Integrating Mental Health Considerations into Health Impact Assessments

The work of Former Surgeon General David Satcher has been frequently paraphrased into a statement that there is “no health without mental health.” Similarly, the World Health Organization definition of health states that health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (emphasis added). Thus, mental health is an integral component to any discussion of physical health impacts. Indeed, mental health has often been shown to play a mediating role between social determinants such as exclusion, racism, and poverty, and physical health outcomes in many health impact assessments (HIA). Consideration of mental health impacts in HIA speaks to the core value of integrating a comprehensive approach to health.

The Mental Health in HIA working group was convened in March 2013 to discuss the importance of integrating mental health considerations into HIA. Participants will review and discuss the Mental Health Definitions and Sample Pathways resource sheets, created by the working group. In addition, participants in this session will identify challenges to integrating mental health and explore additional options for addressing these challenges and moving the field forward.