Foundations for Change in Mental Health in the Americas - a series of webinars - PAHO/WHO

All over the world, mental health needs are high, but responses are insufficient and inadequate. The unmet mental health needs in the Region of the Americas are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, deeply impacting the health, social, and economic well-being of affected individuals, as well as their families, friends, and communities. Individuals with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities often face barriers to accessing services that uphold their rights and dignity. Moreover, they are subjected to adverse conditions, violence, and discrimination, including those from marginalized ethnic groups such as indigenous peoples or Afro-descendants.

Consequently, individuals frequently express dissatisfaction with current services, as they often fail to meet their needs or provide necessary support for leading fulfilling lives in their communities, leading to feelings of hopelessness and disempowerment.

With the overarching objective of enhancing care quality and safeguarding the rights of individuals facing mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities, PAHO/WHO advocates for a community-based, person-centered, rights-based, and recovery-oriented approach to transform mental health in the Americas. This approach necessitates a comprehensive restructuring of mental health services, alongside an effort to expand community-level care, foster mental health promotion and prevention, strengthen information systems, reform legislation, and maintain an unwavering commitment to human rights.

OBJECTIVES

This initiative aligns with the six strategic directions of PAHO's new strategy for advancing mental health and suicide prevention, emphasizing restructuring mental health services, expanding community-level care, addressing mental health determinants, fostering mental health prevention and promotion, enhancing information systems, reforming legislation, and upholding human rights.

Aligned with our commitment to transforming mental health practices, the webinar series aims to achieve the following objectives:

OBJECTIVE 1

Enhance a comprehensive transformation of mental health services by integrating insights and recommendations from key documents such as the WHO World Mental Health Report, "Transforming Mental Health for All," and the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030.

OBJECTIVE 3

Facilitate the exchange of experiences in the mental health field, involving individuals with lived experiences and experts, across the diverse themes outlined in Objective 1. Each webinar will center on a specific topic to foster meaningful dialogue and knowledge sharing.

OBJECTIVE 2

Highlight the opportunities within countries and communities to broaden access and coverage of comprehensive mental health services, addressing the diverse themes outlined in Objective 1. Each webinar will focus on a specific topic to detail these opportunities.

OBJECTIVE 4

Share PAHO/WHO’s available resources aimed at fostering the development of community-based mental health services, advancing promotion and prevention efforts in mental health, strengthening information systems, and advocating for the protection and promotion of human rights within the realm of mental health.