This optional single module aims to develop students’ understanding of the impact and significance of the social context and social determinants of mental health. It also introduces students to the discipline of global mental health, especially mental health research and practice in low- and middle-income countries, considering clinical, epidemiological and cultural perspectives. This module will equip students with the basic skills and knowledge to pursue further academic and professional work related to social and global aspects of mental health.

The module is run jointly by the Division of Psychiatry and the UCL Institute of Global Health (IGH), so students will have the opportunity to learn from and work with academics and students with expertise in global health issues. The course will be taught over 8 three hour sessions accompanied by Moodle online materials and resources. Students will be expected to do some preparatory reading before the start of the module.

Module Content

This module will help students understand social and cultural influences on mental health and mental health care across low, middle, and high income countries. Talks from leading international experts in the field will introduce students to debates about how best to understand and research social and global inequalities in mental health and mental health care, and how to conceptualise the influence of universal and locally-specific risk and protective factors. Students will gain understanding of quantitative and qualitative approaches to researching the social influences on mental health, including epidemiology and ethnography. They will learn about local and international social interventions and policy responses to mental ill-health and its social determinants. The module critically evaluates social and cross-cultural mental health research, including the challenges of research and intervention in low-resource settings, translation and adaptation of research tools and clinical interventions, global mental health policy and debate, and pertinent ethical issues. The module will also further understanding of how social, cultural and biological factors combine to affect experiences of mental ill-health, as well as their diagnosis and treatment.

Learning outcomes 

These are the intended learning outcomes for the module:

To understand the global burden of mental ill health, and international policy responses to address this.
	To be familiar with current evidence regarding social determinants of mental ill health, including the impacts of poverty and social deprivation, discrimination and social exclusion, and loneliness and social isolation.
	To learn how quantitative and qualitative research can be used to investigate the impact of social and cultural context on the nature, prevalence and experience of mental health problems.
	To understand how research and the delivery of mental health care can be designed and implemented to be appropriate to a range of settings, including low- and middle-income countries.
	To learn how quantitative and qualitative research can be used to develop and evaluate the impact of mental health interventions across contexts.