National Mental Health Reform Research Articles

Applying the national mental health policy in conflict-affected regions: towards better social inclusion (Ukrainian case)

PurposeThe ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine has had wide-ranging health, social and economic consequences for the civilian population. It has emphasised the need for comprehensive and sustainable reform of the Ukrainian mental health system. The Ukrainian Government has approved a vision for national mental health reform. This study aims to draw on the lessons of mental health reform in other conflict-affected settings to identify areas of priority for applying the national mental health policy in conflict-affected regions in the direction of better social inclusion of people with mental health conditions (Donetsk and Luhansk regions, directly affected by the conflict).Design/methodology/approachA literature review was conducted to identify lessons from implementing mental health reform in other conflict-affected settings. Findings were summarized, and best practices were applied to the national and regional policy context.FindingsThe literature described emergencies as an opportunity to build sustainable mental health systems. A systematic and long-term view for reform is required to capitalise on this opportunity. For better social inclusion, implementation of the concept for mental health and mental health action plans in Donetsk and Luhansk regions should prioritise raising mental health awareness and reducing stigma; developing the capacity of local authorities in the development and coordination of services; tailoring mental health service provision according to the availability of services and population need; targeting the needs of particularly vulnerable groups and embedding the activities of humanitarian actors in local care pathways.Research limitations/implicationsThis study summarises the literature on mental health reform in conflict-affected settings and applies key findings to Eastern Ukraine. This study has drawn on various sources, including peer-reviewed journals and grey literature and made several practical recommendations. Nevertheless, potentially relevant information could have been contained in sources that were excluded based on their publication in another language (i.e. not in English). Indeed, while the included studies provided rich examples of mental health reform implemented in conflict-affected settings, further research is required to better understand the mechanisms for effecting sustainable mental health reform in conflict-affected settingsOriginality/valueThe paper describes opportunities for developing a local community-based mental health-care system in Ukraine, despite the devastating effects of the ongoing war.

Paying the price – out-of-pocket payments for mental health care in Australia.

Objective This study set out to present data on out-of-pocket payments for Medicare mental health services provided by general practitioners (GP), psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and other psychologists, to explore how much is spent on out-of-pocket payments for mental health; if any trends could be seen; and what variations exist across regions. Methods We performed secondary analysis of publicly available data on Medicare-subsidised GP, allied health and specialist health care across Australia. We merged and interrogated data covering the period 2013-19 and 2019-21 to create a data set covering eight full years of Medicare mental health services, arranged by profession and by region. Results Out-of-pocket payments for mental health care in Australia have been rising consistently over the period 2013-21, at a considerably faster rate than overall expenditure on mental health care. There is wide variation in out-of-pocket payments depending on where you live. Conclusions The impact of out-of-pocket payments on community access to mental health care is growing. This has implications, especially in poorer communities, for access to care. This should be an important consideration taken as the Australian Government considers next steps in national mental health reform, including the Better Access Program, currently under evaluation.

Experience of stigma and discrimination in families of persons with schizophrenia in the Czech Republic

RationaleMental health-related stigma and discrimination not only affect persons living with schizophrenia but also their whole families. Stigma and discrimination reduction is key to respond to the unmet needs of persons with mental illness. The local context is of particular importance in this endeavor, as stigma and its manifestations depend on the specific conditions of the target population and across cultures and settings. Evidence on effective approaches to reduce stigma is sparse and lacking from Central and Eastern Europe, including from the Czech Republic. ObjectiveOur aim was to inform an anti-stigma campaign undertaken in the framework of the national mental health reform in the Czech Republic. MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with relatives of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in the Czech Republic. Initial respondents were identified through local mental health services and users' organizations with a consecutive chain-referral sampling. Transcribed narratives were thematically analyzed within a pre-developed four-level thematic framework to comprehensively identify experiences of stigma and discrimination in all areas of the respondents' lives. ResultsStigma experiences of 25 diverse family members of persons living with schizophrenia spanned four levels of respondents' lives (macro-, meso-, micro-, and intro-level). The overarching issues were: (1) general lack of understanding and misconceptions about mental illness; (2) structural discrimination and paucity of governmental and public support system; (3) burden of “pervasive and unlimited” care and inability of independent living. ConclusionsWe identified several features of mental health related stigma and the ensuing discrimination in Czech Republic experienced by persons with severe mental illness and their relatives. We developed a set of recommendations for policy-makers aimed at reducing ignorance and prejudice amongst the public and professionals, improving health and social services—including employment, housing and community integration—and the provision of family support.

