Watch a recording of this webinar which took place on Thursday 2 July 14.00 – 15.00 BST:
Sonia Johnson, Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry, University College London and Director of the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit
David Clark, Professor and Chair of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford and NHS England’s National Clinical and Informatics Advisor for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme
Chair: Naomi Fulop, Professor of Health Care Organisation & Management, University College London
Mental health makes up almost a quarter of the total burden of disease in the UK, and the wider economic costs of mental illness have been estimated at over £100 billion a year. Since promising to give “parity of esteem” to mental health and physical health as long ago as 2010, progress in improving access to services and in reforming the Mental Health Act 1983 has been slow. In this plenary two presenters who have both been centrally involved in seeking to bring research evidence to bear on mental health policy will review what has been achieved and debate the lessons from initiatives like the increased access to psychological therapies programme, early intervention for psychosis, and legislative reform.