Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Mar 29;10(1):e1-e4.
doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v10i1.1429.

Significance of mental health legislation for successful primary care for mental health and community mental health services: A review

Getinet Ayano  1
Affiliations
Review

Significance of mental health legislation for successful primary care for mental health and community mental health services: A review

Getinet Ayano. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. .

Abstract

Background: Mental health legislation (MHL) is required to ensure a regulatory framework for mental health services and other providers of treatment and care, and to ensure that the public and people with a mental illness are afforded protection from the often-devastating consequences of mental illness.

Aims: To provide an overview of evidence on the significance of MHL for successful primary care for mental health and community mental health servicesMethod: A qualitative review of the literature on the significance of MHL for successful primary care for mental health and community mental health services was conducted.

Results: In many countries, especially in those who have no MHL, people do not have access to basic mental health care and treatment they require. One of the major aims of MHL is that all people with mental disorders should be provided with treatment based on the integration of mental health care services into the primary healthcare (PHC). In addition, MHL plays a crucial role in community integration of persons with mental disorders, the provision of care of high quality, the improvement of access to care at community level. Community-based mental health care further improves access to mental healthcare within the city, to have better health and mental health outcomes, and better quality of life, increase acceptability, reduce associated social stigma and human rights abuse, prevent chronicity and physical health comorbidity will likely to be detected early and managed.

Conclusion: Mental health legislation plays a crucial role in community integration of persons with mental disorders, integration of mental health at primary health care, the provision of care of high quality and the improvement of access to care at community level. It is vital and essential to have MHL for every country.

Keywords: community mental health care; mental health legislations; primary mental health care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. WHO Mental health; new understanding new hope. The World Health Report; Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization;1993.
    1. Prince M, Patel V, Saxena S, et al. .. No health without mental health. Lancet. 2007;370:859–877. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61238-0 - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP): Scaling up care for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders; Geneva, Switzerland:World Health Organization;008. - PubMed
    1. WHO Mental health legislation &human rights; Geneva, Switzerland:World Health Organization;003.
    1. WHO Mental Health and Human Rights Project fact sheet; Geneva, Switzerland:World Health Organization;006.

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources