The ‘Cultures’ of Global Mental Health

2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642110392
Author(s):  
Leandro David Wenceslau ◽  
Francisco Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Mental Health Literature ◽  
The Social

Global Mental Health is a field of research and practice that addresses the expansion of universal and equitable mental health care worldwide. This article explores the ways the concept of culture is employed in Global Mental Health literature. Global Mental Health advocates and critics assume an ontological separation between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ to typify mental illness, linking it predominantly to one or the other of these two categories. Advocates of Global Mental Health view mental disorders as a nature–culture hybrid, while critics see them as typically cultural phenomena. The cultural critique of Global Mental Health can be strengthened by a sociological approach to both the role of critique and the uses of the concept of culture within social sciences. As an alternative to the ontologization of culture, we propose a different theoretical approach to the social issues involved in the expansion of international public health care in mental health: Arthur Kleinman's and Didier Fassin’s moral anthropological approaches.

scholarly journals The management of social problems talk in a support group

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (spe) ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrezza Gomes Peretti ◽  
Pedro Pablo Sampaio Martins ◽  
Carla Guanaes-Lorenzi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Disease Process ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
The Social ◽  
Transformation Processes

The comprehension of the health-disease process from a multifactorial perspective has allowed important transformations in the healthcare practices. In this article, we discuss the use of the support group as a resource for mental health care, analyzing how conversations about social issues are managed in this context. Based on contributions from the social constructionist movement, we analyzed the transcripts of the conversations developed in meetings of a support group offered to patients of a mental health outpatient clinic. The analysis of the process of meaning making indicates that the discourse of the social influence on mental health is not legitimized, due to a predominant individualistic discourse, which psychologizes care and is centered on the emotional analysis of the problems of the quotidian. We argue that this mode of management brings limits to the construction of the group as a device for promoting autonomy and encouraging the social transformation processes.

Telepsychiatry for the Rohingya refugees (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanjir Rashid Soron
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Need

UNSTRUCTURED Though health and shelter are two basic human rights, millions of refugees around the world are deprived of these basic needs. Moreover, the mental health need is one of least priority issues for the refugees. Bangladesh a developing country in the Southeast Asia where the health system is fragile and the sudden influx of thousands of Rohingya put the system in a more critical situation. It is beyond the capacity of the country to provide the minimum mental health care using existing resource. However, the refuges need immediate and extensive mental health care as the trauma, torture and being uprooted from homeland makes them vulnerable for various mental. Telepsychiatry (using technology for mental health service) opened a new window to provide mental health service for them. Mobile phone opened several options to reach to the refugees, screen them with mobile apps, connect them with self-help apps and system, track their symptoms, provide distance intervention and train the frontline health workers about the primary psychological supports. The social networking sites give the opportunity to connect the refugees with experts, create peer support group and provide interventions. Bangladesh can explore and can use the telepsychiatry to provide mental health service to the rohingya people.

Global psychiatry

2017 ◽  
pp. 674-680
Author(s):  
Paul Harrison ◽  
Philip Cowen ◽  
Tom Burns ◽  
Mina Fazel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Mental Health Workers ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Humanitarian Emergencies ◽  
Psychiatric Illnesses ◽  
Aids Pandemic

‘Global psychiatry’ discusses the global mental health movement. Across the globe, and especially in low- and middle-income settings, there is a high prevalence of untreated psychiatric illness. In lower resourced settings there is often the need to address the added influence of poverty. The chapter discusses the question of how to scale up services and models, including using lay mental health workers and also integration of mental health care into primary health care settings to better meet the needs of those suffering from psychiatric illnesses across the globe. Four areas are discussed in more detail—the HIV/AIDS pandemic, perinatal mental illness, child and adolescent mental health, and humanitarian emergencies.

