Chapter 30 - Capacity building

Summary

Capacity building needs to enable integration of mental health into general health policy and its inclusion in the essential healthcare services; expansion of economic research on resource use, costs, and effectiveness of essential mental health care services in different countries; better identification and use of levers and entry points for improved care delivery and policy development; greater participation in health sector reforms; strengthening of links between mental health and public health; and more effective resource mobilization. A sector-wide approach (SWAp) to reforms was adopted in many countries and often included a form of decentralization, along with development of a framework for policy and planning that emphasized a limited set of cost-effective prioritized health interventions and the integration of a number of vertical programs within mainstream health system functions. Mental disorders generally respond to psychological and social interventions and medications.