Interventions to mitigate the effects of poverty and inequality on mental health (original) (raw)
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Poverty and mental health: policy, practice and research implications
BJPsych Bulletin
SummaryThis article examines the relationship between poverty and mental health problems. We draw on the experience of Glasgow, our home city, which contains some of Western Europe's areas of greatest concentrated poverty and poorest health outcomes. We highlight how mental health problems are related directly to poverty, which in turn underlies wider health inequalities. We then outline implications for psychiatry.
Poverty and mental disorders: breaking the cycle in low-income and middle-income countries
The Lancet, 2011
Growing international evidence shows that mental ill health and poverty interact in a negative cycle in low-income and middle-income countries. However, little is known about the interventions that are needed to break this cycle. We undertook two systematic reviews to assess the eff ect of fi nancial poverty alleviation interventions on mental, neurological, and substance misuse disorders and the eff ect of mental health interventions on individual and family or carer economic status in countries with low and middle incomes. We found that the mental health eff ect of poverty alleviation interventions was inconclusive, although some conditional cash transfer and asset promotion programmes had mental health benefi ts. By contrast, mental health interventions were associated with improved economic outcomes in all studies, although the diff erence was not statistically signifi cant in every study. We recommend several areas for future research, including undertaking of high-quality intervention studies in low-income and middleincome countries, assessment of the macroeconomic consequences of scaling up of mental health care, and assessment of the eff ect of redistribution and market failures in mental health. This study supports the call to scale up mental health care, not only as a public health and human rights priority, but also as a development priority.
BMC Public Health
Background Social circumstances in which people live and work impact the population’s mental health. We aimed to synthesise evidence identifying effective interventions and policies that influence the social determinants of mental health at national or scaled population level. We searched five databases (Cochrane Library, Global Health, MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO) between Jan 1st 2000 and July 23rd 2019 to identify systematic reviews of population-level interventions or policies addressing a recognised social determinant of mental health and collected mental health outcomes. There were no restrictions on country, sub-population or age. A narrative overview of results is provided. Quality assessment was conducted using Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR 2). This study was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019140198). Results We identified 20 reviews for inclusion. Most reviews were of low or critically low quality. Primary studies were mostly observational and from higher...
Mental health and poverty in the UK - time for change?
BJPsych international, 2015
Poverty and income inequality have increased in the UK since the 1970s. Poverty and mental ill-health are closely associated and disadvantage can have long-term consequences. In addition, the recent recession and austerity measures have had a detrimental effect on people with mental health problems and the mental health of the population. Mental health services can play a role in addressing the problems of poverty and inequality.
Promoting mental health in scarce-resource contexts: emerging evidence and practice
2011
Mental and behavioural health, together with physical health, are central for optimal human development and functioning of people in any society. Mental health is a multidimensional construct made up of people's intellectual well-being, their capacity to think, perceive and interpret adequately; their psychological well-being, their belief in their own self-worth and abilities; their emotional well-being, their affective state or mood; and their social well-being, their ability to interact effectively in social relationships with other people. Behavioural health is often linked to mental health and refers to behaviour that impacts on people's health and functioning. Health behaviour can be either positive or negative. For example, negative health behaviours such as unsafe sex can put people at risk of contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS; and substance abuse can inhibit effective intellectual and social functioning. Both mental and behavioural health are important for optimal health, personal development and functioning. Mental health is much broader than the absence of mental disorders. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is, 'a state of wellbeing in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community' (WHO, 2001, p. 1). Poor mental health thus impedes a person's capacity to realise their potential, work productively and make a contribution to their community. This includes mental health problems such as mild anxiety and depression, and behavioural problems such as substance misuse that may not meet diagnostic criteria of mental and behavioural disorders but that impede effective functioning and, if unattended, may develop into diagnosable disorders. It is only in its most severe state that poor mental and behavioural health may manifest in diagnosable mental and behavioural disorders or mental illness that significantly interferes with a person's functioning (Barry & Jenkins, 2007). For the purposes of this text, behavioural health is subsumed under mental health. Mental health, poverty and development Post-colonial development in many low and middle income countries (LMICs) was characterised by both state and international agencies emphasising social and 1 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Individual influences Genetic Physical health Temperament Personality Interpersonal social influences Family Peers Teachers Community influences School connectedness Social capital Structural societal influences National and international policies Cultural influences Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
2018
Britain is the most comprehensive and scientifically rigorous survey of its kind ever undertaken. It provides unparalleled detail about deprivation and exclusion among the British population at the close of the twentieth century. It uses a particularly powerful scientific approach to measuring poverty which: § incorporates the views of members of the public, rather than judgments by social scientists, about what are the necessities of life in modern Britain § calculates the levels of deprivation that constitutes poverty using scientific methods rather than arbitrary decisions.