Centering mental health in society

A human rights approach to well-being for all

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9055418
AutoresSilicia Lomax (0000-0001-6245-5084), Cori L Cafaro (0000-0001-7636-022X, Texas A&M Health Science Center), Nadha Hassen (0000-0003-0214-6655, Urbana University), Clysha Whitlow (0000-0003-0826-2438), Kirby Magid (0000-0002-9632-8021), Gita Jaffe (0000-0003-1105-1164)
Año2022
Volumen92
Número3
Páginas364-370
Fecha de publicación2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Orthopsychiatry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-9432 • E-ISSN: 1939-0025
EditorialAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/ort0000618
PMID35389744
OpenAlexW4225724213
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5

Applying a human rights lens to mental health and well-being will improve the systems that govern and operate U.S. society. Achieving this requires learning from successful approaches and scaling up the implementation of effective strategies that promote equity by actively addressing determinants and barriers across systems that impede overall health. As a country, the U.S. has shown significant success in innovation but has failed at taking successful programs and initiatives to scale. Having endured over a year of loss in education, social connection, and routines, the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated America's deeply rooted structural inequities that have worsened population mental health and well-being. Integrating mental health into institutions and systems, while recovering and rebuilding, must be at the forefront to provide a path for transformation. Three recommendations are derived from the strategies and initiatives described throughout this article that offer tangible steps for achieving wellbeing as a human right: 1. Embed mental health within and across all systems, and expand its definition across the continuum; 2. Prioritize prevention and health promotion through person-centered and community-driven strategies; and 3. Expand the diversification and training of the mental health workforce across sectors. The inequities addressed in this article are not the products of a global pandemic. Instead, they result from historical oppression, injustice, and inaction, exacerbated by the current context. Embedding a human rights approach to mental health in the United States is fundamental to individual and community well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Economic growth · Economics · Equity (law) · Health equity · Human rights · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Public health · Public relations · Sociology · Workforce · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Public Health Policies and Education · Resilience and Mental Health · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies