WONCA Working Party for Mental Health Activity Plan 2016-18

Prof Chris Dowrick, new chair of the WONCA Working Party on Mental Health (WWPMH), sets out the activites for the group over the next two years.

The aim of the working party is to enhance global equity of access to high quality primary mental health care.

Our objectives are to improve internal structures, offer mental health guidance for WONCA members and provide global leadership on primary mental health care.

Activities planned for 2016-18 are:

1. Improve WWPMH structures

• Expand membership

• Ensure representation across all WONCA constituencies
   o Regional vice-chairs
   o WONCA Young Doctors
   o Mental health liaison

• Enhance communication between WWPMH members
   o Regular e-meetings for WWPMH officers
   o Regular e-bulletins for all WWPMH members

2. Offer mental health guidance for WONCA members

• Advise Executive and Council of relevant primary mental health issues

• Encourage primary mental health care input to all WONCA conferences

• Enable collaboration with other WPs and SIGs

• Develop task groups on specific topics, including:
  o Core competencies for primary mental health care
  o Shared learning for primary mental health care
  o Non-drug interventions for psycho-social distress 
  o Physical health care for people with severe mental illness
  o Management of medically unexplained symptoms
  o Mental health care of migrants (with Migrant Care SIG)

3. Provide leadership on global primary mental health care

• Advocate for improved primary mental health care on behalf of family doctors and their patients.

• Progress the international primary mental health care consultancy.

• Promote external collaborations, including with WHO mhGAP, World Psychiatric Association and World Federation for Mental Health.

• Work with WHO mhGAP team to develop and disseminate an implementation manual for the integration of mental and behavioural health with primary care.