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Institute for Global Health

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Mental health in social and global context

This module aims to develop students' understanding of the impact and significance of the social context and social determinants of mental health. It also introduces students to the discipline of global mental health, especially mental health research and practice in low- and middle-income countries, considering clinical, epidemiological and anthropological perspectives. This module will equip students with the basic skills and knowledge to pursue further academic and professional work related to social and global aspects of mental health.

Module Code: PSBS0012

UCL Credits:15

Module Organisers: Dr Nicola Morant, Division of Psychiatry (n.morant@ucl.ac.uk) and Dr Rochelle Burgess, UCL Institute for Global Health (r.burgess@ucl.ac.uk)

Who can study this course

MSc/PG Dip Global Health and Development students, subject to availability, as this is not an IGH module.

Admission Requirements

MSc and PG Dip students: Open to all UCL MSc/PG Dip Global Health and Development, and to any UCL MSc/PG Dip students.

Course length 8 weeks
Course Dates

10 January - 28 February 2019

Assessment due 18 March 2019

Days and times Fridays 14:00 - 17:00

Content

Topics

The module will help students to understand social and cultural influences on mental health, with a focus on understanding the impact on mental health and mental health care of social context, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Students will be exposed to debates about how best to understand and research social and global inequalities in mental health and mental health care, in particular how to conceptualise the influence of universal and locally-specific risk and protective factors. They will learn about the mental health needs of vulnerable populations, including populations exposed to stigma and violence. They will be introduced to practical quantitative and qualitative approaches to researching the social influences on mental health, including epidemiology, qualitative research techniques and ethnography. They will gain understanding about approaches to address mental disorders at the individual and public health level in high- and low- and middle-income settings. The module critically evaluates social and cross-cultural mental health research, including the challenges of research and intervention in cross-cultural and low-resource settings, translation and adaptation of tools and interventions, global mental health policy and debate, and pertinent ethical issues. The module will also further students' understanding of how social, cultural and biological factors combine to affect experiences of mental disorders, as well as their diagnosis and treatment.

Provisional list of sessions

Session 1: Introductory, conceptual and methodological issues in social and global mental health research

Session 2: Social determinants of mental ill-health

Session 3: Understanding and working with personal and cultural meanings of mental ill-health

Session 4: Applying quantitative approaches across contexts

Session 5: Social interventions: individual and public health level approaches

Session 6: Small group work presentations

Session 7: Mental health interventions in international contexts

Session 8: Mental health research in vulnerable populations

Teaching and Learning Methods

Content will be delivered through lectures by specialists, primarily from the Division of Psychiatry and Institute for Global Health, supplemented by other experts especially in the field of global mental health. Lectures will be interactive and include group activities that will help students to develop debating, critical evaluation and problem-solving skills. A small group project (not assessed) will be introduced in the first week which will involve students designing and planning an evaluation of a mental health intervention to target a social group in a low- or middle-income country, or a marginalised or deprived social group in the UK. Groups will present their work to peers during a later session in the module. For the assessments, students will choose between an editorial and a policy brief on a topic relevant to the module. Content will potentially complement learning from other MSc modules in the Division of Psychiatry and Institute for Global Health such as: Epidemiological Methods in Mental Health; Mental Health: Research and Policy; Culture and the Clinic; Research Methods and Evidence for Global Health; Collecting and Using Data; and Social Determinants of Global Health.

Assessment

100% written work (2,500 words)

Assessment Date

18 March 2019

Selected Recommended Reading

  • PATEL, V. TED Talk: Mental health for all by involving all. (www.ted.com/talks/vikram_patel_mental_health_for_all_by_involving_all)
  • Johnson, S (2017) Social interventions in mental health: A call to action. Soc Psych and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2: 245-47.
  • STEEL, Z., MARNANE, C., IRANPOUR, C., CHEY, T., JACKSON, J. W., PATEL, V. & SILOVE, D. 2014. The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980-2013. International Journal of Epidemiology, 43, 476-493.
  • KLEINMAN, A. 1987. Anthropology and psychiatry: The role of culture in cross- cultural research on illness. . British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 447-54.
  • KAKUMA, R., MINAS, H., VAN GINNEKEN, N., DAL POZ, M. R., DESIRAJU, K.,
  • MORRIS, J. E., SAXENA, S. & SCHEFFLER, R. M. 2011. Human resources for mental health care: current situation and strategies for action. Lancet, 378, 1654-1663.