Investing in community mental health advocacy

In many parts of the world, mental health and mental illness are not a priority as is physical health

COMMENT | RAYMOND N MGENI | Mental health is an important issue that should be on the national agenda given its importance at the moment. A mental health policy is aimed at raising awareness about mental health issues and builds on the quality of the global population to have strong mental health. The initial run starts with families that have people who have experienced mental illness. Activism involves providing and encouraging access to justice and reducing the level of stigma and isolation experienced by people experiencing mental illness.

Advocacy helps raise awareness for the community about many issues around mental health. Advocacy helps spur changes in policy and the delivery of mental health services in the country. Advocacy promotes community awareness, accurate mental news reporting, education and training, as well as mentorship.

In many parts of the world, when you touch on mental health and mental illness, it is not as much a priority area as is physical health. According to the World Health Organisation, mental illness is a group of diseases that are left behind. Therefore, a lot of attention is needed, yet mental health services are not at a satisfactory level.

Services are not at the level required in mainstream hospitals and even previous mental health care facilities. Community involvement in mental health is limited and it’s common to find violations of the basic rights of people experiencing mental illness, stigma, lack of mental health education in schools and workplaces.

Mental health advocacy is grouped into two major categories; one is the Mental Health Advocacy which provides educational space so that individuals, families, groups and society at large can protect against any triggers or circumstances that can lead to mental health being affected. The second is the Advocacy around Mental Disorders which addresses the opportunity to understand the symptoms of mental illness and to be prepared to seek care or support for medical interventions.

Advocacy can have positive results: Convincing the government to see the importance of mental health services, education and financing as core agendas. Second is the improvement of the policies and implementation by all mental health stakeholders, Third is the strengthening of the systems of empowerment of mental illness prevention and treatment, fourth is the advocacy of the rights of patients and their families and last is an aspect of strengthening of the provision of mental health services; including treatment ranging from primary care to tertiary hospitals.

Advocacy can be applied in a variety of ways from the Ministry of Health, including assistance in the provision of educational handouts, leaflets and even the preparation of short videos to educate the public. Also the preparation of events that touch on mental health education, the hosting of various workshops and conferences, and the development of national debates on mental health.

Second advocacy tool is through media in preparing and producing a wide range of information about mental health, services and understanding of mental illness for the community in close partnership with mental experts.

The main purpose of the advocacy is to prepare ground to talk about mental health and mental illness so as to remove misleading information about mental health and mental illness. For the mentally ill are interpreted differently by society. They are considered unintelligent, not safe to have around, always unable to control themselves, infested with filthy spirits/demons, unpredictable, unable to marry and raise children, unable to work or always needing to be admitted into clinical care. This attitude increases stigma for patients and even prospective patients to seek help.

Stigma has a huge impact on people accessing mental health services on time. They are not willing to seek help for fear of stigmatisation or isolation. It causes a person to self-reject, and families with mentally ill people to be socially isolated.

Advocacy helps reduce stigma when it goes hand in hand with public education that is provided on causes, symptoms, treatment, misinformation and the rate of mental illness cases. It reduces fear and tension in society. Secondly the provision of training for teachers and health workers to increase anti-stigma ambassadors is a useful method to use. The third is the provision of mental education and psych education for patients and families and how to live with a patient with mental illness and to facilitate patients and families in rehabilitation services too.

As the media continues to educate the public it stimulates the changing of negative attitudes towards mental illness. Everyone can be an ambassador for public education on mental health education only when one has the right information about mental health and mental illness education to communicate a message that will reduce negative perceptions and misinformation about mental health and mental illness. Lastly there is no good social welfare if mental health deteriorates in an individual.

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Dr. Raymond N Mgeni, Mbeya Zonal Referral Hospital, Tanzania.

raymondpoet@yahoo.com