Jan. 25, 2022 Global Publication

Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches

The WHO Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches document is part of the WHO Guidance and technical packages on community mental health services set of publications. It provides a detailed description of person-centred and human rights-based approaches in mental health, and summary examples of good practice services around the world. It describes the linkages needed with housing, education, employment and social protection sectors, and presents examples of integrated regional and national networks of community-based mental health services. Specific recommendations and action steps are presented for developing community mental health services that respect human rights and focus on recovery. This comprehensive document is accompanied by a set of seven technical packages focused on specific categories of mental health services and guidance for setting up new services.

May 12, 2022 Global Publication

Person-centred care planning as foundational to clinical practice

The World Health Organization recently issued new guidance and technical packages for community mental health services, entitled “Promoting Person?Centred and Rights?Based Approaches”. As these documents make clear, within the sphere of mental health, the provision of person?centred care is itself an issue of human rights. This is not only true in the cases of involuntary or coercive treatments – when precautions and oversight must be exercised to ensure preservation of dignity and respect under exceptional circumstances – but with regard to all forms of mental health care. All mental health care, including clinical practice, needs to be fundamentally re?oriented toward the protection and extension of each individual's right to self?determination. Re?oriented, that is, to preserving the person's integrity as an individual while facilitating and promoting the person's pursuit of his/her own unique life goals.