Chapter 21 The right to mental health care in mental health legislation

• Main Author: Kelly, Brendan D. (auth)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2024
• Subjects: Jurisprudence & general issues; Human rights & civil liberties law; Comparative law; Constitutional & administrative law; Criminal law & procedure; Disability & the law; Public health & safety law; International law reports; Psychiatry; Children and mental health law; Decision-making capacity; Justice and mental health law; Mental health law; UN Convention on Rights of the person with disabilities; World Health Organization's QualityRights Initiative; coercion; forensic psychiatry and criminal law; gender and mental health law; human rights; involuntary psychiatric treatment; mental health and criminal law; older adults and mental health law
• Online Access: OAPEN Library: download the publication; OAPEN Library: description of the publication

There are two increasingly distinct strands of thought regarding rights to mental health and mental health care in mental health legislation. According to one school of thought, reflected by some (but not all) United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) bodies, substitute decision-making and treatment without consent should cease. This is based on a particular, contested reading of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and a hope that the need for such measures can be completely eliminated through improved practices. The other school of thought includes many mental health service-users and providers who acknowledge the need for reform and supported decision-making, but believe treatment without consent will still be needed occasionally, and feel the UN and WHO are increasingly detached from clinical evidence and service provision. There is a need for deeper dialogue, inter-disciplinary research, and enhanced collaboration to protect rights in mental health care.