Social Inclusion and Mental Health
Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Exclusion

A comprehensive account of the multiple ways that people with mental health conditions are marginalised and disadvantaged in our society.

Jed Boardman (Author), Helen Killaspy (Author), Gillian Mezey (Author)

9781911623595, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 December 2022

400 pages
23.5 x 15 x 1.4 cm, 0.6 kg

'The second edition of this impressive volume is timely, as in the UK and Europe we confront poverty, a conflict in Europe, and a major energy crisis … We can anticipate greater levels of poor health and health crises … Poverty and social adversity lead to premature mortality and poorer life chances and quality of life, including the development of mental illnesses. Furthermore those with mental illness encounter prejudice, stigma and discrimination, all of which mean people with mental illnesses face precarity and structural violence that deprives them of equal rights to benefit from societal opportunities and care systems … This book is a clarion call to all … We must do better to … promote inclusive public care systems in which those with mental illness realise their rights as citizens. Inclusive policy and practice are at the heart of actions that might transform dystopian complacency in mental health care and public mental health.' Kamaldeep Bhui, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

People with mental health conditions are among the most socially excluded groups in society. Mental health conditions are influenced by the social environment, which in turn shapes our social and cultural responses to the people who experience them. Much of what mental health practitioners do is 'essentially social' and the effects of their interventions are hampered by the marginalised status of many of the people that they see. This book documents the ways in which people with mental health conditions are excluded from participating in society and offers some pointers as to how this may be reversed. It highlights the need to reduce mental health inequalities and to consider the importance of material inequalities and social injustices faced by people experiencing mental ill-health. Whilst the challenges are considerable and the solutions wide-ranging, mental health practitioners can play a significant role in facilitating the social inclusion of those with mental health conditions.

Part I. Social Exclusion, Poverty and Inequality: 1. Introduction – poor, excluded and unequal
2. Social exclusion – basic concepts
3. Social exclusion – applying the paradigm to people with mental health conditions: key aspects
4. Poverty and deprivation. Getting under the skin
5. Poverty, deprivation and social exclusion in the UK
6. Poverty, inequality, and health
7. Social policy, the welfare state and social exclusion
8. Mental health services and policy in the UK
Part II. Participation of People With Mental Health Conditions: 9. Mental health inequalities and exclusion. Introduction to Part 2
10. Exclusion from material resources
11. Exclusion from socially valued activities
12. Exclusion from social relations and neighborhoods
13. Exclusion from health and health services
14. Exclusion from civic participation
15. Social exclusion in specific social groups and individuals with mental health conditions
16. Social exclusion and people with mental health conditions: developing a clearer picture
Part III. Including People: 17. Enabling social inclusion for people with mental health problems
the role of mental health services
18. Theory into practice
19. Broadening an inclusive approach.

Subject Areas: Occupational therapy [MQT], Psychiatric nursing [MQCL5], Psychiatry [MMH], Medical sociology [MBS], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Sociology [JHB]