The Irish Mental Health Coalition (IMHC) campaign, A Vision of Rights, is about encouraging meaningful debate on the need for new legislation to protect the human rights of users of mental health services. In particular, we want to explore how such legislation could lead to Ireland’s mental health services being available, accessible, acceptable and of appropriate quality while respecting the inherent dignity of each individual.
This is not about the Mental Health Act 2001. Our campaign will instead focus on realising the ambitions of the Government’s mental health policy, A Vision for Change, which was published in 2006 but has yet to be implemented.
Our campaign aims:
- To help realise the ambitions in the Government’s mental health policy, A Vision for Change
- To encourage debate and focus on the need for new legislation to deliver effective change
This website will provide information on our campaign, including activities and publications, and will track developments and relevant events during our campaign. It will also provide resources for anyone interested in finding out more and/or lobbying for change in this area.
As part of the campaign A Vision of Rights, the IMHC is in the process of conducting an audit of mental health legislation in Ireland using a template designed by the World Health Organisation. The results of this audit will highlight the gaps in Irish law in the context of mental health and will form the basis of an exploration as to how new legislation could improve the services available to persons with mental health difficulties.
WHO Checklist on Mental Health Legislation
The Irish Mental Health Coalition campaigns for improved and prioritised mental health services in Ireland and seeks to improve the lives of people with mental health difficulties by advocating for the right of every person to the highest attainable standard of mental health. The core members of the IMHC are Amnesty International Ireland, Bodywhys – The Eating Disorders Association of Ireland, GROW in Ireland, the Irish Advocacy Network and Shine (formerly Schizophrenia Ireland).
01 Prioritise Mental Health
Ireland's mental health expenditure has dropped from 13% in 1984 to just 7.3% of the national health budget in 2004. The coalition will be lobbying on Budget 2007, which it hopes will mark the turning point in the decades of erosion of mental health funding....
02 Implement A Vision for Change
In January 2006, A Vision for Change became the Government's policy on mental health. This report recommends significant changes and improvements in mental health services over a nine year period. However implementation of A Vision for Change has been painfully slow as demonstrated in successive reports....