Global Mental Health: A personal perspective, Seminar by Dr Alex Cohen

Prof Ricardo Araya chaired Global Mental Health: A personal perspective, by Dr Alex Cohen* at the Health Service & Population Research Department/IoPPN, King’s College London.

On Tuesday 22nd January, to a packed room full of staff and students, Alex delivered a thought-provoking lecture on the field of global mental health. As the founder of the highly successful MSc in Global Mental Health (LSHTM/IoPPN), Alex touched upon wide-ranging issues such as mental health services in primary care, priorities for research and service development, approaches to prevention, and psychiatric institutions in the 21st century. Alex exhorted the audience to think critically about “received wisdom” in Global Mental Health, to look beyond individual-level interventions, and suggested key areas for investigation that have not thus far been prioritised within the field, including hospital reform, medication supply, and the implementation of the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, leaving us with plenty of food for thought.

*Dr Alex Cohen is Honorary Associate Professor at LSHTM; Visiting Scientist at Harvard University – TH Chan School of Public Health; and consultant to the INTREPID project. He has written monographs for the World Health Organisation; edited case books of mental health programmes; helped implement the International Mental Health Leadership Program at The University of Melbourne, and co-founded the MSc Programme in Global Mental Health jointly led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.

If you wish to view the  presentation please click here