Social Inclusion And Mental Health

People with mental health conditions are among the most socially excluded groups in society. Mental health conditions are influenced by the social environment, which in turn shapes our social and cultural responses to the people who experience them. Much of what mental health practitioners do is 'essentially social' and the effects of their interventions are hampered by the marginalised status of many of the people that they see. This book documents the ways in which people with mental health conditions are excluded from participating in society and offers some pointers as to how this may be reversed. It highlights the need to reduce mental health inequalities and to consider the importance of material inequalities and social injustices faced by people experiencing mental ill-health. Whilst the challenges are considerable and the solutions wide-ranging, mental health practitioners can play a significant role in facilitating the social inclusion of those with mental health conditions.

This book draws on the accounts of people who have faced the challenge of life with a mental health problem, in order to propose that the guiding principle of mental health practice should revolve around social inclusion and recovery.

Poverty, Mental Health, and Social Inclusion offers a comprehensive selection of chapters written by academic researchers as well as direct practitioners and mental health consumer-survivors to examine the intersection of poverty, mental health, and social exclusion. With the aim of addressing complex issues from homelessness and housing to stigma and mental health, the volume presents the perspectives of a wide range of those affected by poverty and social exclusion including Canadian veterans, Indigenous women, homeless youth and families, and mental health consumer-survivors. Divided into four sections, the chapters explore the effects of social exclusion, examine the trajectory of how it occurs, analyze harmful policies in place that exacerbate the correlation between poverty and mental health issues, and introduce potential solutions to expand social inclusion to marginalized groups. Accessibly written, this text will be a valuable resource for courses on mental health, poverty, and social policy across the disciplines of social work, sociology, and health studies at both the graduate and undergraduate level.

People with serious mental illness no longer spend years of their lives in psychiatric institutions. In developed countries, there has been a major shift in the focus of care from hospitals into the community. However, while it means those with mental illness are not confined, it does not guarantee they will be fully integrated into their communities. The barriers to full citizenship are partly due to the disabilities produced by their illnesses and partly by stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes of the public. This book analyzes the causes of these barriers and suggests ways of dismantling them. The book is constructed in two parts: the first relates to social inclusion and the second to occupational inclusion. Throughout, the text is annotated with quotes from consumers to illustrate their experience of the issues discussed. The innovations outlined are described in sufficient detail for the reader to implement them in their own practice.

Now in its third edition, this comprehensive text provides an in-depth examination of poverty and its impact on the health and quality of life of Canadians. Considering a broad range of topics, Dennis Raphael covers the central issues of defining and measuring poverty; situational and societal causes of poverty; health and social implications for individuals, communities, and society as a whole; and the means of reducing poverty’s incidence through public policy action. Poverty in Canada will foster greater insight into the repercussions of poverty throughout society, encouraging readers to reflect on provocative questions at the end of each chapter. Well updated to reflect current statistics and recent public policy changes, this new edition explores why specific groups of Canadians are over-represented amongst those living in poverty and provides a more developed analysis of the barriers to reducing poverty, including economic globalization and the increased power and influence of the corporate sector under neo liberalism. Emphasizing the lived experiences of poverty, this interdisciplinary volume is a valuable resource to those studying or working in health studies, social work, sociology, and equity studies.

"Many people with mental health conditions are poor, marginalised, stigmatised and have a low quality of life. This book offers a wide-reaching account of these aspects of social exclusion, of relevance to mental health practitioners and others who wish to understand health inequalities and the wider determinants of mental ill-health"--

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.

The focus of this ambitious reference work is social inclusion in health and social care, with the aim of offering a good understanding of matters that include or exclude people in society. Social inclusion stems from the ideal of an inclusive society where each individual can feel valued, differences between individuals are respected, needs of each person are met, and everyone can live with dignity as “the norm” (Cappo 2015). Community participation and interpersonal connections' dynamics that accommodate access to positive relationships, resources, and institutions can lead to social inclusion (Tua & Barnerjee 2019: 110). Social inclusion can explain why some individuals are situated at the centre of society or at its margins, as well as the consequences of the social layer in society (Allman 2015). Closely related to the concept of social inclusion is social exclusion. Social exclusion refers to “the process of marginalising individuals or groups of a particular society and denying them from full participation in social, economic and political activities” (Tancharoenathien et al. 2018: 3). Social exclusion is marked by unequal access to capabilities, rights, and resources. It is “a multi-dimensional process driven by unequal power relationships across four dimensions – economic, political, social and cultural” (Taket et al. 2014: 3-4). It engages at the individual, household, community, nation, and global levels. Social exclusion renders some individuals or groups to social vulnerability. Thus, these individuals or communities are unable to prevent negative situations that impact their lives. Methodologically, to promote social inclusion and reduce social exclusion, inclusive research methodologies must be embraced. Inclusive research refers to a “range of approaches and methods and these may be referred to in the literature as participatory, emancipatory, partnership and user-led research – even peer research, community research, activist scholarship, decolonizing or indigenous research” (Nind 2014: 1). Terms such as collaborative research and community-based participatory action research (CBPR) have also been referred to as inclusive research methodology. As Nind (2014) suggests, the term inclusive research can be adopted across disciplines and research fields within the paradigm of social inclusion. Hence, research and examples that are classified as inclusive research methods are included in this reference. This reference work covers a wide range of issues pertaining to the social inclusion paradigm. These include the theoretical frameworks that social inclusion can be situated within, research methodologies and ethical consideration, research methods that enhance social inclusion (PAR and inclusive research methods), issues and research that promote social inclusion in different communities/individuals, and programs and interventions that would lead to more social inclusion in society. The aims and scope of the reference are to provide discussions about: social inclusion and social exclusion in different societies; theories that are linked to social inclusion and exclusion; research methodologies that enhance social inclusion; inclusive research methods that promote social inclusion in vulnerable and marginalised groups of people; discussions about issues and research with diverse groups of vulnerable and marginalised individuals and communities; discussions regarding programs and interventions that can lead to more social inclusion in vulnerable and marginalised people. The reference work is divided into seven sections to cover the field of social inclusion comprehensively. Each section is dedicated to a particular perspective relating to social inclusion as covered by the aims and scope above. Handbook of Social Inclusion: Research and Practices in Health and Social Care should be an invaluable resource for professors, students, researchers, and scholars in public health, social sciences, medicine, and health sciences, as well as those at research institutes, government, and industry, on the concepts and theories of social inclusion/exclusion, and the research methodologies and programs/interventions that can enhance social inclusion in different population groups. Examples from the research are included to show the real-life situations that can promote social inclusion in different groups that readers can adopt in their own work and practice.