Mental Health Reform and Social Inclusion for Those with Mental Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in the United States,Brazil and Chile

In the second half of the 20th century,mental health reform beginning with the deinstitutionalization of patients who had severe mental disorders,and later including individuals with developmental disabilities was a major structural change which facilitated greater social inclusion of these patients in the United States and countries of Latin America. This process occurred as a result of the following factors:the development of psychiatric medications which could successfully treat psychotic episodes and eliminate the need for confinement or restraint;the political influence of several social movements in the United States and the Americas which demanded freedom and social participation of patients;the rising cost of staffing and maintaining large Psychiatric hospitals. Also,some countries in Latin America including Brazil and Chile were substantially impacted by the Caracas Declaration of 1990 which called for a transformation of a mental patient care system from large mental health hospitals to community services.The integration of persons with severe mental disorders and individuals with serious developmental problems was measured against the following criteria(1)Have a well-paying personally fulfilling full-time job;(2)Form a committed relationship or family with a spouse or partner;(3)Live in your own apartment or house(Chuaqui,2017). This presentation will include a critique of the current mental health care systems which exist in the United States,Brazil and Chile.These sytems will be assessed using the theoretical framework of intersectionaliy which assumes that multiple marginal or disadvantaged social statuses interact at the micro level of patients lived experience(Bowleg,2012).