Reimagining Care for Americans with Severe Mental Illness
Presented as part of the public policy and health in the USA Lancet Webinar miniseries
90% of adults in the United States believe that the nation faces a mental health crisis today. Millions of Americans with mental illnesses – especially people of colour – are jailed rather than treated, suffer homelessness, or succumb to suicide, drug overdose, or injuries sustained during police encounters. While care is inadequate for the vast majority of those with mental illnesses, the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow continue to perpetuate racial inequities in mental health treatment, with people of colour often shunted to under-resources and over-policed public institutions. The current mental healthcare system in the US is failing; we must do better. This Lancet Webinar will highlight the ongoing harms and maltreatment of serious mental illnesses in the USA. The webinar will conclude with a live Q&A.