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Cultural drivers that facilitate/hinder mental health care reform

Case study | |

In his presentation at the Cultural Contexts of Health and Well-being workshop on 'Culture and reform of mental health care in central eastern Europe' in Klecany, Czechia in October 2017, Jack Friedman of the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Applied Social Research emphasized the importance of understanding how culture can be operationalized as a core consideration in approaches to mental health care reform in Central and Eastern Europe. He explained that culture contributes to:  

• societal beliefs about mental illness and recovery;  

• clinicians’ beliefs about mental illness, treatment and recovery; and  

• the political norms required to recognize, prioritize, fund and value reform.  

A focus on cultural drivers avoids reducing culture to an “irrational” set of beliefs that stand in opposition to “rational” scientific, medical practices. Instead, it seeks to identify the key sources of support – and neglect – that exist in the many cultures within Central and Eastern Europe. It allows stakeholders to approach reform in a sensitive and tailored manner, avoiding assumptions and one-size-fits-all approaches to both processes and goals. Critically, it can also facilitate the reconsideration of some of the cornerstones of reform in the region, such as deinstitutionalization and partnerships with faith-based communities to enhance pathways to and/or continuums of care.

 

 

Photo by Seongho Jang on Unsplash 

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