Mental Health In Central And Eastern Europe Improving Care And Reducing Stigma Important Cases For Global Study

This book provides updated coverage on the mental health systems in Eastern and Central Europe. Based on up-to-date data, field visits and case studies, the chapters present the financing, organization and public policy issues of Eastern and Central European countries. Solutions are also proposed to tackle major mental health problems facing the region. Mental Health in Central and Eastern Europe is a valuable reference for stakeholders in the mental health communities.

During the past three decades, health care systems in the East Asian regions of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have undergone major changes. Each system has its unique achievements and challenges. Global health care policymakers are increasingly interested in understanding the changes that have taken place in these four systems. This four-volume reference set is designed to help health care professionals, academics, policymakers, and general readers gain a good grasp of the background and latest developments in the health care systems of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This reference set provides an in-depth comparative health policy analysis and discussion of health care reform strategies in each of these systems. One unique feature of this set is that each volume has been edited by a leading scholar who has been deeply involved in the development of the health care system in that particular region. Each of these editors also has invited both scholars and practitioners to provide a first-hand description and analysis of key health care reform issues in that system. The many examples provided in each volume demonstrate how findings of evidence-based policy research can be implemented into policy practice.Volume 1 describes and discusses China's ambitious and complex journey of health care reform since 2009. The Chinese government has achieved universal health insurance coverage and has embarked on reforms of the service delivery system and provider payment methods that are aimed at controlling health expenditure growth and improving efficiency. This volume includes pilot and social experiments initiated by the government and researchers and their evaluations that have guided the formulation of health reform policies. It provides information on how to make reforms work at the local and provincial levels. The findings detailed in this volume will contribute to a global knowledge base in health care reforms.Volume 2 provides a comprehensive review and evaluation of the Japanese health care system. Japan has a long history of health care system development and provision of universal health coverage, with a mature and well-developed health care system among East Asian countries. However, due to increases in health care costs, economic stagnation and the country's rapidly aging population, Japan has undergone significant health care reform during the last two decades, both in the delivery as well as financing of health services in its hospital sector, medical technology sector and long-term care insurance. Despite these challenges and reforms, health outcomes among the Japanese population have been progressively among the best in the world. This volume shows how policy research can lead to policy analysis, implementation and assessment. It also provides valuable lessons learnt for mutual learning among other health care systems.Volume 3 offers a comprehensive review of the developments in South Korea's national health insurance system since 1989 in terms of financing, delivery systems, and outcomes. The volume analyzes the efficiency of cost and service delivery by public sectors versus private sectors. It points out areas of challenge to future Korean health care reform. Chapter authors in this volume are leading experts involved in Korean health care policy implementation.Volume 4 reviews the development and achievements of Taiwan Health Insurance since 1995. Because of its continuous reform in payment, services delivery, and pharmaceutical technology, Taiwan has been considered a model example of universal health insurance among global health systems. This volume shows the processes used to translate policy research findings into policy changes. While the health care reform in Taiwan is ongoing, the Taiwan example provides a real-world and practical understanding of health care system changes.In summary, this four-volume set makes an outstanding contribution to health care system reform and policy research, based on solid scholarly work. It also introduces policy researchers and academic communities to current debates about health systems, health financing, and universal health coverage. This reference volume is a must for anyone keen on East Asia's health care system reform dynamics and changing scene.

This book contains a collection of works showcasing the latest research into global health economics conducted by leading experts in the field from the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at the University of York and other partner research institutions. Each chapter focuses upon an important topic in global health economics and a number of separate research projects. The discussion delves into health care policy evaluation; economic evaluation; econometric and other analytic methods; health equity and universal health coverage; consideration of cost-effectiveness thresholds and opportunity costs in the health sector; health system challenges and possible solutions; and others. Case study examples from a variety of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings are also showcased in the final part of this volume.The research presented seeks to contribute toward increasing understanding on how health policy can be enhanced to improve the welfare of LMIC populations. It is strongly recommended for public health policymakers and analysts in low- and middle-income country settings and those affiliated to international health organizations and donor organizations.

