Definition Of Mental Health Literacy

Guidepost for mental health literacy development mental health literacy mhl is a construct that has arisen from the domain of health literacy hl and must be under stood in that context.

Definition of mental health literacy. One particular body of work has focused on mental health literacy mhl defined as knowledge about mental health disorders that is associated with their recognition management and prevention. Mental health literacy mhl is a construct that has arisen from the domain of health literacy hl and must be understood in that context. Individual training programmes making further education more accessible combining general literacy language and numeracy skills training with empowerment. 1 2 in its early definition hl was considered primarily within the health care environment focusing on the.

An increasing number of scholarly works have attempted to understand the reasons for poor rates of help seeking for symptoms of mental health disorders all around the world. Although the benefits of public knowledge of physical diseases are widely accepted knowledge about mental disorders mental health literacy has been comparatively neglected. However in healthy people 2030 external icon the u s. Aims to introduce the concept of mental health literacy to a wider audience to bring together diverse research relevant to the topic and to identify gaps in the area.

Increased measures to increase literacy rates must be employed to empower and encourage the self help. A review of what it is and why it matters t wo of the united nations un sustainability development goals are good health and w ell being sdg 3 and quality education. Mental health literacy can also be improved by identifying key groups likely to have lower mental health literacy and shaping strategies and approaches around particular requirements e g. Hhs provides the following definitions.

While different definitions are used 2 and health literacy is an evolving concept there is agreement that health. Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the ability to find understand and. Department of health and human services hhs updated the definition to include personal health literacy as well as organizational health literacy. The mandate for health literacy defining health literacy.

Low literacy within a population is a relevant concern since at the most basic level mental health literacy is linked to general literacy. The development of hl was initially informed by observations that low functional literacy was associated with numerous poor health outcomes.