Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-20T08:47:36.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A human rights foundation for ethical mental health practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2016

P. Devitt  and
B. D. Kelly
P. Devitt
Affiliation:
Consultant Psychiatrist, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
B. D. Kelly*
Affiliation:
Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: B. D. Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin 24, Ireland. (Email: brendan.kelly@tcd.ie)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There are close links between clinical ethics, human rights and the lived experience of mental illness and mental health care. Principles of professional ethics, national mental health legislation and international human rights conventions all address these themes in various ways. Even so, there are substantial deviations from acceptable standards at certain times, resulting in significant violations of rights in the developing and developed worlds. An explicitly human rights-based approach has improved matters in, for example, Scotland. External drivers of change, such as legislation, standards, codes of practice, inspections and sanctions for violations, are all needed. Attitudes and culture are also critical drivers of change. Most importantly, the principles and values of ethical, human rights-based professional practice need be taught and modelled throughout professional careers. Ongoing training in this area should form a central element of programmes of continuing professional development, delivered by people with expertise and understanding, including service users.

Keywords

Ethicshuman rightsmental healthmental health legislationpsychiatrytraining
Type
Perspective Piece
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 47 - 54
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors wish to state that this article represents their opinion that a human rights approach can provide a worthwhile foundation for ethical mental health practice. We are aware that other philosophical approaches may also be valid. We would welcome a debate on the issue and believe that the improvement of the mental health services requires such a debate.

References

Beauchamp, TL, Childress, JF (1994). Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 4th edn. Oxford University Press: New York, NY.Google Scholar
Bloch, S, Chodoff, P, Green, SA (editors) (1999). Psychiatric Ethics, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Carozza, PG (2003). From conquest to constitutions: retrieving the Latin American tradition of the ideal of human rights. Human Rights Quarterly 25, 281–313.Google Scholar
Council of Europe (1950). Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights). Council of Europe: Strasbourg.Google Scholar
Gostin, LO, Gable, L (2004). The human rights of persons with mental disabilities: a global perspective on the application of human rights principles to mental health. Maryland Law Review 63, 20–121.Google Scholar
Inspector of Mental Health Services (2013). Mental Health Commission Annual Report 2012 Including Report of the Inspector of Mental Health Services. Mental Health Commission: Dublin.Google Scholar
Inspector of Mental Health Services (2014). Mental Health Commission Annual Report 2013 Including Report of the Inspector of Mental Health Services. Mental Health Commission: Dublin.Google Scholar
Ishay, MR (ed.) (1997). The Human Rights Reader: Major Political Essays, Speeches and Documents From the Bible to the Present. Routledge: New York, NY.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2005). Structural violence and schizophrenia. Social Science and Medicine 61, 721–730.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2008). The Mental Treatment Act 1945 in Ireland: an historical enquiry. History of Psychiatry 19, 47–67.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2011). Mental health legislation and human rights in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 34, 439–454.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2014). Dignity, human rights and the limits of mental health legislation. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 31, 75–81.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2015). Dignity, Mental Health and Human Rights: Coercion and the Law. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon.Google Scholar
Kelly, BD (2016). Mental Illness, Human Rights and the Law. RCPsych Press: London.Google Scholar
Kennedy, H (2012). ‘Libertarian’ groupthink not helping mentally ill. Irish Times, 12 September.Google Scholar
Kennedy, H (2016). Prisons now a dumping ground for mentally ill young men. Irish Times, 18 May.Google Scholar
Scottish Human Rights Commission (2009). Human Rights in a Healthcare Setting: Making it Work – An Evaluation of a Human Rights Based Approach at The State Hospital. Scottish Human Rights Commission: Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Select Committee on the Lunatic Poor in Ireland (1817). Report from the Select Committee on the Lunatic Poor in Ireland with Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee and an Appendix. House of Commons: London.Google Scholar
Steering Group on the Review of the Mental Health Act 2001 (2012). Interim Report of the Steering Group on the Review of the Mental Health Act 2001. Department of Health: Dublin.Google Scholar
United Nations (1948). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations: Geneva.Google Scholar
United Nations (1966). The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. United Nations: Geneva.Google Scholar
United Nations (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. United Nations: Geneva.Google Scholar
Witte, J Jr (2006). God’s Joust, God’s Justice: Law and Religion in the Western Tradition. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.: Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2003). A Human Rights-Based Approach to Health. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2005). WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar