This chapter notes that the Report of the Special Rapporteur presented to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations General Assembly in June 2017 stated that ‘Everyone, throughout their lifetime, requires an environment that supports their mental health and wellbeing; in that connection, we are all potential users of mental health services.’ It is explained that a conceptual shift has enabled us to understand the importance of the social determinants of health to explain inequalities of health within and between communities and countries. Further, when people have access to fewer economic resources this directly impacts the amount of social participation possible and can lead to social exclusion, a barrier to wellbeing of concern to social workers. How social workers can respond to this is outlined.

Item Type:	Other Book Chapter
Keywords:	mental health, wellbeing, the social determinants of health, inequalities of health, social exclusion, social work role in health
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Social work
Research Field:	Clinical social work practice
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Provision of health and support services
Objective Field:	Allied health therapies (excl. mental health services)
UTAS Author:	Lethborg, C (Dr Carolyn Lethborg)
ID Code:	154674
Year Published:	2022
Deposited By:	UTAS Centre for Rural Health
Deposited On:	2022-12-21
Last Modified:	2022-12-21
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