Po 51. členu ustave ima vsak med nami pravico do zdravstvenega varstva. Žal pa se ob tem prepogosto pozablja na zdravje kot neločljiv preplet človekovega telesnega in duševnega stanja ter v povezavi s tem tudi na vzporedno varstvo duševnega zdravja. In vendar je prav duševno počutje tisto, ki morda najbolj neposredno vpliva na kakovost bolnikovega življenja, ne glede na diagnozo. Glede na visoko stopnjo pojavnosti duševnozdravstvenih težav ob telesnih boleznih in ob upoštevanju negativnih vplivov motenj, kot je denimo depresija, na motivacijo, potek in učinkovitost telesnega zdravljenja pa problematike nikakor ne gre spregledati. Članek osredotočeno govori o skrbi za eno samo zdravje, z željo, da bi zdravstvena nega v tem duhu nekoč postala pravilo, ne zgolj dobrodošla izjema, v okviru standardne bolnišnične oskrbe. Nujni pogoj za to pa sta ustrezno razumevanje zdravja kot temeljne človekove pravice in zavedanje družbene odgovornosti pri zagotavljanju visoke stopnje zaščite te pravice.The well-known saying ‘good old times’ does not apply to our understanding of the relationship between somatic and mental health, as a sharply dichotomous view on both has been supported for a long time throughout human history. Nowadays, however, we are aware that both represent two dimensions of one health only. Without somatic wellbeing there can be no optimal psychological wellbeing and vice versa. And yet we are still missing a wholistic outlook on treatment and rehabilitation when it comes to standard hospital or outpatient assessment of somatic disorders. Yet, it is the dimension of mental wellbeing that is perhaps most closely associated with the patient’s quality of life regardless of the diagnosis. The more severe the somatic health problem(s), the more important it is to dedicate a sufficient attention to the patient’s mental state and overall psychological functioning. It is people suffering from a somatic disease who represent a particular risk group in terms of mental disorders such as clinical depression and anxiety. If comorbidity of the somatic and mental disorder is present, a somatic treatment might not be efficient or not efficient at all. By taking the high prevalence of mental health problems in case of the somatic disease into account and acknowledging the negative influence of disorders, such as depression, on the patient’s motivation as well as the process and effectiveness of the somatic treatment, the problem is certainly not to be overlooked or underestimated. In this article I address the care for one health only, with the wish that health care in this sense would some day become a rule not merely a welcome exception in the frame of standard hospital care in our country. General national hospital treatment standards, as defined by the Slovene Ministry of Health, include: continuous improvement of services for patients (I), respectful health care of patients and their active participation in treatment-related decision making (II), providing all necessary treatment-related information to patients (III), ensuring that health care is performed by personnel who are keeping track with progress and most recent findings concerning their profession (IV), and the prevention of professional mistakes whenever possible (V). The improvement of standard hospital care with adequate assessment of mental health directly influences all these criteria in a positive way. It is the hospital setting where ensuring a good psychological wellbeing of patients is of special importance and at the same time the hardest to achieve. However, quite a few options for a hospital-based mental health care and improvement are at disposal: individual therapeutic conversations (I), group psychotherapy meetings for those who are able to attend (II), psychoeducation (III), training of relaxation and breathing exercises (IV), reducing negative thinking patterns and promoting the positive ones (V), art therapy (i.e. music, writing, painting) (VI), aromatherapy (VII), massage (VIII), warm and aromatized baths (IX) and others. A substantial psychological distress of the patient’s family members and other close ones is not to be overlooked as well. Primary health care represents the sector where long-term monitoring of the patients from the part of a professional and a trusted relationship between the two parties is most common. That is why the implementation of mental health-related services into primary care is of special importance; even more if we aim to get to the point of an actual equal assessment of the somatic and mental health in clinical practice and general society. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already underlined numerous benefits of such integration: a destigmatization of a mental disorder (I), acknowledging the problem of comorbidity (II), an improved prevention and recognition of mental disorders in primary care as the most easily accessible segment of health care (III), an improved (physical and financial) access to mental health services for people with a mental disorder (IV), a lower level of chronicity and hospitalization as well as an improved social integration of people with a mental disorder (V) and a higher availability (on the basis of reduced burden and pressure) of health workers from secondary and tertiary health care level, that is specialists of specific professions (VI). When it comes to the principles of WHO, the so-called ‘pyramid of optimal structure of mental health care’ needs to be mentioned as well. It applies to the organization’s doctrine which emphasizes the inclusion of mental health services into primary, secondary and tertiary health care. It is based on the users’ self-care (I) as the basic form of health protection, which can be supported by informal community care (II), mental health services in primary health care (III), social mental health care services and psychiatric services in general hospitals (IV), and finally, hospital institutions and specialists’ services (V) at the very top of the pyramid. In 21st century the enrichment of a standard treatment of a somatic disease with adequate assessment of mental health should certainly become one of our absolute priorities when it comes to planning and designing public health care. After all, mental health is one of the most crucial – if not the most crucial - determinants of the patient’s quality of life. And heightening the latter should be the leitmotif of every health intervention. »As mentally healthy as possible« - despite a somatic disease, is therefore an advisable motto when treating somatic health problems of any kind
