Center for Health Communication
The Center for Health Communication prepares public health leaders of all kinds to effectively communicate critical health information, influence policy decisions, counter misinformation, and increase the public’s trust in health expertise.
Email
chc@hsph.harvard.edu
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Creator resource: Connecting People to the Help They Need
Creator resource: Connecting People to the Help They Need
The Center for Health Communication works to create toolkits and briefings that help content creators spread evidence-based health information on social media. The information provided is meant to be educational and is not a substitute for medical advice. This page was last updated on 12/20/24.
Key statistics
- 50% of people live in areas with less than 1 psychiatrist per 100K people
- 90% of people who need mental health care in developing countries lack access
- 3rd leading cause of disability around the world is depression
- Only 2% of countries’ health budgets are spent on mental health
Understand the research
Mental health is a human right, yet access to care is limited
- Many primary health care systems aren’t equipped to provide mental health care.
- Stigma, discrimination, coercive practices by health providers, and low levels of mental health literacy prevent people from seeking care.
- Tailoring mental health care to each person and each context is crucial.
Content resources:
- Moitra et al | The global gap in treatment coverage for major depressive disorder in 84 countries from 2000-2019 | PLoS Medicine, 2022
- WHO Mental Health Fact Sheet | Data on prevalence of major disorders worldwide
- WHO Mental Health ATLAS | Data on mental health care and support
Audience Call to Action:
- Share Project Healthy Minds resources
- Share The Children’s Room | Grief Resources
Hashtags:
- #MentalHealthMatters, #EndTheStigma, #HSPHCreatorsSummit
Training community health workers to deliver mental health is crucial
- Harvard Chan researchers have demonstrated that training non-specialists & community members to deliver basic mental health care could help fill the mental health care gap.
- This approach, known as “task sharing,” is particularly promising for rural & underserved areas worldwide.
- Project EMPOWER is building a digital platform to train a million frontline workers to deliver evidence-based mental health care in the next five years.
Content resources:
- Siddiqui et al| Scaling up community-delivered mental health support and care: a landscape analysis | Frontiers in Public Health, 2022
- Project EMPOWER | Harvard initiative to expand training for providers.
Audience Call to Action:
- Watch Vikram Patel’s TED Talk | Leading expert on global mental health talks about the Project EMPOWER model
- Sign up for Global Mental Health newsletter | Latest in efforts to transform mental health care globally
Hashtags:
- #MentalHealthAdvocate, #MentalHealthSupport, #HSPHCreatorsSummit
Mental health apps hold promise in scaling care
- Some apps have been proven effective in clinical trials, yet public adoption remains low, suggesting that people prefer a human connection.
- Advances in generative AI could improve the user experience and spur new interest.
- But ethical and legal questions about generative AI for mental health should not be left to corporations; they require urgent public scrutiny.
Content resources:
- Automating Mental Health Report | Examination of mental health apps, AI, and other digital practices in mental health and crisis support
- AI-based and digital mental health apps: Balancing the need and risk | IEEE Technology and Society, 2023
- Human-AI collaboration enables more empathetic conversations in text-based peer-to-peer mental health support | Nature Machine Intelligence, 2023
Audience Call to Action:
- Share Automating Mental Health Recommendations | 11 recommendations emerging from that report
Hashtags:
- #EthicalAI, #HSPHCreatorsSummit
Investing in mental health not only improves the health of the population, but also stimulates economic development
- Every US $1 invested in scaling up treatment for depression and anxiety leads to a return of US $4 in better health and ability to work, according to a 2016 World Health Organization analysis.
- Training and research partnerships between organizations in low-resource context and privileged institutions (such as Harvard) can inform policies and practices for mental health care everywhere.
- Comprehensive policy solutions to expand access to prevention and care are crucial.
- Policy solutions to complex challenges like the climate crisis must take into account both mental and physical health.
Content resources:
- Chisholm et al | Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return-on-investment analysis | Lancet Psychiatry
- WHO Mental Health ATLAS | Data on mental health care and support
- WHO World Mental Health report | How we might strengthen the systems that care for mental health
Hashtags:
- #MentalHealthIsPhysicalHealth, #MentalHealthMatters, #HSPHCreatorsSummit
Additional resources
- Mental health and access to care in rural America | National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Best practices and recommendations for talking about suicide | Reporting on Suicide
- Find support for yourself or those who may be at risk for suicide |AFSP Suicide Prevention
- Find resources to improve your mental wellness | Project Healthy Minds for Harvard Chan