WHO Mental Health Forum: A Focus on Transformation
The World Health Organisations’ Mental Health Forum this year focused on transformation, encapsulating both the hope of changing the way that mental health is perceived and how it is supported within health systems across the world.
The Forum was held in October this year and the Forum report was published in late November, a document that is publicly available to anyone interested in reading it more in depth (WHO, 2022). This Forum is held annually with the hopes of fostering increased discussion and learning about mental health and its importance to individuals around the globe (WHO, 2022).
In June 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published its first global report on mental health since 2001. The report states that since 2001, many countries have formally adopted international frameworks around mental health with WHO Member States committing to meet global targets for mental health by 2030. The international objectives outlined in this global report include:
Leadership and Governance: Updated, rights-based policies, plans, and laws around mental health.
Community-based Services: Service coverage for mental health conditions; community-based mental health facilities; primary health care to include mental health
Promotion and Prevention: functioning national, multisectoral promotion and prevention programs; much fewer suicides worldwide; mental health and psychosocial preparedness for emergencies
Information, Evidence and Research: Routline collection and reporting of core mental health indicators, worldwide research on mental health
In the Mental Health Forum 2022, the WHO Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also reminded all those involved that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the degree to which healthcare systems across the global landscape are poorly equipped to support the growing healthcare needs of individuals. Across the globe, people with mental health conditions continue to face human rights abuses, stigma and discrimination, or are forced to live under inhumane conditions (WHO, 2022).
While the UK is ahead on the global scale in terms of human rights and abuses, many people in the UK continue to experience discrimination and stigma due to their mental health condition (Jia, et al., 2020). This stigma and discrimination continues to emerge within society, social media, employers, friends, and family (Jia, et al., 2020). In 2016, the UK average quality of life as it related to mental health was 63.2%, lower than the EU average (Office of National Statistics, 2019).
The Mental Health Forum highlighted that there is promising progress and new attention to the need for improved mental health awareness, service provision, and education (WHO, 2022). However, the Forum also identified that the world is not doing enough to combat the growing need for mental health support (WHO, 2022).
While it is clear that policy makers, politicians, and governments have a critical role to play in addressing these global targets, there is a role for healthcare professionals as well.
As the Forum highlights, “everyone can do something and do their part to transform mental health for all” (WHO, 2022).
It is the ethical and political responsibility of all those who provide healthcare services to promote improved mental health, both for their patients and their colleagues. We can all play a role in preventing suicides by advocating for conversation, employing open-door policies, and improving access to mental health for diverse populations. Further, by knowing the risk factors, healthcare professionals can better identify those who may benefit from accessing mental health services.
It is on all of us who study/have studied healthcare professionals to educate ourselves, educate those around us, and educate our patients on the risk factors and warning signs.
Further, for art therapists, biomedical scientists, chiropodists/podiatrists, clinical scientists, dietitians, hearing aid dispensers, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, parademics, physiotherapists, practitioner psychologists, prosthetists/orthotists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists the HCPC makes it our professional responsibility to take all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm to service users (HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance, and Ethics, 2016, section 6.1).
Evidence has indicated that through talking about mental health more opening, people can experience decreased levels of distress and this can even prevent suicide (Milner, Crawford, and Edgley, 2019). As such, even healthcare practitioners not working in mental health settings need to make these discussions central to their everyday practice and service provision.
As healthcare practitioners, we also all play a key role in the development of research in the field of mental health. We as frontline workers have so much experience that we need to share widely through structured research. We are hoping to host a webinar on research and healthcare professionals in the new year, stay tuned to find out how you can get involved.
In conclusion, we ALL need to be engaging in more conversations around mental health across the healthcare landscape, as we all have a part to play. We at Future Frontline hope that we can help foster these discussions.
References
Milner, K., Crawford, P., Edgely, A. (2019) ‘The experiences of spirituality among adults with mental health difficulties: A qualitative systematic review’, Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 29(34), doi: 10.1017/S20457960190000234
HCPC (2016) Health and Care Professionals Council Standard of conduct, performance, and ethics. Available at: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/ (Accessed: 6 December, 2022).
Jia, R., Ayling, K., CHalder, T., Massey, A., Broadbent, E., Coupland, C., and Vedhara, K. (2020) ‘Mental health in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional analyses from a community cohort study’, BMJ Open, 10(e040620), pp. 1-14. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040620
Office of National Statistics (2019) Measuring national well-being in the UK: International Comparisons, 2019. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/measuringnationalwellbeing/internationalcomparisons2019 (Accessed: 6 December, 2022).
WHO (2022) World Health Organisation Mental Health Forum 2022 Report. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-mental-health-forum-2022-report (Accessed: 6 December, 2022)
WHO (2022) World mental health report: Transforming mental health for all. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338 (Accessed: 6 December, 2022).
