Health
Sector-specific MHPSS recommendations
Recognizing and supporting the MHPSS needs of children and/or caregivers can improve compliance with other treatments or health advice and improve outcomes for children and families.
Read the summary below or access the full guidance.
Mental health and psychosocial support needs are highly prevalent in most populations and are exacerbated in situations of adversity.[1] Living with adverse situations can negatively impact:
- Children’s growth and development
- Caregivers’ ability to work, earn and care for their children
- Families’ functioning, resilience to health issues, and ability to adopt healthy behaviours
Most children and caregivers who are affected by mental health problems do not seek support from health services for their mental health difficulties. However, they are very likely to present at health services for other reasons. Similarly, some physical symptoms are actually signs or expressions of a mental health problem.
Health services and programmes provide multiple opportunities for integrating MHPSS into practice and service design, identifying and supporting affected children and caregivers, and facilitating access to other help where available. Recognising and supporting the MHPSS needs of children and/or caregivers can also improve compliance with other treatments or health advice.
[1] Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 – The Lancet Psychiatry
Key Resources:
- SCI, MHPSS TWG position statement, 2023
- WHO, Nurturing Care Handbook
- WHO, Standards for improving the quality of care for children and young adolescents in health facilities, 2018
- WHO, The mhGAP community toolkit: field test version, 2019
- WHO’s low-intensity psychological interventions: Self-Help Plus (SH+) Problem management plus (PM+), and Thinking Healthy: A manual for psychological management of perinatal depression