Social inclusion of people with severe mental illness: a review of current practices, evidence and unmet needs, and future directions

Social inclusion means being able to participate in activities valued within one's community or wider society as one would wish. People with severe mental illness (i.e., psychoses, bipolar disorder, and severe depression) experience some of the highest rates of social exclusion compared to people with other disabilities. This is the case regardless of the availability of specialist mental health services. Therefore, questions arise about the extent to which mental health services can and do prioritize social inclusion as a goal of service provision, and what strategies are needed outside of mental health services, at the levels of legislation and policy, statutory services, and civil society. In this paper we…