Foundations of Global Mental Health

GHP 204 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The course is an introduction to the field of global mental health. The curriculum is primarily informed by the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health & Sustainable Development (2018) (https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/global-mental-health) which proposed a re-framing of mental health in three key ways: adopting a dimensional approach to mental health; recognizing the convergence of social and biological determinants in the emergence of mental health problems; and realizing a rights based approach to mental health. The curriculum also curates the key messages from the World Mental Health Report published by World Health Organization in 2022 (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338) and a Health Policy paper in the Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00918-2/fulltext) . The course takes a life course approach and focuses on determinants and risk factors for mental health problems and the policy options to address mental health problems. Besides the two instructors, one of whom (VP) was the lead editor of the Commission, the course includes a selection of leading experts as guest instructors for specific sessions. This course is cross-listed at Harvard Medical School.