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Leaders Converge to Align Initiatives for Improving Nation's Mental and Addictive Health
On World Mental Health Day, Oct. 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated that “mental health is a universal human right.” These words are extremely powerful. They mean that everyone has a fundamental, inalienable right to good mental and addictive health, and, if so, a fundamental, inalienable right to efforts to develop social environments and personal care that lead to good mental and addictive health.
WHO elaborated further:
“Mental health is a basic human right for all people. Everyone, whoever and wherever they are, has a right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. This includes the right to be protected from mental health risks, the right to available, accessible, acceptable, and good quality care, and the right to liberty, independence and inclusion in the community….Having a mental health condition should never be a reason to deprive a person of their human rights or to exclude them from decisions about their own health….WHO continues to work with its partners to ensure mental health is valued, promoted, and protected, and that urgent action is taken so that everyone can exercise their human rights and access the quality mental health care they need.”
Both our Declaration of Independence (“inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”) and our US Constitution (“promote the general welfare” as a foundational goal of the new government) make assertions that relate to these rights. Thus, both of these benchmark historical documents provide a foundation for our current national efforts to seek good mental and addictive health as a universal human right.
Thus, the goal is crystal clear. Now we need a national approach that will turn this goal into a reality for all.
In early October, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s landmark Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act as well as the 15th anniversary of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. In conjunction with these landmark celebrations, former US Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy hosted Alignment for Progress, a major national gathering Oct. 3-4 at the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This conference sought to develop the approach to achieve the goal of good mental and addictive health for all and to align major national entities in pursuit of this strategy.
Conference participants included key leaders from the behavioral health community—providers, insurers, employers, investors, and those with lived experience. Speakers came from a broad range of venues, including government, care providers, insurers, advocates, and notable field experts. The conference was a rare gathering of the leadership of behavioral health in the United States.
In 2 days of deliberations, conference participants agreed on an integrative approach to advance mental and addictive health as a basic human right in the US. The result is simple and powerful. By 2033:
- 90% of all individuals will be screened appropriately;
- 90% of those screened will receive appropriate and effective care; and
- 90% of those receiving such care will be in recovery from the symptoms of their condition.
Importantly, conference participants across the spectrum agreed to align their efforts to achieve these critical levels by 2033. Strategies and tools were presented at the conference to facilitate and support this alignment, including ways to benchmark progress.
This is the first time in the modern era that all key elements of the behavioral health field have agreed to a common approach to address behavioral health conditions. Former Rep. Kennedy deserves credit for taking this bold and much-needed step forward. One cannot think of a more effective antidote to the current crisis of our field as we seek to advance good mental and addictive health as a fundamental human right.
Ron Manderscheid, PhD, is the former president and CEO of NACBHDD and NARMH, as well as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the USC School of Social Work.
The views expressed in Perspectives are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Behavioral Healthcare Executive, the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network, or other Network authors. Perspectives entries are not medical advice.
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