International Journal of Mental Health Systems2011,5:17http://www.ijmhs.com/content/5/1/17
For Mental Health Service Delivery under National Mental Health Programme
This operational guidance on MHPSS provides a practical orientation and tools for UNHCR country operations. It covers specific points of good practice to consider when developing MHPSS programming and offers advice on priority issues and practical difficulties, while also providing some background i
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nformation and definitions. Since MHPSS is a cross cutting concept this operational guidance is relevant for programming in various sectors, including health, community based protection, education, shelter, nutrition, food security and livelihoods.
The focus of this operational guidance is on refugees and asylum seekers, but it may apply to other persons of concern within UNHCR operations such as stateless persons, internally displaced persons and returnees. The guidance is meant for operations in both camp and non-camp settings, and in both rural and urban settings in low and middle-income countries with a UNHCR presence.
The guidance should be adapted according to different contexts. A standardized format for programme implementation cannot be offered because this depends to a large extent on existing national capacities and local opportunities.
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Indian Journal of Psychiatry 56(3), Jul‐Sep 2014; DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.140615
Work can be beneficial or harmful to mental health depending on
the circumstances. If a person has a mental
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health problem, being
at work in a supportive workplace can assist in their recovery. The
level of support needed will fluctuate, as the symptoms of most
mental health problems come and go over time.
Providing mental health first aid when a worker is showing the
early signs and symptoms of a mental health problem is important,
as it can assist the person to return to their usual performance
quickly. Failing to provide mental health first
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This NCEPOD report highlights the quality of mental health and physical health care for patients aged 18 years or older with a significant
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mental disorder who are admitted to a general hospital. The report takes a critical look at areas where the care of patients might have been improved. Remediable factors have also been identified in the clinical and the organisational care of these patients.
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The health impact of radiological and nuclear emergencies can last for decades. Lessons learned from past radiological and nuclear accidents have demonstrated that the mental
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health and psychosocial consequences can outweigh the direct physical health impacts of radiation exposure. International radiation emergency preparedness and response standards outline provisions for mitigating these effects. Yet, practical guidance for addressing the mental health and psychosocial aspects of radiation emergencies remains scarce.
This framework aims to promote integration between the MHPSS and radiation protection fields. It is intended for officials and specialists involved in radiation emergency planning and risk management as well as MHPSS experts working in health emergencies.
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The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) was established by World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland in January 2000 to assess the place of
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health in global economic development. Although health is widely understood to be both a central goal and an important outcome of development, the importance of investing in health to promote economic development and poverty reduction has been much less appreciated. We have found that extending the coverage of crucial health services, including a relatively small number of specific interventions, to the world’s poor could save millions of lives each year, reduce poverty, spur economic development, and promote global security.
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Mental health issues are usually given very low priority in health service policies. Although this is changing, African countries are still confron
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ted with so many problems caused by communicable diseases and malnutrition that they have not woken up to the impact of mental disorders. Every country must formulate a mental health policy based on its own social and cultural realities. Such policies must take into account the scope of mental health problems, provide proven and affordable interventions, safeguard patients’ rights, and ensure equity.
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Poverty, HIV and other disease burdens, coupled with common mental disorders including alcohol and other substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, clinical and postnatal depression, distress, and anxiety, impact how caregivers meet the
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needs of children. When mental health is not considered or addressed, there can be a significant impact on an individual, their family and the community.
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For children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV (OVC)
A broad range of UNHCR’s key priorities overlap with MHPSS issues – for example, child protection and sexual and gender-based violence [SGBV] prevention and response.
Despite all these existent synergies, UNHCR’s current policies and guidelines do not sufficiently link with MHPSS principles.
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For example, the Community Services section, which is closely aligned to the principles of MHPSS and could be well-positioned to guide the implementation of related programs, has not adopted the MHPSS language or approach.
There are opportunities for UNHCR to engage more strongly and clearly in this field. However, this requires a vision for how the organisation as a whole, and particular sectors within the organisation, will engage within the field of MHPSS activities. For a start, UNHCR can work to improve its understanding and framing of mental health and psychosocial issues, and how these issues fit within its broader mandate.
While the majority of MHPSS activities are delivered by implementing partners, UNHCR staff require familiarity with core principles in the field, such as the Intervention Pyramid contained in the IASC Guidelines, in order to support and monitor quality MHPSS activities.
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In recent decades, there have been concerted efforts to improve mental health services for youths alongside the challenges of rising healthcare costs and increasing demand for
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mental health needs. One important phenomenon is the shift from traditional clinic-based care to community based mental health services to improve accessibility to services and provide patient-centred care. In this article, we discuss the child and adolescent community mental health efforts within the Asia-Pacific region.
Brain Sci.2017,7, 126; doi:10.3390/brainsci7100126
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As part of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme, WHO has developed training manuals (Training of trainers and supervisors training manual and Training of
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health-care providers training manual) to support implementation of the mhGAP Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders in non-specialized health settings, version 2.0. These manuals can be used to build capacity among non-specialist health-care providers in the assessment and management of people with priority MNS conditions in low resource settings.
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The International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and
Allied Professions (IACAPAP) aims to promote the mental health and
development of children and adolescents worldwide. It seeks
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to achieve
this by contributing to the training and professional development of the
child and adolescent mental health professionals by disseminating up-todate
and high-quality information through its publications, organization
of biennial international congresses, and study groups. IACAPAP has a
long tradition of publishing monographs released to coincide with the
congresses, with the first one published in 1970.
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Mental disorders are a leading cause of the global burden of disease, and the provision of mental health services in developing countries remains v
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ery limited and far from equitable. Using the Creditor Reporting System, we estimate the amounts and patterns of development assistance for global mental health (DAMH) between 2007 and 2013. This allows us to examine how well international donors have responded to calls by global mental health advocates to scale up evidence-based services. Although DAMH did increase between 2007 and 2013, it remains low both in absolute terms and as a proportion of total development assistance for health (DAH). The average annual DAMH between 2007 and 2013 was US$133.57 million, and the proportion of DAH attributed to mental health is less than 1%. Approximately 48% of total DAMH was for humanitarian assistance, education, and civil services. More annual DAMH was channelled into the nonpublic sector than the public sector. Despite an expanding body of evidence suggesting that sustainable mental health care can be effectively integrated into existing health systems at relatively low cost, mental health has not received significant development assistance.
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