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Autonomy, benefit and protection: how human rights can protect people with mental health conditions or learning disabilities from unlawful deprivation of liberty
- Author:
- PATRICK Hilary
- Publisher:
- Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 52p.
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
This paper considers how the law and practice in Scotland relating to the care and treatment of people with mental health issues or learning disabilities respects their right to liberty and security guaranteed by Article 5 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). In recent years the law has changed, with the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 clarifying the rights of local authorities to make community care arrangements for adults who are incapable of making such arrangements themselves. Helpful guidance from the Scottish Government (the s13ZA guidance) highlights good practice issues. The s13ZA guidance is clear that it is not appropriate to use the new provisions of the Social Work (Scotland) Act where care arrangements may constitute a ‘deprivation of liberty’ within Article 5 ECHR. This paper aims to build on the guidance from the Scottish Government. It deals with areas that the Scottish Government does not cover, for example patients in hospital and people living in their own homes, and outlines areas where further good practice advice could be helpful. The paper is in 5 parts. Part 1 looks at what is meant by deprivation of liberty and the requirements of ECHR law. Parts 2 and 3 look at deprivation of liberty in context and discusses how the rules operate in specific situations. Part 4 considers how the principles of Adults with Incapacity Act law and ECHR law can help form a framework for decision making in these difficult situations and Part 5 draws some conclusions.
The power gap: freedom, power and mental illness
- Author:
- KELLY Brendan D.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 63(8), October 2006, pp.2118-2128.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Up to one in four individuals in the US meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental illness in any given year and a significant proportion have severe or recurring illnesses (e.g. schizophrenia). Despite this prevalence, mental health services remain poorly funded, mental illness remains misunderstood and individuals with recurring illness are constrained to live lives characterized by isolation, under-employment, stigma and denial of rights. The author examines the idea that this situation is attributable, at least in part, to the ways in which the freedom and power of the mentally ill are undermined by a range of factors, including: (i) dispersion of political power amongst interest groups, which, combined with the relatively wide distribution of the ‘interest’ of mental illness, has the paradoxical result that mental health interest groups do not command political power proportional to the number affected; (ii) systematic exclusion of the mentally ill from full participation in civic, social and political life (structural violence), resulting in a lack of emphasis on mental health on political agendas and the exclusion of certain policy options as possible responses and (iii) difficulties the mentally ill may experience recognizing or articulating their own needs the absence of effective health-care systems, and the absence of knowledge about alternative systems. It is argued that the enhancement of individual agency is central to efforts to address this power gap, including: (i) rights-based approaches, involving the enhancement of national mental health legislation, improvement of advocacy, empowerment and guardianship processes and development of governance, accountability and quality procedures in mental health services; (ii) approaches based on enhancing direct political participation, including voter-registration programmes and development of larger, more effective interest groups and (iii) additional approaches, including increasing accountability throughout services, recognizing the effects of socio-political change on the context of care and adapting the concept of ‘soft power’ to strengthen advocacy programmes.
What can the Human Rights Act 1998 do for my mental health?
- Author:
- HALE Brenda
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Family Law Quarterly, 17(3), 2005, pp.295-305.
- Publisher:
- Jordan Publishing
This article explores the potential use the Human Rights Act 1998 in the field of mental health. It is based on the text of the Paul Sieghart Memorial Lecture, presented at the British Institute of Human Rights on 7 July 2004.
Human rights in mental health services: good practice guide
- Author:
- MENTAL WELFARE COMMISSION FOR SCOTLAND
- Publisher:
- Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
- Publication year:
- 2017
- Pagination:
- 74
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
This guide explains how and where human rights impact on the provision of mental health care and how staff can best ensure that the key rights are respected. It is aimed at staff in hospital and community teams in Scotland and has been written in consultation with mental health care practitioners, users of services, and patients’ relatives who have direct experience of adult acute settings. It looks at each of the rights set out in the Rights in Mind pathway to patients’ rights in mental health services. There is a section for each stage, covering patient’s rights in the community, hospital admission, hospital care, and hospital discharge. The guide also sets out overarching rights that apply across all of these stages. Short case studies are included to illustrate different scenarios. The guide can be used both as a reference guide and as an improvement resource to help staff reflect on their policies and practice. (Edited publisher abstract)
Mental health care for children and young people and human rights: a practitioners guide
- Author:
- BRITISH INSTITUTE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
- Publisher:
- British Institute of Human Rights
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 16
- Place of publication:
- London
Booklet providing advice for practitioners on using human rights values and approaches when working with children and young people in hospital mental health settings. It also contains relevant information for practitioners working with children and young people in the community. The booklet is arranged around three key issues: seclusion and de-escalation, which includes a decision making flow chart; supporting young people with eating disorders; and private and family life on the ward. Each section outlines potential human rights issues for practice; offers suggested responses which take a human rights approach; provides information about the key rights most likely to be relevant to that area of practice; and includes worked examples. Although produced for practitioners, it includes information that may also be useful for people using services, their family, carers or advocates. It is one of eight booklets developed as part of the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) project ‘Delivering Compassionate Care: Connecting Human Rights to the Frontline’, which aims to help ensure that frontline staff have the knowledge and skills to place human rights at the heart of mental health services. (Edited publisher abstract)
Mental health law in England and Wales: a guide for approved mental health professionals
- Author:
- BARBER Paul
- Publisher:
- Learning Matters
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 464p.
- Place of publication:
- London
- Edition:
- 2nd ed.
Intended for mental health professionals, including social workers, occupational therapists, general practitioners and nurses, this guide deals with the Mental Health Act 1983 as amended by the Mental Health Act 2007. It includes the full text of the main body of the Mental Health Act, relevant rules and regulations, advice on how mental health law operates in practice, checklists for working with the legislation, and case law and case examples to illustrate key points. It covers the background to the Act, codes of practice, mental disorder and the availability of appropriate medical treatment, civil admission and compulsion in hospital and civil compulsion in the community, mentally disordered offenders, medical treatment, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the deprivation of liberty safeguards, tribunals, hospital managers, the nearest relative, the Care Quality Commission (England) and the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, independent mental health advocates, Human Rights Act implications, and children and young people.
The independent review of learning disability and autism in the Mental Health Act: final report
- Authors:
- ROME Andrew, EVANS Catherine, WEBSTER Simon
- Publisher:
- Independent Review of the Mental Health Act Scotland
- Publication year:
- 2019
- Pagination:
- 176
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
The final report of an independent review into the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government. The review covered: the operation of the 2003 Act and whether it was serving people with autism and intellectual disability well; the increasing the role of psychologists in relation to the Act; the definition of mental disorder under the 2003 Act in relation to learning disabilities and autism; how the Act interacted with the criminal justice system, and the use of psychotropic medication. The review heard from a wide range of people and aimed to give equal value to the views and evidence of people with lived experience and professionals. The report recommends legal and practical changes which can reduce or remove the discrimination that autistic people and people with intellectual disability have experienced under the current Mental Health Act. These included for the Scottish parliament to introduce new legislation and to establish a new commissioner to safeguard the rights of people with autism or learning difficulties. (Edited publisher abstract)