Mental Health Impact Assessment Report

From Lynn Todman at the Adler Institute on Social Exclusion:

Our report “U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Policy Guidance: A Mental Health Impact Assessment” has been completed and is available to you at adler.edu/MHIA

This report is the culmination of our 18-month study examining how changes in federal law regarding the use of arrest records in employment decisions would affect Chicago’s underserved Englewood neighborhood. The report also details the Mental Health Impact Assessment (MHIA) process that we employed at the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, constituting an important advance and contribution to the practice of Health Impact Assessment (HIA).

As you know, it is common for U.S. policy makers to consider factors like the natural environment, human physical health, and economic impact in their decision-making processes. Environmental Impact Assessments, Health Impact Assessments, and Economic Impact Assessment are increasingly common.  However, assessments that evaluate psychological or mental health impacts are rare, despite the fact that mental health is an essential element of healthy communities.

The MHIA process is intended help policy makers assess how changes in public policy may help or harm the mental health of communities, especially the most vulnerable. It is also a useful tool in helping to narrow health inequities, and will become increasingly important in light of dwindling mental health resources and support. Conducting an MHIA can help ensure that policies that are implemented will help reduce health inequities, and improve the health and wellbeing of communities and the nation.

Thank you for your interest in our work.  If we can answer questions or provide more information for you, please contact us at ISE@adler.edu

Lancet 2nd Series on Global Mental Health

Executive summary

The Lancet Series on Global Mental Health 2011 follows up on the pioneering set of papers published by the journal in 2007. It tracks progress over the past four years, and adds information to provide an indispensible resource for health workers and policymakers. The subjects of the papers were chosen after consultation with the Movement for Global Mental Health, an international coalition of professionals and the public that is committed to improving access to mental health care and promoting the human rights of people affected by mental illness worldwide.

The Series comprises six papers addressing interventions to break the vicious cycles of mental health problems and poverty, global child and adolescent mental health, mental health in humanitarian settings, the scale-up of mental health services in low-income and middle-income countries, human resources for mental health care, and human rights violations of people with mental and psychosocial disabilities. Wide-ranging in both its scope and authorship, theLancet Series on Global Mental Health 2011 provides a benchmark of progress, and a renewed call to action.

Series Comments

A renewed agenda for global mental health

Vikram Patel, Niall Boyce, Pamela Y Collins, Shekhar Saxena, Richard Horton

Full Text | PDF

The rights of people with mental disorders: WPA perspective

Mario Maj

Full Text | PDF

A global scope for global health—including mental health

Giuseppe Raviola, Anne E Becker, Paul Farmer

Full Text | PDF

Empowerment and partnership in mental health

Charlene Sunkel

Full Text | PDF

Series Papers

Poverty and mental disorders: breaking the cycle in low-income and middle-income countries

Crick Lund, Mary De Silva, Sophie Plagerson, Sara Cooper, Dan Chisholm, Jishnu Das, Martin Knapp, Vikram Patel

Summary | Full Text | PDF

Child and adolescent mental health worldwide: evidence for action

Christian Kieling, Helen Baker-Henningham, Myron Belfer, Gabriella Conti, Ilgi Ertem, Olayinka Omigbodun, Luis Augusto Rohde, Shoba Srinath, Nurper Ulkuer, Atif Rahman

Summary | Full Text | PDF

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings: linking practice and research

Wietse A Tol, Corrado Barbui, Ananda Galappatti, Derrick Silove, Theresa S Betancourt, Renato Souza, Anne Golaz, Mark van Ommeren

Summary | Full Text | PDF

Scale up of services for mental health in low-income and middle-income countries

Julian Eaton, Layla McCay, Maya Semrau, Sudipto Chatterjee, Florence Baingana, Ricardo Araya, Christina Ntulo, Graham Thornicroft, Shekhar Saxena

Summary | Full Text | PDF

Human resources for mental health care: current situation and strategies for action

Ritsuko Kakuma, Harry Minas, Nadja van Ginneken, Mario R Dal Poz, Keshav Desiraju, Jodi E Morris, Shekhar Saxena, Richard M Scheffler

Summary | Full Text | PDF

Human rights violations of people with mental and psychosocial disabilities: an unresolved global crisis

Natalie Drew, Michelle Funk, Stephen Tang, Jagannath Lamichhane, Elena Chávez, Sylvester Katontoka, Soumitra Pathare, Oliver Lewis, Lawrence Gostin, Benedetto Saraceno

Summary | Full Text | PDF

Click here to go to Lancet Global mental Health 2011 series page

WHO World Mental Health Atlas 2011

Click here to go to the WHO page to download the report.

The WHO Mental Health Atlas 2011 represents the latest estimate of global mental health resources available to prevent and treat mental disorders and help protect the human rights of people living with these conditions.

It presents data from 184 WHO Member States, covering 95% of the world’s population. 

The focus is on mental health care governance and services.

Key messages:

1. Resources to treat and prevent mental disorders remain insufficient

• Globally, spending on mental health is less than two US dollars per person, per year and less than 25 cents in low income countries.
• Almost half of the world's population lives in a country where, on average, there is one psychiatrist or less to serve 200,000 people. 

2 . Resources for mental health are inequitably distributed

• Only 36% of people living in low income countries are covered by mental health legislation. 
• In contrast, the corresponding rate for high income countries is 92%. Dedicated mental health legislation can help to legally reinforce the goals of policies and plans in line with international human rights and practice standards. 
• Outpatient mental health facilities are 58 times more prevalent in high income compared with low income countries. 
• User / consumer organizations are present in 83% of high income countries in comparison to 49% of low income countries. 

3. Resources for mental health are inefficiently utilised

• Globally, 63% of psychiatric beds are located in mental hospitals, and 67% of mental health spending is directed towards these institutions.

4. Institutional care for mental health disorders may be slowly decreasing worldwide

• Though resources remain concentrated in mental hospitals, a modest decrease in mental hospital beds was found from 2005 to 2011 at the global level and in almost every income and regional group.

This map of mental health legislation and legislation in other laws is interesting (Page 23). Page 18 has a map on mental health policy.