Connecting the Dots in Global Mental Health

Article by: Andy Bleaden , Communities Director at the ECHAlliance Group

I started off working as an adult in mental health services and social care well over 30 years ago.

This month being mental health awareness month, I thought it could be timely to have a global helicopter view on mental health provision – less to look at stats and prevalence or even to focus on some of the impacts on individuals or society at large.

I want to use this view to travel around the world (albeit virtually) and look at different examples that inspire me in the field of mental health or even make me slightly jealous, not in a bad way but, “why did I not know that years ago”.

So who gets mental health right? It is surprisingly not always the wealthiest countries or the ones that have excellent health service coverage. I have also deliberately not chosen any services that are from our ECHAlliance members, many of which have excellence in this area, but instead offer 6 examples that were new to me over the last 12 months that made me take note and share with ex colleagues.

I want to focus on 2 closer to my home, in Wales and in Scotland, and then fly from there to Canada, Africa, India then finally look at some interesting services in Australia. Shall we start our journey?

Kicking off in? Scotland and a story that inspired me with hope with people like Del McGuire from Men Matter Scotland who wanted to get involved in an area that touched his life and that of many others around him.

Hop on a plane, or better go connect on the web, and go to Zimbabwe in Africa and listen to the experiences from the people that stood up and developed the Friendship Bench programme and see how they took control, involved grandmothers and made IMPACT. This was similar to the real impact I saw in Goa, India where organisations like Sangath are targeting the treatment gap in mental health provision and looking at a different focus on adolescent mental health provision. All three of these are great examples for me of what good can look like.

Head back to Wales in the UK and look a little deeper into community-based organisations coming together not in competition but collaboration, a rare thing in some settings. Organisations like Adferiad are bringing together like minded organisations that can do good and perhaps not work in silos in fields such as substance use support.

Over in Canada I was really impressed with the resources of the Mental Health Commission of Canada who target all sorts of areas such as Eco Anxiety and Myths around mental health with reusable fact sheets and resources including some inspiring ones such as the Roots of Hope community-led suicide prevention model drawing again on strengths and expertise within communities to design and implement tailored local initiatives.

In Australia there were great real life stories, showing the value of peer led mental health support with Flourish Australia (check a few out and think) where could I step up.

The challenge here is to link in the non health workers (the teachers, youth workers, universities, housing organisations, employers, friends, family, me and you).?

It is time to connect our own dots in mental health and remember if we don’t we will continue to work in silos and forget that our “special issue or scenario” is not so unique, this is global.

It is our problem. Mine as well and one that needs shouting about louder until we all step up.

Ask. Listen. Act