Mental ill-health affects millions of people, and drives economic costs of more than 4% of GDP. A good mental health system helps people stay in good mental health, and connects those in need to appropriate support to manage their mental health condition or even fully recover from it.

This book addresses the high cost of mental illness, the organisation of care, changes and future directions for the mental health workforce, indicators for mental health care and quality, and tools for better governance of the system.

A series of reviews of mental health and work policies in selected OECD countries revealed the challenge of mental health for social and labour market outcomes and policies and the high costs of the continued stigmatisation of mental health for individuals, employers and societies. To better respond to this challenge, in early 2016 health and employment ministers from the 38 OECD countries endorsed a Recommendation of the Council on Integrated Mental Health, Skills, and Work Policy.

Mental ill-health affects millions of people, and drives economic costs of more than 4% of GDP. A good mental health system helps people stay in good mental health, and connects those in need to appropriate support to manage their mental health condition or even fully recover from it. However, mental health care has long been neglected and under-funded, and unmet need for care is still high. The long-lasting COVID-19 crisis and the toll it is taking on mental health has made mental health systems more important than ever. This timely report provides an in-depth analysis of how well countries are delivering the policies and services that matter for mental health system performance. The report highlights recent reforms countries have taken to strengthen mental health performance, including by increasing access to mental health care, ensuring that service users take the lead in planning and even delivering services, and prioritising integration and mental health promotion. The report also identifies promising approaches countries should pursue to better meet their populations' mental health needs. This report sets up a framework for understanding mental health performance through internationally comparable indicators, an approach set to grow stronger still in the coming years as more data become available.

We live in an ever-changing world in which organizations find it increasingly difficult to stay ahead of the changes needed to be successful without thriving people. The authors believe that when people are valued and respected it improves their overall mental well-being and workplace experience, which in turn, makes them more motivated to help meet the purpose and objectives of the organization and adapt to external drivers. This book explores how mental well-being and a culture of continuous improvement are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. The authors contend that to create a sustainable culture of continuous improvement there must be an organization-wide focus on mental well-being at the individual level. A culture of continuous improvement nurtured in the right way, however, will indeed support mental well-being and help create a thriving organization. The key benefit of the book is demonstrating how important mental well-being is for sustainable organizational success. It explores this through many different lenses such as the individual, teams, leaders, and the organization as a whole, and explains the key elements needed for success. Leaders at all levels are able to understand why mental well-being is critical and how to nurture it in the workplace. In addition, the book explains the importance of diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging, and how this is integral to mental well-being and a thriving organization. This book provides unique insight into how mental well-being and a culture of continuous improvement are intertwined explaining how thriving people and a thriving culture of continuous improvement create a thriving organization.

Latin American countries were hard hit by COVID-19 with rates of excess mortality above the OECD average. The pandemic brought additional stress to health systems already overstretched by a growing burden of chronic diseases, unequal access to health care services, overall under-investment in health and strong budgetary restrictions, and systemic inefficiencies.

The Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA) framework for Estonia acts as a tool for stakeholders and policy makers to guide health reforms in an evidence-based and targeted manner. This report outlines the Estonian HSPA framework and documents its development through a highly inclusive and consultative process.

This report uses the OECD Well-being Framework to systematically review how people’s economic, social, relational, civic and environmental experiences shape and are, in turn, shaped by their mental health. Based on this evidence, examples of co-benefits, or policy interventions that can jointly improve both mental health and other well-being outcomes, are identified for a range of government departments.

Following a robust recovery, growth has slowed and the economy has been running at two speeds. Headline inflation has fallen, but underlying price pressures remain high.

Good mental health is a vital part of people’s well-being, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to its importance. However, discussions so far have not focused sufficiently on how governments should best monitor it at the broader population level, and on how to consider both mental ill-health and positive mental states.