Reforming Mental Health, Moving Towards Sustainable Care Practices | Campaign for Sustainability | truCSR
Written by Rebecca Shibu
Compiled by Vrinda Panpalia Edited by Yamini Peter
COVID-19 has unmasked critical health system gaps and deficiencies. Health workforce shortages, broken supply chains, fragmented services and silo information systems are a few of the problems that hindered the response in the early days. The pandemic has exposed us to a catastrophe that requires expansion of the International and National Mental Health Agenda emphasising on closing the care gap for people with mental illnesses to improving mental health for the whole population, including suicide prevention in India.
Drawing from the learnings of the first wave of the pandemic, the emerging mental health crisis needs to be approached in a way that ensures building infrastructures that are able to stay resolute through a crisis in the future.
Mental Health’s Role in achieving the SDGs
Sustainability in mental health is the ability to provide high-value care now and in the future in the face of environmental, economic and social constraints. For sustainability, we must build human potential so that more people can contribute to the work and improvements that are needed. Increased resilience is key to accomplishing this.
Resilience refers to the prevention and treatment of mental health conditions and drug abuse in populations, families, colleges, and workplaces, as well as the promotion of mental health in communities, families, schools, and workplaces. As a result, both must be considered global goals and obligations. Though the majority of countries have mental health legislation, it is often insufficient and does not comply with international human rights standards.
Flattening the Mental Health Curve: Australia’s Approach
The "two-pronged" approach Australia is taking to combat the virus – avoiding transmission while simultaneously ramping up our healthcare infrastructure to cope – also serves as a great model for dealing with the pandemic's mental health effects. The idea is to concentrate on preventing new cases of mental illness and the ability of our mental healthcare system to handle any rise in the number of people requiring assistance.
The federal government of Australia has taken measures to improve the mental health-care system's capability. These also included incorporating Medicare products for telehealth mental health appointments, enhancing existing phone and online support systems for the public and frontline health professionals, and expanding access to certain psychosocial support services for community mental health clients.
Some initiatives are taken by the government:
Critical phone and online support systems have been bolstered with funding.
To cater to increased demand in getting access to helpline services, people are being trained to be counselors
Remote peer support for people with urgent, serious and complicated mental illnesses has received additional funding for smooth functioning.
Funding for both preventive and curative care has been increased significantly
Several culturally appropriate mental health and wellbeing resources have been made accessible for people creating safe spaces for them to heal.
Key Takeaways for India in the Second Phase
Identify and Strategize: Understanding the scope of the additional burden of mental health conditions in the population as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic is an urgent prerequisite for the National Mental Health Programme in order to prepare adequate mitigation strategies. Mental health issues ranging from mild distress to chronic, progressive, and seriously debilitating conditions are likely to have arisen as a result of the pandemic.
Value Diagnosis and Data: It will be critical to diagnose in order to capture the variety and scope of individuals' or communities' mental health needs. This is especially concerning since many surveys now rely on online data collection rather than face-to-face interviews, which has been linked to misclassification or overestimation of mental health issues.
Harness Technology: The National Mental Health Program should think about how new digital technologies, which have shown promise in countries with low investment and ability in mental health services, could help scale up mental health care and prevention programmes to close the gap between supply and demand for treatment. Furthermore, technology needs to be used to make processes and all stakeholders accountable.
Ensure Accessibility: This pandemic emphasises the value of technology and attempting to deliver care in new and more affordable ways – whether through greater use of digital mental health systems, telehealth consultations, or outreach services – to ensure that people can continue to access mental health resources and services as and when they need them during these trying times. This accessibility needs to be further extended to services provided by the primary health care centers and local government hospitals.
Shift in Approach: Since, the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are predicted to last longer than the pandemic itself, now is the time for mental health care delivery to shift to an ideology of "nothing about us without us," with active involvement by service users in the mental health system's strengthening.
From Law to Implementation: In 2021, India's mental health care must be more comprehensive. While the mental health bill is a move toward normalising and destigmatizing mental health issues, it ignores the dangers presented by natural disasters and traumatic events such as pandemics.
Raising awareness: Mental wellness still needs to become part of mainstream discussions and need to be considered at par with physical wellbeing. For this, consistent efforts in raising awareness through sensitization programs is necessary. Governments with the help of civil society can create awareness.
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