'Addressing mental health in SA requires an integrated approach'
"Mental healthcare is very much underfunded. There's a lack of understanding about what is involved," says Dr Alex Plowright.
Depression psychology sad emotions. Picture: pixabay.com
Gugs Mhlungu spoke to head of Community Health and Wellbeing at Anglo American, Dr Alex Plowright.
Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.
Millions of people around the world are said to be living with mental health conditions, with anxiety and depression being the most common.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), "mental disorders involve significant disturbances in thinking, emotional regulation, or behaviour."
Although effective prevention and treatment options do exist, the WHO says most people do not have effective care.
In South Africa, living with a mental disorder is particularly challenging because of the severe lack of resources.
Plowright says mental healthcare is very much underfunded and that there's a not much of an understanding of what is involved.
"People, policymakers, and decision-makers tend to think that it's about providing these high-cost clinical solutions to people who are very much in need of high-impact interventions from a clinical perspective and not about prevention and health promotion."
- Dr Alex Plowright, Head of Community Health and Wellbeing at Anglo American
Plowright believes that addressing mental health requires an integrated approach.
In a recent article she wrote, Plowright explained that one solution lies in the community health model and integrating mental healthcare.
"This encompasses looking at existing platforms and services provided within the primary healthcare system, as well as the key touch points, by identifying the level of need. This can then be followed by cognitive behavioural interventions to support the improvement of wellbeing and mental health outcomes and reduce stigma."
"People are very reluctant to firstly acknowledge, secondly to act when they believe that something might be wrong, and thirdly they then don't know where to go because nothing is advertised and if it is, it is poorly advertised."
- Dr Alex Plowright, Head of Community Health and Wellbeing at Anglo American
"You can actually have this enabling environment where actors in the clinical and non-clinical space in communities are really capacitated and trained to firstly identify when someone is in need of care, secondly provide basic level care that captures the issue and offers the holistic well-being support so that depression doesn't become too overwhelming or mental health deficit becomes extremely acute."
- Dr Alex Plowright, Head of Community Health and Wellbeing at Anglo American
Scroll up to listen to the full interview.