Social Determinants of Mental Health

Course overview

This course is based upon material published by the National Academies Press and is available for free on the internet. This course is a summary of the main points made by individual speakers at a workshop on Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Mental Health (SDMH), held in 2020 at the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professional Education. Highlights of the workshop include: The social determinants of mental health (SDMH) deserve equal attention to the social determinants of physical health because mental health conditions have high costs, prevalence, morbidity, and mortality, and they have been neglected in conversations about social determinants. Policies have an impact on peoples mental and physical health, and health professionals have a responsibility to advocate for policies that will improve health. Contained in the National Academies report A Framework for Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Health was the need to emphasize experiential learning that is interprofessional and cross-sectoral. Both learners and practitioners need to practice in such a way that acknowledges and addresses the SDMH, or the health professions will never get beyond where they are now. One of the challenges [to using a team-based model of care] was trying to change the dynamics of a team of health professionals who are used to working parallel to each other in silos. Policy issues will have to be addressed if a sustainable interprofessional An environment that bridges academia and practice is to be created. As educators seek to bring the SDMH into the classroom, it is important that they examine their own biases, conscious and unconscious, in order to better guide their students toward addressing disparities that can increase joy in their patients lives. This course on social determinants of mental health is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors. This course is not clinical in nature. This course is appropriate for intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop or increase their knowledge of the mental health consequences of social determinants. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. Contributors: Cuff and Forstag Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding the social determinants of mental health. Specifically, a professional will: Discriminate between health disparities and health inequities Recognize why SDMH deserve special emphasis above and beyond those determinants of physical health Summarize potential and existing educational activities which encourage effective interprofessional engagement Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020. Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Mental Health: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Access the article and entire report at https://doi.org/10.17226/25711.