and my step brother on my dad’s side, within four years of each other. I’ve witnessed each parental figure in my life become compromised by grief and the inevitable pain accompanying it, and I’ve seen the way depression can plague someone so deeply, even without the ending of suicide. The prevalence and growing numbers of deaths by suicide calls for a revised manner of education on all mental illnesses and the preventative measures one can take to reduce risk. Initially, when I heard of the Suicide Prevention Week Keynote event with Jamie Tworkowski (founder of ‘To Write Love On Her Arms’) I was thrilled. Hosting such an event on a college campus, presenting to a population greatly affected by mental illness, is demonstrative of the steps that should be taken toward raising awareness. Any opportunity for a comprehensive view on mental health and its significance is one to be taken advantage of. However, as the night proceeded, I did take note of several things that would improve the layout of any future events, as well as further deepen an individual’s comprehension of mental illness.

The central value of equality focuses on the attainment of an inclusive society that enables people with disability to reach their potential as equal, active and participating citizens while promoting equality of opportunities, financial stability, accommodation, employment and social participation. As a result of the value of human equality, social inclusion emerged as an essential value across policies. Social inclusion is recognised across policies as a foundational belief that disabled individual are active, included and valued members of society, therefore strategies have been implemented to increase their involvement in society. For example a central vision of the NDS aims for “people with disability to live in accessible and well designed communities with opportunity