A New Benchmark for Mental Health Systems
Tackling the Social and Economic Costs of Mental Ill-Health
Mental ill-health affects millions of people, and drives economic costs of more than 4% of GDP. A good mental health system helps people stay in good mental health, and connects those in need to appropriate support to manage their mental health condition or even fully recover from it. However, mental health care has long been neglected and under-funded, and unmet need for care is still high. The long-lasting COVID-19 crisis and the toll it is taking on mental health has made mental health systems more important than ever. This timely report provides an in-depth analysis of how well countries are delivering the policies and services that matter for mental health system performance. The report highlights recent reforms countries have taken to strengthen mental health performance, including by increasing access to mental health care, ensuring that service users take the lead in planning and even delivering services, and prioritising integration and mental health promotion. The report also identifies promising approaches countries should pursue to better meet their populations’ mental health needs. This report sets up a framework for understanding mental health performance through internationally comparable indicators, an approach set to grow stronger still in the coming years as more data become available.
Key findings and recommendations
This chapter gives an overview of the main findings of the publication A New Benchmark for Mental Health Systems: Tackling the Social and Economic Costs of Mental Ill-Health. The chapter starts by recalling the significant social and economic costs of mental ill-health, and points to evidence that the burden of mental distress has risen during the COVID‑19 crisis. The chapter sets out, firstly, how the OECD Mental Health System Performance Benchmark can be used to bring new insights into the strengths and weaknesses of mental health systems. Second, the chapter summarises the main findings in terms of system performance across each of the six principles of the Benchmark, and highlights some of the innovative and effective ways that countries are already working to improve mental health system performance. Finally, this chapter points to some of the next steps for measuring mental health performance, and making the OECD Benchmark an even more valuable tool in the years to come.
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