Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-25T07:12:01.605Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Using the lever of parity of esteem between mental and physical health to close the mental health gap -a call for action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sue Bailey
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK, email sbailey@rcpsych.ac.uk The Forensic Adolescent Consultation and Treatment Service (FACTS), Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK School of Social Work, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Lucy Thorpe
Affiliation:
Head of Policy Unit, Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK
Greg Smith
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists, London, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This paper provides a six-point definition of what parity of esteem for mental health means in practice. It highlights examples of the current disparity between mental and physical health and the importance of redressing this. The significance of securing a legislative basis for parity in England is discussed. The authors make a call for action, and pose six questions for international readers to consider and respond to.

Type
Guest Editorial
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2013

References

Bailey, S., Gerada, C., Lester, H., et al (2012) The cardiovascular health of young people with severe mental illness: addressing an epidemic within an epidemic. Psychiatrist, 36, 375378.Google Scholar
Bailey, S., Thorpe, L. & Smith, G. (2013) Whole-Person Care: From Rhetoric to Reality. Achieving Parity Between Mental and Physical Health (Occasional Paper OP88). Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Curtice, M. J. & Exworthy, T. P. (2010) FREDA: a human rights-based approach to healthcare. Psychiatrist, 34, 150156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health (2011) National expenditure data 2003–04 to 2010–11. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/156133/dh_131856.xls.xls (accessed July 2013).Google Scholar
Fritz, G. K. & Kennedy, P. J. (2012) The long road ahead to mental health parity. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 51, 458460.Google Scholar
Ganju, V. (2012) Non-communicable diseases and the mental health gap: what is to be done? International Psychiatry, 9, 7980.Google Scholar
Garrett, L., Chowdhury, A. M. R., Pablos-Méndez, A. (2009) All for universal health coverage. Lancet, 374, 12941299.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Amminger, G. P., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., et al (2007) Age of onset of mental disorders: a review of recent literature. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 20, 359364.Google Scholar
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., et al (2003) Prior juvenile diagnosis in adults with mental disorder: developmental follow-back of a prospective longitudinal cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 709717.Google Scholar
Knapp, M., McDaid, D. & Parsonage, M. (2011) Mental Health Promotion and Mental Illness Prevention: The Economic Case. Department of Health.Google Scholar
Lasalvia, A., Zoppei, S., Van Bortel, T., et al (2013) Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination reported by people with major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet, 381, 5562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McManus, S., Meltzer, H., Brugha, T., et al (2009) Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007. Results of a Household Survey. Health and Social Information Centre, Social Care Statistics.Google Scholar
McManus, S., Meltzer, H. & Campion, J. (2010) Cigarette Smoking and Mental Health in England: Data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. National Centre for Social Research.Google Scholar
Ormel, J., Petukhova, M., Chatterji, S., et al (2008) Disability and treatment of specific mental and physical disorders across the world. British Journal of Psychiatry, 192, 368375.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, T. F. & Tropp, L. R. (2006) A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, 90, 751783.Google Scholar
Phelan, M., Stradins, L. & Morrison, S. (2001) Physical health of people with severe mental illness. BMJ, 322, 443444.Google Scholar
Shiers, D. & Kendall, T. (2012) Tackling a scandal of premature mortality; time for a ‘hearts & minds’ approach. LSE Health and Social Care blog, 6 July, http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/healthandsocialcare/2012/07/06/tackling-a-scandal-of-premature-mortality-time-for-a-hearts-minds-approach/(accessed July 2013).Google Scholar
Siru, R., Hulse, G. K. & Tait, R. J. (2009) Assessing motivation to quit smoking in people with mental illness: a review. Addiction, 104, 719733.Google Scholar
Sterne, L. (1761) The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (eds New, M. & New, J.), vol. 3, ch. 4. University of Florida Press (1978).Google Scholar
Thornicroft, G. (2008) Stigma and discrimination limit access to mental health care. Epidemiologica e Psichiatrica Sociale, 17, 1419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornicroft, G. (2011) Physical health disparities and mental illness: the scandal of premature mortality. British Journal of Psychiatry, 199, 441442.Google Scholar
UK Clinical Research Collaboration (2006) UK Health Research Analysis. UKCRC.Google Scholar
United Nations (2009) Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Dependent Territories. UN.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H. U., Jacobi, F., Rehm, J., et al (2011) The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 21, 655679.Google Scholar
World Health Assembly (2012) Ninth plenary meeting, 25 May 2012, WHA65.4, Agenda item 13.2. Available at http://www.who.int/mental_health/WHA65.4_resolution.pdf (accessed June 2013).Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2004) Death and DALY Estimates for 2004 by Cause for WHO Member States. WHO. Available at http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/estimates_country/en/index.html (accessed June 2013).Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.