Mental Illness and Intellectual Disability

[Excerpt] Both, people with intellectual disability and people with mental illness, suffer from prejudices, negative attitudes, degrading treatment, abuse and discrimination in society. They are often discriminated against by employers, social and health services, or housing societies and in the access to goods or to financial services. They experience painful emotions, being out of control, or loosing all they have

Recruitment and Mental Health

[Excerpt] Large numbers of people in the UK have mild to moderate and severe mental health conditions. Mental ill health is common and can affect anyone of any age, gender, ethnicity or social group. Three in ten employees will experience mental health problems during a year. The most prevalent mental health problems for people of working age are: anxiety, depression, phobic anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders. Depression will rank second only to heart disease as the leading cause of disability worldwide by the year 2020. The majority of people with mental health problems are willing and able to work. Despite this, an estimated one million people are out of work. While businesses are beginning to get better at employing individuals with a history of mental ill health, there remain significant barriers for both individuals and employers. This report describes what employers and government could do differently that would make it easier to recruit people with mental health problems

An Assessment of Mental Health Services for Veterans in the State of Texas

This report describes the complex challenges faced by veterans and their families in seeking, navigating, and attaining adequate mental health care in Texas. There are 1.7 million veterans in Texas, comprising 8.6 percent of the adult population. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), the number of veterans requiring mental health services has grown dramatically and will continue to increase, making veterans’ mental health care an urgent issue in Texas. The federal agencies responsible for military and veterans mental health care, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the VA, have created new programs and invested significant financial and staff resources. Despite barriers to addressing veterans mental health needs. Texas state agencies have increased funding and instituted new mental health programs supporting returning veterans. Nonprofit agencies focused on veteran’s mental health have multiplied across Texas and the U.S. over the past decade to fill gaps in care. While these organizations provide a growing and increasingly diverse set of resources for veterans to extend the scope of support, volunteer efforts can suffer from fragmentation and overlap. The report identifies current practices, challenges, and opportunities within and across each group of service providers. The report draws on government reports, scholarly literature, and agency websites, as well as interviews with counselors, Veteran Service Officers, nonprofit providers, state officials, and veterans themselves. This report offers five recommendations toward the goal that veterans’ mental health care in Texas become comprehensive, inclusive, effective, and efficient. First, there is a need for greater inter-agency communication across organizations, improved outreach efforts, and increased services for hard-to-reach populations, such as homeless veterans. Second, federal agencies ought to address staff shortages, improve the transition from DoD to VA care, and increase feedback. Third, at the state level, specialized services are needed to address unique veterans’ needs concentrated in cities across Texas as well as those dispersed in rural areas. Fourth, providers can improve mental health care by integrating social services and law enforcement. Fifth, both veterans and providers can benefit if they recognize opportunities for cooperation and coordination and work towards long-term goals that emphasize outcomes that improve the lives of returning veterans. This research was funded in part by the Jack S. Blanton Research Fellowship and the George A. Roberts Research Fellowship of the IC² Institute.IC2 Institut

Mental health

PHN Discussion Paper #2 – Mental Health notes a key role for Primary Health Networks in realising effective and lasting improvement in mental health outcomes, through adopting a person-centred approach in service design and enabling integration across service providers in local health systems. The 2014 National Mental Health Commission report noted that “They (PHNs) can work in partnership and apply targeted, value-for-money interventions across the whole continuum of mental wellbeing and ill-health to meet the needs of their communities.” Notwithstanding this, there are challenges and barriers to be resolved in order to effect meaningful and sustainable improvement in mental health outcomes and health system performance.  Further exploration of the challenges and barriers is warranted in order to enable PHNs to deliver on their objectives.&nbsp