QualityRights & mental health delivery
QualityRights is a World Health Organisation’s (WHO) initiative to improve the quality of care and support in mental health and social services around the world through the promotion of human rights of persons with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities.
Mental health care in homes and facilities the world over is not only of poor quality but in many instances actually hinders recovery.
It is common for people to be locked away in small, prison-like cells with no human contact or to be chained to their beds, unable to move.
Violations are not restricted to inpatient and residential facilities. However, many people seeking care from outpatient and community care services are disempowered and also experience extensive restrictions to their basic human rights.
The abuse, violations and restrictions have been proven to hinder and slow down recovery of persons with mental, psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.
QualityRights seeks to curb these challenges by improving access to quality mental health and social services, empowering and promoting the rights of persons with mental health conditions, psychosocial, intellectual and cognitive disabilities.
The initiative adopts a series of training and guidance modules set to transform services and promote human rights to improve services towards a recovery-oriented approach which respects the rights of persons with psychosocial, intellectual and cognitive disabilities
These training and guidance modules can be used to build capacity among mental health practitioners, people with psychosocial, intellectual and cognitive disabilities, people using mental health services, families, care partners and other supporters, non-governmental organisations, organisations of persons with disabilities and others on how to implement a human rights and recovery approach in the area of mental health.
The materials have been designed to be in line with specifications in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international human rights standards.
What QR seeks to achieve
The ultimate goal of QualityRights is to affect mindsets and change mental healthcare practices in a way that is sustainable and empowers all stakeholders to promote rights and recovery in order to improve the lives of people with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities everywhere.
The QualityRights concept adopts various training approaches to achieve a number of objectives. These objectives include:
- Build capacity to combat stigma and discrimination, and to promote human rights and recovery
- Improve the quality of care and human rights conditions in mental health and social services
- Create community-based and recovery-oriented services that respect and promote human rights
- Support the development of a civil society movement to conduct advocacy and influence policy-making
- Reform national policies and legislation in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international human rights standards
Modules
The QualityRights training modules will in the long run ensure improved recovery and a sustainable means of service delivery.
The modules include the core training modules - comprising the e-training (https://humanrights-etrain-qualityrights.coorpacademy.com/login) and face-to-face training, the guidance modules - characterised by peer support groups by and for people with lived experience and advocacy for mental health, disability and human rights; service transformation- transforming services and promoting human rights in mental health and social services; and Self-Help-which is a person-centred recovery planning for mental health and well-being self-help tool.
The QR training and guidance modules have generally been designed to be beneficial to all persons in the nation. However, various aspects of it are specially designed for key stakeholders who have some specific roles to play in the effective implementation of the QR programme.
Such key stakeholders include, but are not limited to:
- Persons with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities
- Families, support persons and other care partners
- Managers of general health, mental health and social services
- Mental health and other practitioners (e.g. doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, psychiatric and geriatric nurses, neurologists, geriatricians, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, community support workers, personal assistants, peer supporters and volunteers)
- Relevant ministries (Health, Gender and Social Protection, Education) and policymakers
- Relevant government institutions and services such as the police, the judiciary, prison staff, law reform commissions, disability councils and national human rights institutions.
- Other relevant organisations and stakeholders (e.g. advocates, lawyers and legal aid organisations, academics, university students, community or spiritual leaders, and traditional healers if appropriate)
Developed
QualityRights has been developed to enhance knowledge, skills and understanding among key stakeholders on how to promote the rights of persons with psychosocial and mental disabilities and improve the quality of services and supports being provided in mental health and related areas, in line with international human rights standards.
Having ratified various international conventions including the UDHR and CRPD, Ghana is bound to respect the edicts of these conventions. However, it is the responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that policy makers together with all well-meaning citizens of the land contribute to ensure an improved and sustainable mental healthcare delivery system that promotes rights and recovery to improve the lives of people with psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities throughout the nation.
By the QualityRights Team