Mental Health

 

 

ICN Position:

 

Mental health, a crucial aspect of well being, remains sorely neglected, under-resourced and plagued by stigma in most societies. ICN deplores the fact that stigma, discrimination, treatment gaps, and lack of access to services and to continuity of care continue to exist globally.

 

ICN and national nurses associations (NNAs) are deeply concerned about the quality and continuity of treatment and care for people with mental and behavioural disorders. This concern extends to the needs of their families and communities, and the stigma and discrimination associated with people suffering mental health disorders and their caregivers, including health professionals.

ICN believes efficient, effective mental health services will only be achieved through a coordinated, inter-sectoral, community-based strategy and urges governments to move towards community-based programmes focused on the promotion of mental health, prevention of mental illness, early intervention, and home-based treatment, care and rehabilitation. ICN acknowledges the continued importance of institutional care, based on the condition and need of people living with mental illness, and the need for increased support for informal caregivers.

Greater attention should be paid to the developmental and mental health of vulnerable groups (women, young people, elderly, poor, abused, addicted, refugees, etc); to securing sufficient financial and human resources for effective service delivery, and to the education and training of mental health specialists.

ICN calls on governments to:

 

ICN calls on the health professions to:

Further ICN also calls on nurses and NNAs to:

 

Some 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental disorders and all people are at risk of mental health problems [1] . These can be the result of stressful lifestyles, dysfunctional relationships, civil conflict, violence, physical illness, infection or trauma. Mental health problems are expected to increase globally due to social and economic problems such as unemployment, crime, poverty, racial intolerance, substance abuse, homelessness and abuse.

 

Stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness have negative consequences on the health and well-being of the patient and family. Stigma is also a barrier to seeking proper care and treatment and to the integration of people with mental illness into the community.

 

Nurses are concerned with holistic approaches to mental health promotion, prevention, care, treatment and rehabilitation of people living with mental health problems, and support of their families and communities. As well nurses are key in reducing the stigma of mental illness. However, qualified practitioners and leaders in mental health nursing are in short supply due to recruitment and retention problems. Mental health/psychiatric nurses in some countries are not valued and educational programmes in care, management, research, and policy are inadequate.

 

Mental health problems are common in all health care settings, and physical illness is often accompanied by a mental health problem. Thus all nurses must have knowledge and skills to be able to respond to people's mental health needs.

 

http://www.who.int/whr2001/2001/main/en/chapter4/004a3.htm

 

Adopted in 1995

Revised in 2002