Child mental health in the Americas : A public health approach

Abstract

The systematic, population-wide application of preventive measures based on what is known about the causes and outcomes of psychiatric disorders can markedly reduce morbidity from mental ill health among children in the Americas. The actions proposed here rely partly upon increasing access for all women and their children to thoroughly tested obstetric and pediatric care; in part they depend on improving nutrition and opportunities for cognitive stimulation; and in part they call for enhancing the mental health skills of primary care practitioners by appropriate in-service training. There are limits to our knowledge and to the effectiveness of some of our interventions: nonetheless, the greatest barrier to better child mental health is failure to muster the political will to apply what is known to the care of mothers and children in all sectors of society

Based on a paper prepared for the Consultation Group for Formulating a Regional Action Plan for Child Mental Health, Pan American Health Organization, Montevideo, Uruguay, 4-8 November 1991. A Spanish version of this article will be published in the Boletín de la Oficina Sanitaria Panamericana, Vol.114, 1992