Neoliberal Mental Health Policy Reform in Australia

This paper examines the process of Australian mental health policy reform and explores the extent to which they reflect neoliberal ideals. The mental health policy reform has begun with the National Mental Health Strategy was agreed by Australian Health Ministers following the establishment of the National Mental Health policy in 1992. The National Mental Health Strategy has provided the overarching policy framework that has guided and extensive process of mental health reform in Australia for the last 25 years. The National Mental Health Strategy has been in place including the National Mental Health Policy(1992), the National Mental Health Plan(1993~2020), COAG National Action Plan on Mental Health(2006~2011), the Roadmap for National Mental Health Reform 2012~2022. It argues, through the process of Australian mental health reform, that the families of people with mental health problems have been reconstructed as a fundamental source of informal care. The development of community care and informal care in Australian mental health policy reform reflect a neoliberal understanding of the individual and their family, one that views the family as an autonomous unit responsible for its own maintenance.

Using accountability for mental health to drive reform.

Greatly enhanced accountability can drive mental health reform. As extant approaches are ineffective, we propose a new approach. Australia spends around $7.6 billion on mental health services annually, but is anybody getting better? Effective accountability for mental health can reduce variation in care and increase effective service provision. Despite 20 years of rhetoric, Australia's approach to accountability in mental health is overly focused on fulfilling governmental reporting requirements rather than using data to drive reform. The existing system is both fragmented and outcome blind. Australia has failed to develop useful local and regional approaches to benchmarking in mental health. New approaches must address this gap and better reflect the experience of care felt by consumers and carers, as well as by service providers. There are important social priorities in mental health that must be assessed. We provide a brief overview of the existing system and propose a new, modest but achievable set of indicators by which to monitor the progress of national mental health reform. These indicators should form part of a new, system-wide process of continuous quality improvement in mental health care and suicide prevention.

호주의 국가정신보건전략을 통한 정신보건개혁과 융복합 정책적 함의

본 논문은 호주의 국가정신보건전략에 대한 주요 내용과 국가정신보건전략을 통한 정신보건개혁 이후의 변화들, 그리고 정신보건개혁에 대한 논의를 통해서 우리나라의 정신보건정책의 문제점들을 개선하기 위한 현실적인 시사점과 융복합 정책적 함의를 찾는데 그 목적이 있다. 1992년에 발표되어 2008년에 개정된 국가정신보건정책, 1993년부터 2014년까지 네 차례에 걸쳐 수립된 국가정신보건 5개년 계획, 2006년 호주정부협의회에 의해 수립된 정신보건실행계획, 그리고 2012년 호주정부협의회에서 채택한 국가정신보건개혁을 위한 로드맵(2012-2022)을 포함한 국가정신보건전략은 지난 20년 동안 호주의 정신보건개혁의 광범위한 과정을 선도하는 대단히 중요한 정책 준거를 제공하였다. 1992년 시작된 국가정신보건전략을 통해서 정신보건재정 확충, 지역사회 중심의 치료 및 보호시스템 구축, 정신병상의 변화, NGO의 참여와 역할의 증대, 정신장애인과 가족(보호제공자)의 참여 확대 등과 같은 변화를 이루었다. This study aims to understand main contents of the National Mental Health Strategy and changes after mental health reform through the National Mental Health Strategy in Australia, and to find some convergence policy implications on mental health policy in South Korea. The direction of reform has changed considerably over the 20 years that the National Mental Health Strategy has been in place including the National Mental Health Policy(1992, 2008), the National Mental Health Plan(1993~2014), COAG National Action Plan on Mental Health(2006~2011), the Roadmap for National Mental Health Reform 2012-2022. The National Mental Health Strategy has advocated fundamental change in the national spending on mental health, mental health service provision, the expansion of community-based mental health services and care system, NGO, consumer and carer participation in mental health care.

Time to implement national mental health reform.

Time to implement national mental health reform.

Forensic Mental Health in Australia: Charting the Gaps

The process of national mental health reform is constrained by the failure to take account of forensic mental health services adequately. While there is some recognition that achieving national consistency in forensic mental health is important, the achievement of this goal is hampered by substantial inter-jurisdictional differences in justice-sector funding, sentencing, and program infrastructure, leading to service gaps in forensic health services and inadequate connections between health and corrections services within jurisdictions. Achieving national consistency in forensic mental health within the broader mental health reform agenda requires national leadership directly to target people accessing health through a corrections gateway. The interconnectedness of public services such as education, housing, health and criminal justice must be acknowledged to provide a starting point from which equity of access and services can be addressed.

Delivering National Mental Health Reform: When is a reform not a reform and what happened to the Fourth National Mental Health Plan?

Delivering National Mental Health Reform: When is a reform not a reform and what happened to the Fourth National Mental Health Plan?

Mental Health Care Reforms in Latin America: An Overview of Mental Health Care Reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean

This new column provides an overview of mental health reforms in Latin America and the Caribbean. Progress has been particularly visible in countries that have implemented policies with strong political support (Brazil, Chile, and Belize, among others). However, lessons may be learned from the collective experience of a region that has faced multiple obstacles to reform. Available resources are still insufficient and inequitably distributed, reform implementation is not complete in most countries, and high levels of unmet need exist. Countries face new challenges related to growing psychosocial problems affecting children and adolescents and increasing violence, which require new responses from mental health services.