Hispanics, Mental Health, and Suicide: Brief Report

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Brenes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Hispanic Americans ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Provider Attitudes ◽  
Health Crisis

A global health crisis exists surrounding suicide. In the United States, suicide rates have increased by nearly 30% in most states since 1999. Although the suicide rate among Hispanic Americans is significantly lower than non-Hispanic Whites, reasons for the lower rate are unclear. Current literature suggests that the lower rate may be due to underreporting, a lack of suicide screening and a number of complex social issues, including the stigma surrounding suicide in Hispanic culture. Health care provider attitudes toward suicidal individuals may also negatively affect mental health outcomes. This brief report focuses on suicide as a public health concern, addresses key issues arising from the phenomenon, and provides a perspective on health care providers’ attitudes toward suicide. Recommendations for future research, as well as implications for clinical practice and policy, are suggested.

scholarly journals Global mental health in low and middle income, especially African countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 503-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Health Movement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Randomised Control Trials ◽  
Effectiveness Studies ◽  
Or Task

Mental health for all is the main goal of the global mental health movement. Central characteristics to achieving this are examination of the social determinants of health and a more preventive approach; greater task shifting or task sharing; emphasis on common as well as serious mental disorder; a strong research base and a commitment to human rights. Putting the interventions in place in countries with limited resources and particularly African countries that will best promote mental health is challenging and requires a careful balancing of priorities and approaches. Evidence in the form of randomised control trials and cost-effectiveness studies are necessary but not sufficient to achieving the set objectives. This editorial points to various considerations that may contribute towards the quest for mental health for all.

scholarly journals Readmissions of long-stay psychiatric patients to the acute services from hostels in the community

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 524-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosie Shepperd
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Psychiatric Services ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Community Mental Health Care ◽  
Alternative Vision ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 19Th Century

The asylum movement was developed in the 19th century to provide care and cure for people with mental disorders. In the 20th century the old vision of asylum was abandoned, but no new alternative vision of community mental health care has taken its place. A divide between acute psychiatric services and provision for the social aspects of care has been described by Murphy (1991).

scholarly journals Challenges to peer support in low- and middle-income countries during COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mpango ◽  
Jasmine Kalha ◽  
Donat Shamba ◽  
Mary Ramesh ◽  
Fileuka Ngakongwa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Low Resource Settings ◽  
Mental Health Conditions ◽  
Middle Income Countries

Abstract Background A recent editorial urged those working in global mental health to “change the conversation” on coronavirus disease (Covid-19) by putting more focus on the needs of people with severe mental health conditions. UPSIDES (Using Peer Support In Developing Empowering mental health Services) is a six-country consortium carrying out implementation research on peer support for people with severe mental health conditions in high- (Germany, Israel), lower middle- (India) and low-income (Tanzania, Uganda) settings. This commentary briefly outlines some of the key challenges faced by UPSIDES sites in low- and middle-income countries as a result of Covid-19, sharing early lessons that may also apply to other services seeking to address the needs of people with severe mental health conditions in similar contexts. Challenges and lessons learned The key take-away from experiences in India, Tanzania and Uganda is that inequalities in terms of access to mobile technologies, as well as to secure employment and benefits, put peer support workers in particularly vulnerable situations precisely when they and their peers are also at their most isolated. Establishing more resilient peer support services requires attention to the already precarious situation of people with severe mental health conditions in low-resource settings, even before a crisis like Covid-19 occurs. While it is essential to maintain contact with peer support workers and peers to whatever extent is possible remotely, alternatives to face-to-face delivery of psychosocial interventions are not always straightforward to implement and can make it more difficult to observe individuals’ reactions, talk about emotional issues and offer appropriate support. Conclusions In environments where mental health care was already heavily medicalized and mostly limited to medications issued by psychiatric institutions, Covid-19 threatens burgeoning efforts to pursue a more holistic and person-centered model of care for people with severe mental health conditions. As countries emerge from lockdown, those working in global mental health will need to redouble their efforts not only to make up for lost time and help individuals cope with the added stressors of Covid-19 in their communities, but also to regain lost ground in mental health care reform and in broader conversations about mental health in low-resource settings.

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