Mental health in context. Impact of economic policies on health services

Abstract

The impact of economic policies on mental health services – and with some differences also on general health services – will be exemplified by an analysis of the current trend of governments’ withdrawal from funding the mental health services it provided until now and the replacement of the government funded services by privately owned services. The analysis will be made on the background of the current worldwide tendency of commoditification, which posits that health care should be considered a commodity and judged using indicators, which have proven their value in commerce and handling of commodities. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the both tendencies – of commoditification and of increasing involvement of private capital in running health care services are likely to lead to a deterioration of care for people with mental illness.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.