Report: Mental health investment could benefit the population and economy 

Professor Alec Morton, head of the Department of Management Science, and Lee Knifton, co-director of the Centre for Health Policy at Strathclyde and Director of The Mental Health Foundation for Scotland and Northern Ireland, have helped co-author a major report on mental health and how Government investment in its prevention can save money in the long term as well as reduce future mental health issues in the population. 

The Mental Health Foundation report - Economic Case for Investing in Prevention - highlights how mental health problems currently cost the UK at least £117.9 billion a year (£100.8 billion in England; £8.8 billion in Scotland; £4.8 billion in Wales and £3.4 billion in Northern Ireland). Much of these costs are due to people living with mental health conditions being unable to work or working less because of the additional challenges they face, as well as the costs associated with support from informal carers.  

Other associated costs could include the costs to the criminal justice or housing sector that are associated with mental health difficulties; the costs associated with self-harm and suicide, much of which is linked to poor mental health; and the costs associated with alcohol and substance misuse, which is often linked to poor mental health. 

The report acknowledges that there is a higher risk from mental health issues at certain points in life – for instance, starting school, moving from school to further or higher education, then to work, and from work to retirement. There is evidence that implementing a range of interventions could prevent mental health problems for a significant number of people. 

Examples of interventions include: training all health visitors to identify women at risk of perinatal depression and providing psychological therapies for those at risk;  anti-bullying programmes in schools; brief psychological interventions for people living with long-term physical health conditions; opportunities to engage in exercise for all children, young people, and adults; providing opportunities for older people to continue to engage in activities that reduce their risk of social isolation; and suicide prevention measures: in addition to restricting access to means, early identification of risks of future self-harm, for instance in hospitals and in primary care, followed by appropriate ongoing mental health support. 

Dr Alec Morton said, “The pandemic has made us all much aware of the importance – and fragility – of good mental health. What this report adds to the debate is an assessment in money terms of the cost of mental health problems in the UK, and a summary of what the evidence can tell us about the best buys for safeguarding the nation’s mental health.” 

The recommendations in the report include: 

• UK and devolved governments should increase investment in evidence based interventions for public health and prevention of health problems, including the prevention of mental health problems 
• Development of national and local mental health strategies should take a cross-departmental approach that incorporates action beyond health and public health systems that can prevent mental health problems and promote good mental health, recognising the benefits of improved preventive work in mental health for other life outcomes 
• As part of their mental health strategies, UK and devolved governments should carry out a mapping exercise to identify the extent, levels of funding, and geographical availability of effective mental health prevention interventions, delivered across the UK. 
• Each devolved government should build on existing prevention initiatives to plan how they can help to scale up access to cost effective interventions to prevent mental ill-health through local government (including social care), the NHS, the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sectors and other potential funders. 
• National mental health COVID recovery plans should include sustained implementation of cost-effective interventions to prevent mental health problems, recognising that the mental health impacts of the pandemic are extensive, and will persist for many years to come. 

To read the full report, please click here

Published: 3 March 2022