The global health community is broadly in agreement that achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hinges upon both an escalation of the financial resources dedicated to primary health care (PHC) and a more effective use of those resources: more money, better spent. This book introduces and explicates the end-to-end resource tracking and management (RTM) framework, which includes five components that determine effective and efficient financing for PHC: resource mobilization, allocation, utilization, productivity, and targeting.In addition, this book compiles detailed results from the most recent RTM-based resource tracking efforts for PHC in selected countries. This is to demonstrate how the RTM framework can be used to bring a set of separate resource tracking efforts at different stages of flow of funds into a comprehensive process with an end-to-end 'storyline'. In order to build a functional PHC system that addresses access, quality, and equity issues, this book highlights the key (public) financing issues that researchers, technical advisors, and policy makers would need to address in addition to more resources.

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic and life as we knew it paused indefinitely. Confusion, doubts and uncertainty became daily companions as the world watched the pandemic consume country after country.At the University of British Columbia, Canada, a class of aspiring epidemiologists partnered with the professionals working at the frontline of COVID-19 healthcare and research, to examine key questions which would capture a snapshot of the historical pandemic.What caused this outbreak? How does a virus spread? What are the best potential treatments; how did we achieve the development of vaccines, and how do they work? What are the strategies to tackle a two-front war against the virus and the spread of dangerous misinformation and pseudoscience? These questions and more are examined throughout this volume.

This book documents the journey of the Mental Health-General Practitioner (MH-GP) Partnership Programme in Singapore's Institute of Mental Health since its inception in 2003 and how it has developed over the years as a model of successful tertiary-primary care partnership in mental health.The programme provides an Asian perspective and showcases a successful collaboration of an integrated network between tertiary and primary care practitioners in the management of individuals with chronic major psychiatric disorders as well as individuals with minor psychiatric disorders.It can serve as a reference guide for agencies, both public and private in Singapore as well as agencies in the region who plans to develop similar partnerships between tertiary and primary care. This book may interest audiences from various fields, medical, allied health, administration and students in healthcare and education.

This book makes a highly innovative contribution to overcoming the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness – still the heaviest burden both for those afflicted and those caring for them. The scene is set by the presentation of different fundamental perspectives on the problem of stigma and discrimination by researchers, consumers, families, and human rights experts. Current knowledge and practice used in reducing stigma are then described, with information on the programmes adopted across the world and their utility, feasibility, and effectiveness. The core of the volume comprises descriptions of new approaches and innovative programmes specifically designed to overcome stigma and discrimination. In the closing part of the book, the editors – all respected experts in the field – summarize some of the most important evidence- and experience-based recommendations for future action to successfully rewrite the long and burdensome ‘story’ of mental illness stigma and discrimination.

The Social Determinants of Mental Health aims to fill the gap that exists in the psychiatric, scholarly, and policy-related literature on the social determinants of mental health: those factors stemming from where we learn, play, live, work, and age that impact our overall mental health and well-being. The editors and an impressive roster of chapter authors from diverse scholarly backgrounds provide detailed information on topics such as discrimination and social exclusion; adverse early life experiences; poor education; unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity; income inequality, poverty, and neighborhood deprivation; food insecurity; poor housing quality and housing instability; adverse features of the built environment; and poor access to mental health care. This thought-provoking book offers many beneficial features for clinicians and public health professionals: Clinical vignettes are included, designed to make the content accessible to readers who are primarily clinicians and also to demonstrate the practical, individual-level applicability of the subject matter for those who typically work at the public health, population, and/or policy level. Policy implications are discussed throughout, designed to make the content accessible to readers who work primarily at the public health or population level and also to demonstrate the policy relevance of the subject matter for those who typically work at the clinical level. All chapters include five to six key points that focus on the most important content, helping to both prepare the reader with a brief overview of the chapter's main points and reinforce the "take-away" messages afterward. In addition to the main body of the book, which focuses on selected individual social determinants of mental health, the volume includes an in-depth overview that summarizes the editors' and their colleagues' conceptualization, as well as a final chapter coauthored by Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States, that serves as a "Call to Action," offering specific actions that can be taken by both clinicians and policymakers to address the social determinants of mental health. The editors have succeeded in the difficult task of balancing the individual/clinical/patient perspective and the population/public health/community point of view, while underscoring the need for both groups to work in a unified way to address the inequities in twenty-first century America. The Social Determinants of Mental Health gives readers the tools to understand and act to improve mental health and reduce risk for mental illnesses for individuals and communities. Students preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will also benefit from this book, as the MCAT in 2015 will test applicants' knowledge of social determinants of health. The social determinants of mental health are not distinct from the social determinants of physical health, although they deserve special emphasis given the prevalence and burden of poor mental health.