Mental Health Policy (A complete guide)

In this brief blog, we will be talking about mental health policy, the contents of a mental health policy, the benefits of mental health policy, and more information about mental health policy.

Mental Health Policy by the World Health Organization (WHO)

This kind of policy was made under the oath of this organization and what its contents should be.

This kind of organization stated that this kind of policy should state the roles of mental health professionals in times when psychological intervention is currently needed.

This kind of policy should also have some instructions on  how to implement psychological treatments that are necessary for the affected patient.

This kind of policy should also have plans on what needs to be done with different kinds of patients when therapy is sought out.

WHO technical support to policy makers and service planners for mental health policy

There are a lot of recommendations that were placed by this organization on what this policy should entail.

This organization was even helpful in giving people some proposals that could work in mental health services.

This organization also placed strategic plans that are open for changes to those countries that may need help with dealing with mental health problems that are present in the current society.

The following are the recommendations placed by this organization:

Mental health situational analysis and needs assessment in mental health policy

There is a need for countries to have comprehensive plans when it comes to dealing with mental health problems.

In other words, there is a need to address questions that are rampant about mental health services in the country.

Facilitating stakeholder consultations within countries in mental health policy

There is also a need to discuss with stakeholders who are interested in donating their funds to mental health services.

This donation can help in maximizing mental health services that are needed in affected communities.

Analysis, drafting and implementation of mental health policies, strategic plans and proposals for service organization in mental health policy

There is also the need to discuss with the mental health organization to create plans that can help in implementing treatment in affected communities.

This policy should also include proposals where the problems concentrated for mental health problems will be addressed immediately.

Mental health Green Papers are also a part of the mental health policy in the UK.

Assistance to improve capacity of mental health systems and services in this mental health policy

There is also the need for policies to have some address to the need to access mental health services for affected people.

The NHS already has this program where there is a need to improve the access to mental health services.

This program is called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies which has been slowly implemented in several communities.

There are also discussions that are concentrated on this plan since this plan is highly needed in the country with the ongoing epidemic of anxiety and depression in affected people.

What some charities are fighting for mental health?

Some charities are fighting for mental health by bringing some mental health services closer to affected people.

These charities have worked to get this plan underway to help those affected people.

A lot of affected people would like their therapy services closer than recently.

This can increase the convenience felt by these affected people when it comes to getting therapy.

Charities want:

• a full choice of evidence-based psychological therapies made available to all for mental health care
• a commitment to equality between mental and physical health for health care
• increased access to psychological therapies for all for mental health care
• more research and an improved evidence base for psychological therapies for mental health care
  
  
  

Some charities are going to campaign with the wide need to get more different kinds of therapies in communities.

These therapies will be beneficial to these affected people who are in need of these services.

Building knowledge and skills of policymakers, health planners and service providers in this mental health policy

These policymakers can understand this mental health situation more if they gain knowledge and skills that are inherent in mental health professionals.

This learning can bring them to light on why there is a need to plan for mental health services that should be utilized by affected people.

The need to understand can help these officials that gravity of the situation of mental health services in the country.

This can also help these officials know what important matters are placed in plans for these services. 

Legal aid of mental health patients

There are a lot of mental health patients that are not given the equal rights to legal aid. This is very distressing since most of these affected patients may not be aware that they are placed under scrutiny by the law.

For example, people with mental health in prison are unaware of their rights.

This aid is necessary for them since there is a huge possibility that they didn’t have the sound mind at that time to do that action.

These mental health patients will work better and be in a more productive shape when they are being led to a hospital than jail.

 
What some charities are doing about it?

Some charities are working together to make sure that affected people can access justice services when they need it.

This can help these affected people that they are still important in their public standings and they should be treated with respect as most people should.

An unjust system in the current world?

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) changed the types of legal complication that you can get legal aid for which is drastically minimizing the number of people who are eligible and the number of cases being funded by legal aid.

These charities are very worried that most people with mental health problems are left with their own devices when they are faced with legal complications.

This is why these charities are fighting for the rights of these affected people.

There is a need for these affected people to be guided accordingly as those normal people who have faced injustice in their lives

You should also be aware of police mental health.

Mental Health Policy in England

Around one in four people in the UK suffer from a mental health problem each year as mentioned in statistics made by charities.

The NHS has set out that it wants to achieve parity of esteem between mental and physical health, in terms of access to services, quality of care and allocation of resources to help out those affected people. 

While the achievement of parity of esteem has been a long term-policy goal, since 2010 this goal has increasingly featured in legislation and in Government and NHS policy statements even now.

In February 2016, an Independent Mental Health Taskforce published The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health as a guide to this kind of policy. 

This kind of report made a series of recommendations for the NHS and Government to improve outcomes in mental health by 2020 to 2021 such as ending the practice of sending people out of their local area for inpatient care and increasing access to talking therapies as mentioned in the proposed program of the NHS.

The Government and NHS England accepted the Taskforce recommendations and committed to support their implementation as part of this policy.

The NHS Long Term Plan which was published on 7 January 2019 offered a number of further commitments to improve mental health services in the country.

On adult mental health services, this kind of plan committed to offering an extra 380,000 people for each year with access to adult psychological therapies by 2023 to 2024 as part of this plan. 

This kind of plan also stated that new services to support patients going through a mental health crisis would be introduced to help these affected people.

To support the ambitions within this kind of plan, NHS England has made a renewed commitment that expenditure on mental health services will grow faster than the general NHS budget, creating a new ringfenced local investment fund worth at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023 to 2024 to help these affected people.

In October 2017, the Government commissioned an independent review of the Mental Health Act 1983 in response to issues about rising rates of detention and the disproportionate use of the Act among people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups as part of these affected people.

The final report was published in December 2018 which was called Modernising the Mental Health Act: Increasing choice, minimizing compulsion as part of this policy. 

The Government has said it will publish a White Paper in early 2020 setting out their response in full, followed by a consultation period and legislation when Parliamentary time permits this kind of discussion.

The briefing also looks at the use of force in mental health units to help enlighten on this kind of policy. 

Current guidance such as the Code of Practice to the Mental Health Act and that published by NICE offers direction to service providers and healthcare staff about the use of force and limited intervention as part of this policy.

The Mental Health Units or Use of Force Act 2018 was introduced, as a Private Members Bill, by Labour MP Steve Reed, following the death of a constituent, Seni Lewis, in 2010 as part of this policy. 

Most of the provisions of the Act have not yet come in to force but it will increase the oversight and management of the use of force in mental health units for mental health services.

As health is a devolved matter, the Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for setting their own policies in this area for mental health services.

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Conclusion 

In this brief blog, we have talked about mental health policy, the contents of a mental health policy, the benefits of mental health policy, and more information about mental health policy.

If you have any questions about mental health policy, please let us know and the team will gladly answer your questions.

FAQs: mental health policy

Citations

House of Commons Library. Mental health policy in England.

Mind. access to justice and legal aid. 

Mind. talking therapies.

World Health Organization. Mental health policy, planning & service development.