A COLLABORATIVE, INTEGRATIVE MENTAL HEALTH APPROACH: “THE STEPPED CARE MODEL”

Abstract

Dear Editor, In this paper, it is aimed to raise awareness about the stepped care model as an approach in the organization of mental health services related to the protection, development, care and treatment of mental health. Concerning mental health, World Health Organization emphasizes that “Mental Health is more than mental disorders. It is a state of well-being that includes using one’s own abilities, self-realization, coping with the stresses in the natural flow of life, learning to be well and trying to heal, working efficiently and contributing to the society in which they live.” (World Health Organization 2022a). It has been reported that the disease burden of common mental disorders (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychoactive substance use disorders, suicide, etc.) is gradually increasing (World Health Organization 2021). Especially in the last century, the importance and seriousness of endemic and pandemic events (HIV, SARS virus, and still continuing Covid-19, etc.) or non-communicable diseases (cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, etc.), climate changes, economic, socio-political dynamics and wars are noteworthy as a predisposition and/or precipitating factors in terms of mental health (World Health Organization 2022a, World Health Organization 2022b). Protection and improvement of mental health, together with individual, social, and structural mental health determinants, predict interventions that reduce risks, increase resilience, and create a supportive environment for mental health. These interventions are recommended to be designed individually, in a way to be disseminated to special groups across the community. Globally, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds, and more than 18 million health workers are needed in terms of human resources regarding mental health (World Health Organization 2022c). When these emphases are taken into consideration, there is a clear need for appropriate, accurate, structured, organized, collaborative mental health intervention approaches