Abstract
Stigma and discrimination against people living with mental illness not only affects access to healthcare but also participation in social, educational, and employment opportunities, leading to further impoverishment and social marginalization of people living with serious mental illness (PWSMI). Several initiatives have been designed to improve quality of life by improving access to opportunities for minority populations including youth, women and people with disabilities. However, given the high levels of unemployment and social exclusion, poor mental health policy, and funding priorities, very little is being done to enhance the uptake of available socio-economic opportunities by people living with serious mental illness in low and middle income countries.
Several studies have attempted to pilot solutions that address barriers to equitable access to socio-economic opportunities, for example, for women and youth in both communities, particularly those living with mental illness. These models include work integrated social enterprises offering competitive employment with equal pay for people recovering from serious mental illness and the design and development of group-owned and led microenterprises run by women living with PTSD in Kenya.
Increase in community awareness of the nature and benefits of quality mental health care, improved living standards, and community reintegration are some of the preliminary findings from these models. This chapter will discuss various approaches adopted by these studies to develop, assess, and scale up systems that enhance the improvement and equality of access of socio-economic opportunities for people living with mental illnesses in resource-limited areas in Kenya.
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Abbreviations
- CRPD:
-
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- GDP:
-
Gross Domestic Product
- LMICs:
-
Low and Middle Income Countries
- NGOs:
-
Non-Governmental Organizations
- PSR:
-
Psychosocial Rehabilitation
- PTSD:
-
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- PWSMI:
-
People with Serious Mental Illness
- VSLA:
-
Village Savings and Loan Associations
- WHO:
-
World Health Organization
- WISE:
-
Work Integration Social Enterprise
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Ndetei, D., Musyimi, C.W., Mutiso, V.N., Ruhara, R.W., Boycheva, E., Gitonga, I. (2021). Promotion of Recovery Through Socio-economic Inclusion for People Living with Severe Mental Illness. In: Okpaku, S.O. (eds) Innovations in Global Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57296-9_80
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