Conference 2019 – Poverty, Pathology and Pills
Day 2 – Session 2

Perspective from the policy sector

Day 2 - Session 2

The policy challenge

Heather Henry, Nurse Entrepreneur, Brightness Management

How can policy help relieve the social causes of distress and improve mental health?

Lessons from home and abroad

Kate Cornford, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development `{`OECD`}`

An overview of where the UK sits compared to other EU28 & OECD countries, including:

  • Overview of disorder numbers in comparison to other OECD countries
  • Touch upon the difference between income quintiles for men & women across EU28 & highlight particular difference with UK men
  • Illustrate GDP costs across EU (you might have seen a version of this in late November when The Guardian and others used our map)
  • Show difference in employment between those reporting chronic depression & not across EU28, particularly highlighting the 36 percentage point difference in UK
  • Point out that in terms of policy, UK has interventions across all 6 areas of the life course, but there are areas for improvement (unemployed – reinforced by previous slides, and older people), that the relationship between distance from social structures and deteriorated mental wellbeing should not be underestimated, and there is a clear economic case for further investment.

The public health agency perspective

Gregor Henderson, Public Health England

The third sector perspective

Helen Gilburt, King’s Fund