HEART Talks: Mental Health Videos from Experts in the Field

Roughly half of all mental health conditions start by the mid-teens, and three-quarters by the mid-twenties. Childhood and adolescence are key developmental stages when factors such as family, peers and school, as well as poverty, violence and other forms of adversity, can have lifelong consequences for mental health.

At the same time, development interventions targeted at children and young people can build resilience, promote wellbeing and prevent the onset of mental health conditions. But how do we maximise the benefits of existing development interventions for this age group? How can we promote the voices of young people in the design, development and implementation of these interventions?

In this video Tatiana Salisbury (Centre for Global Mental Health, King’s College London) and Kelly Rose-Clarke (Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King’s College London) discuss why it’s important to invest in child and adolescent mental health, outline six key messages for donors and discuss how donors can deliver for mental health.

This video was produced from a training module, developed by King’s College London and delivered to DFID staff in Summer 2019, as part of the K4D Learning Journey led by the Mental Health Innovation Network on “Leave No One Behind”: Delivering on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities.

The mental health consequences of rapid onset emergencies, fragility, conflict and violence— compounded by the cyclical relationship between poverty and mental illness—are pressing challenges, especially in humanitarian settings. People with pre-existing psychosocial disabilities are also among the most vulnerable in these contexts.

In this video, Alison Schafer and Mark van Ommeren from the World Health Organization discuss what is meant by mental health and psychosocial support, why this should be prioritised in emergency contexts, the rationale for doing more and doing better, and highlight where organisations can go for further advice and support.

This video was produced from a training module, which was designed by experts from WHO and delivered to DFID staff in Summer 2019, as part of the K4D Learning Journey “Leave No One Behind”: Delivering on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities.

In this video, Jasmine Kalha, QualityRights Gujarat, discusses the benefits of a rights-based approach to mental health, the QualityRights framework in the context of health systems, the role that peer support should play in QualityRights, and her favourite Article of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

In this video, Soumitra Pathare, QualityRights Gujarat, discusses how mental health professionals need to engage with the political process of policy making, the important roles that Disabled People's Organisations and civil society can play, and what we gain when we think about mental health as a human rights issue.

These videos were produced from a training module designed by global experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, CBM and the Centre for Mental Health Law and Policy, India, and delivered to DFID staff in Spring 2019, as part of the K4D Learning Journey “Leave No One Behind”: Delivering on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities.

In this video, Julian Eaton from CBM and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine discusses the ‘disease-model’ approach to mental health, the social risk factors that can contribute to mental health conditions, and explores how social development programmes can improve mental health and psychosocial support outcomes.

This video was produced from a training module ‘Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities in Development’, which was delivered to DFID staff in Spring 2019, as part of the K4D Learning Journey “Leave No One Behind”: Delivering on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities.

The 2018 Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development makes the case for mental health to be integrated into all aspects of development as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. This means including people with psychosocial disabilities in the work that development organisations are already doing, incorporating more targeted approaches to mental health where feasible, and measuring the impact of existing work on mental health outcomes.

In this video Adrian Sell, Chair of the Bond Mental Health and Psychosocial Disability Group, discusses what the evidence suggests so far for community-based mental health work, outlines what the BasicNeeds' model for mental health in development is, and what elements could be incorporated into existing and new programmes.

This video was produced from a training module ‘Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities in Development’, which was delivered to DFID staff in Spring 2019, as part of the K4D Learning Journey “Leave No One Behind”: Delivering on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities.