human rights and legislation who resource book on mental health

Definition of “mental ill health” <strong>and</strong> other terms: Key issues
• Legislation may use a broader definition when dealing with <strong>rights</strong> <strong>and</strong> a narrower definition
when considering involuntary admission <strong>and</strong> treatment.
• Countries may prefer to include or exclude people with mental retardation from the
substantive provisions of mental health <strong>legislation</strong>. It is important, however, to bear in
mind that persons with mental retardation can, <strong>and</strong> sometimes do, also suffer from mental
disorder. Many of the <strong>rights</strong> that require reinforcement through <strong>legislation</strong> are the same for
people with mental retardation as for people with other mental disorders.
• Legislation must ensure that mental disorders are not presumed on the basis of:
(i) political, economic or social status, or membership in a cultural, racial or religious
group, or for any other reason not directly relevant to mental health status;
(ii) family or professional conflict, or non-conformity with moral, social, cultural or
political values or religious beliefs prevailing in a person’s community;
(iii) merely having a background of past treatment or hospitalization.
• Legislation should precisely define all technical terms that are used in order to remove any
ambiguity <strong>and</strong> help with the interpretation of law.
• Once a particular term has been chosen <strong>and</strong> defined, it is important that it be used
consistently throughout the law, <strong>and</strong> not interchangeably with other terms of similar
meaning.
4. Access to mental health care
Legislation can play an important role in improving access to mental health care (see also
Chapter 1, subsection 3.5). Improving access means increasing availability of services,
improving financial <strong>and</strong> geographical accessibility, <strong>and</strong> providing services that are acceptable
<strong>and</strong> of adequate quality. This section discusses a framework for addressing these issues with a
view to lowering access barriers in many countries.
MI Principles: Access to mental health care
Principles 1 (Fundamental Freedoms <strong>and</strong> Basic Rights) <strong>and</strong> 8 (St<strong>and</strong>ards of Care) of the MI
Principles are concerned with access to high quality care. Principle 1 establishes the right of all
persons to the best available mental health care as part of the health <strong>and</strong> social care system.
Principle 8 establishes the right to receive mental health care that is appropriate to a person’s
needs <strong>and</strong> protects that person from harm.
4.1 Financial <strong>resource</strong>s for mental health care
In some legislative frameworks or countries it may be possible to include specific provisions for
the <strong>resource</strong>s <strong>and</strong> funding of mental health services. Where this is possible, it is advisable to
indicate where <strong>resource</strong>s should be spent, thereby enabling adequate provision in areas such as
community mental health care <strong>and</strong> prevention <strong>and</strong> promotion programmes.
Most mental health <strong>legislation</strong> does not deal with funding directly. This is left to the domains of
budget <strong>and</strong> policy. This does not mean, however, that <strong>legislation</strong> cannot directly influence
financial allocations.
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