scholarly journals Human rights-based approaches to mental health legislation and global mental health

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 37-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Medical Authority ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Alternative Practices ◽  
Health Legislation

Globally, established practice in mental health services has tended to be codified into law in ways that are paternalistic, seeking to make decisions for patients that presume ‘best interest’ and which ultimately place power in the hands of medical authority. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – which has been widely ratified globally – challenges these assumptions, instead placing the expressed will and preference of patients as the most important factor in decision-making, including treatment and consent to admission. The contradictions between these approaches cause profound challenges in legislation reform, but a human rights framework offers the potential for a paradigm shift in the way that people are treated in services, and in exploration of alternative practices that promise a more humane and dignified future for mental health care.

scholarly journals Mental health legislation in Botswana

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. 68-70
Author(s):  
J. Maphisa Maphisa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Legislation

The Mental Disorders Act of 1969 is the primary legislation relating to mental health in Botswana. Despite the country not being a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, its Act has a self-rated score of four out of five on compliance to human rights covenants. However, it can be argued that the Act does not adequately espouse a human rights- and patient-centred approach to legislation. It is hoped that ongoing efforts to revise the Act will address the limitations discussed in this article.

Human rights in community psychiatry

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevra Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Community Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Policy ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Health It ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
United Nations Convention

This chapter examines the increased concern for human rights within the global mental health policy agenda and considers what value human rights might add in relation to the use of coercion in community mental health. It describes the position underlying the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and compares it with the more radical approach of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). While the CRPD might be more challenging to mental health professionals, it contains within its principles that the wishes and preferences of the person be centre stage and as such deserve to be taken seriously in the provision of community mental health care.

Human rights implications of introducing a new mental health act – principles, challenges and opportunities

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj S Gill ◽  
John A Allan ◽  
Belinda Clark ◽  
Alan Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Positive Rights ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Health Legislation ◽  
Made In

Objective: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), 2006 has influenced the evolution of mental health legislation to protect and promote human rights of individuals with mental illness. This review introduces how the human rights agenda can be systematised into mental health services. Exploration is made of how some principles of CRPD have been incorporated into Queensland’s Mental Health Act 2016. Conclusion: Although progress has been made in some areas, e.g. heavier reliance on capacity assessment and new supported decision-making mechanisms, MHA 2016 has continued to focus on involuntary treatment. A Human Rights Act 2019 has been passed by the Queensland parliament, which may fill in the gap by strengthening positive rights.

scholarly journals Influence of the new mental health legislation in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-22
Author(s):  
Rakesh K. Chadda
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Legislation

This paper discusses the influence of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 on mental healthcare in India. The new Act was introduced to meet the recommendations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Reforms proposed in the new legislation, challenges in their implementation and their effects on mental healthcare in the country are further discussed.

scholarly journals The need to reform mental health legislation in Commonwealth countries

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumitra Pathare ◽  
Laura Shields ◽  
Jaya Sagade ◽  
Renuka Nardodkar
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Health Legislation

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) serves as a comprehensive and legally binding framework for the rights of persons with mental illness. The extent to which countries have adapted their mental health legislation to reflect the binding provisions outlined in the CRPD is unclear. This paper reviews the situation across the Commonwealth.

scholarly journals Mental Health Legislation Through History and Challenges in Implementing Article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 56-79
Author(s):  
Marisabell Škorić ◽  
Sandra Fabijanić Gagro
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
The Right ◽  
Health Legislation

The paper is divided into two parts to facilitate a clearer understanding of all aspects of the change in the position of people with psychosocial disabilities, regarding the right to liberty and security, through the historical development of national and international legal frameworks. The first part briefly presents an overview of national legislation on the protection of persons with psychosocial disabilities and the circumstances in which states adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities earlier this century. The second part of the paper underscores the challenges the States Parties face in the implementation of Article 14 of the Convention. The State Parties’ reports show that the processes of changing the perceptions of persons with psychosocial disabilities, when it comes to their involuntary detention, have been changing quite slowly and partially and that the realisation of their human rights is one of the Convention’s greatest challenges.

Crime-Preventing Neurointerventions and the Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Forsberg
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Medical Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Legal Regimes ◽  
Health Legislation

Anti-libidinal interventions (ALIs) are a type of crime-preventing neurointervention (CPN) already in use in many jurisdictions. This chapter examines different types of legal regimes under which ALIs might be provided to sex offenders. The types of legal regimes examined are dedicated statutes that directly provide for ALI use, consensual ALI provision under general medical law principles, mental health legislation providing for ALI use (exemplified by the mental health regime in England and Wales), and European human rights law as it pertains to ALI provision. The chapter considers what we might learn from ALIs in respect of likely or possible arrangements for the provision of other CPNs, and draws attention to some ethical issues raised by each of these types of regime, worth keeping in mind when considering arrangements for CPN provision.

scholarly journals Global mental health should engage with the ethics of involuntary admission

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisha N. Wickremsinhe
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Clinical Ethics ◽  
Psychiatric Care ◽  
Global Mental Health ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Involuntary Admission ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Psychosocial Disability

AbstractGlobal mental health, as a field, has focused on both increasing access to mental health services and promoting human rights. Amidst many successes in engaging with and addressing various human rights violations affecting individuals living with psychosocial disabilities, one human rights challenge remains under-discussed: involuntary inpatient admission for psychiatric care. Global mental health ought to engage proactively with the debate on the ethics of involuntary admission and work to develop a clear position, for three reasons. Firstly, the field promotes models of mental healthcare that are likely to include involuntary admission. Secondly, the field aligns much of its human rights framework with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which opposes the discriminatory use of involuntary admission on the basis of psychosocial disability or impairment. Finally, global mental health, as a field, is uniquely positioned to offer novel contributions to this long-standing debate in clinical ethics by collecting data and conducting analyses across settings. Global mental health should take up involuntary admission as a priority area of engagement, applying its own orientation toward research and advocacy in order to explore the dimensions of when, if ever, involuntary admission may be permissible. Such work stands to offer meaningful contributions to the challenge of involuntary admission.

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