National mental health reform: less talk, more action

National mental health reform: less talk, more action

National mental health reform: less talk, more action

The Council of Australian Governments revitalised national mental health reform in 2006. Unfortunately, evidence-based models of collaborative care have not yet been supported. Previous attempts at national reform have lacked a strategic vision. We continue to rely on arrangements that are fragmented between different levels of government, poorly resourced community services, and an embattled public hospital sector. Our persisting unwillingness to record or publicly report key measures of health, social or economic outcomes undermines community confidence in the mental health system. Six priority areas for urgent national action are proposed and linked to key measures of improved health system performance. In Australia, we recognise special groups (such as war veterans) and organise and fund services to meet their specific health needs. Such systems could be readily adapted to meet the needs of people with psychosis.

Variations in Consumer Self-determination within US Psychiatric Advance Directives

Advance directives are legal documents that formalize consumer psychiatric care preferences. This article examines the statutes and goals of US psychiatric advance directives within the framework of consumer self-determination, a priority in national mental health reform. It seeks to distinguish between state models based on the degree that consumer rights are integrated into advance directive statutes and goals. The data set contains information from legislative statutes and goals from the 24 US states that enacted explicit psychiatric advance directive regulations prior to 2006. Researchers grouped the data into categories based on the similarities in consumer self-determination. The findings include an examination of the spectrum of consumer self-determination in US advance directive statutes along with a comparison of the gaps between intent and policy in state statutes.

Chronic mental illness and community treatment resistance

Objectives: The movement from institutional to community care has been a key component of national mental health reform in Australia. In Victoria, where a model of community care has been fully implemented, a specialized forensic hospital is the sole remaining stand-alone psychiatric inpatient facility and access to long-term inpatient beds is severely limited. Clinical experience suggests that some high-needs patients are not well serviced by this structure. These patients are placing an increasing burden on a wide range of community services outside mental health. This paper aims to define more clearly this patient group, explore the limitations of their management and outline potential pathways for service development.Conclusions: A population of complex patients with chronic mental illness are not effectively contained within a ‘good enough’ communitybased mental health system. Active debate is required regarding the com-munity's willingness to tolerate the risks and challenges that arise from the current approach. A collaborative care model involving case-based and incentive funding in combination with community-integrated complex care units may improve the care of these patients.

Chronic Mental Illness and Community Treatment Resistance

The movement from institutional to community care has been a key component of national mental health reform in Australia. In Victoria, where a model of community care has been fully implemented, a specialized forensic hospital is the sole remaining stand-alone psychiatric inpatient facility and access to long-term inpatient beds is severely limited. Clinical experience suggests that some high-needs patients are not well serviced by this structure. These patients are placing an increasing burden on a wide range of community services outside mental health. This paper aims to define more clearly this patient group, explore the limitations of their management and outline potential pathways for service development. A population of complex patients with chronic mental illness are not effectively contained within a 'good enough' community-based mental health system. Active debate is required regarding the community's willingness to tolerate the risks and challenges that arise from the current approach. A collaborative care model involving case-based and incentive funding in combination with community-integrated complex care units may improve the care of these patients.

Australian mental health reform: time for real outcomes

After 12 years of national mental health reform, major service gaps and poor experiences of care are common. The mental health community reports little progress in implementing its key priorities, such as expanded early-intervention programs, comanagement of people with mental health problems and related alcohol or substance misuse, and widening of the spectrum of acute care settings. We propose new national targets for reducing the social and economic costs of poor mental health; these include increased access to effective care, reduced suicide rates and improved rates of return to full social and economic participation. We detail specific service reforms designed to maximise the chance of achieving these targets, and prioritise youth health and integrated primary care programs. New independent and national reporting systems on the progress of mental health reform are urgently required.

Surveying perceptions of the progress of national mental health reform

Objective: To provide comment on the latest Australian government commitment to a 5 year plan under the National Mental Health Strategy. Conclusions: In the absence of a credible system of accountability for the implementation of mental health reform, the Mental Health Council of Australia, in association with the Brain and Mind Research Institute, has taken up the task of auditing. A national, government-supported system needs to be developed in order to monitor progress of genuine mental health reform in Australia.

Surveying Perceptions of the Progress of National Mental Health Reform

To provide comment on the latest Australian government commitment to a 5 year plan under the National Mental Health Strategy. In the absence of a credible system of accountability for the implementation of mental health reform, the Mental Health Council of Australia, in association with the Brain and Mind Research Institute, has taken up the task of auditing. A national, government-supported system needs to be developed in order to monitor progress of genuine mental health reform in Australia.