The current health care is associated with different legal issues that aim to streamline medical activities among physicians, patients, and health institutions per the law. The advancement in health conditions has prompted the establishment of specific legal issues that aim to protect the vulnerable majority from falling victims of the conditions. Mental Health Laws and Rights emerge as a legal issue that has dominated the 21st century following the increasing cases of mental illness globally. Contrary to past beliefs that mental health only affected the elderly, the condition is currently prevalent in all age groups hence making it a global concern as far as health is concerned. Specifically, The Mental Health Act 2014 enacted by the U.S Senate has provided insights towards addressing mental health condition to avoid its prevalence in the current generation. In particular, the act offers issues to be considered before conducting mental health assessment among individuals as well as the rights of victims who are diagnosed with the condition. The legal issues in the mental health further encompass laws governing mental health professionals to enable them to deliver quality services.
Mental Health Laws and Rights emerge as a health legal issue today due to rising cases of mental instability among individuals. Following the vulnerability and dangers presented by victims, the U.S Senate enacted the Mental Act 2014 that provided various policies towards curbing the condition. In particular, the act of law addressed crucial areas such as mental health assessment for individuals to ascertain their mental status. Beronio, Glied, and Frank (2014) posit that the Senate through its health care committee deemed that mental health assessment was the best means of identifying individuals threatened by the condition for appropriate intervention. The act mandated physicians to assess the mental stability of patients who were vulnerable to the condition due to their current challenges to address their health needs. Notably, the Mental Health Act 2014 encompassed mandatory mental health treatment laws that mandated doctors to order for assessment of patients who refuse to be diagnosed on treated for various mental health conditions. Tonso, Prematunga, Norris, Williams, Sands, and Elsom (2016) explain that the law ensured that individuals experiencing withdrawal and denial of their conditions were treated regardless of their divergent opinions to reduce the cases of mental illness.
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Additionally, the Mental Health Act 2014 recognized the importance of professional medics and trained psychologists in dealing with the prevalence of mental conditions among their patients. Precisely, the act outlines qualifications that professionals should have to engage in mental health activities with various groups. According to Tonso et al. (2016), the Act provides that mental health assessment is restricted to registered mental health practitioners whose ideas are specialized in different confines of the condition. Among the mental health, experts mandated to perform the estimates include a registered psychologist or social worker operating in different medical institutions. Maylea and Ryan (2018) emphasize that the act also mandates Occupational therapists and Registered nurses to perform rational assessment among their patients who seem vulnerable mental illness and provide the recommended treatment strategy according to their conditions. The act further offers procedures for collaboration among mental health professionals towards addressing a patient who expresses severe symptoms to influence informed medical intervention. Majorly, the rules concerning qualifications presented in the act ensure that professionals adhere to the law in discharging their duties to prevent escalation of mental illness in their communities.
Consequently, the Mental Health Act of 2014 provided various privacy and confidentiality issues that must be considered in mental health to prevent patients from societal prejudice. According to Vine and Judd (2019), the act aimed to maintain confidentiality by prohibiting doctors and other professionals from disclosing their patient’s information to fellow medics or patients. The policy purposed to preserve the privacy of patients during the treatment process to enable them to overcome their challenges. The Mental Act 2014 also aimed at securing the information of patients who have mental illness to avoid medical errors during the treatment process. Specifically, the act emphasized the observation of The Health Records Act 2001 that regulates how information about patients should be treated in terms of collection, management, and access. Vine and Judd (2019) further elaborate that the patient’s information should only be collected and handled by the specific medic who is assigned to attend to him or her. The regulation avoids medical errors during treatment by securing a patient’s information from interference by other medics and avoiding unauthorized access. The privacy laws further ensured that professionals who needed a patient’s information followed the recommended procedures to prevent misuse of the data acquired.
Mental health laws and rights emerge as a crucial health legal issue that affects the current generation. The establishment of the Mental Health Act of 2014 has a significant role in addressing the rise of mental illness across all age groups. The act’s emphasis on conducting mental health assessment is an essential move on curbing the prevalence of mental illness among individuals who present a symptom of the condition. Further, I maintain that the laws that mandate medics to forcefully conduct mental health assessment among individuals who refuse to undergo the process are crucial in managing the population of victims resulting from withdrawal. The inclusion of academic and professional requirements that individuals need to qualify as mental health practitioners is also an important policy to ensure that experts who understand their conditions and the appropriate intervention strategy treat victims. Additionally, I applaud the recognition of the patient’s privacy and confidentiality as a means of preventing misuse of their data and prejudice in the community.
References
Beronio, K., Glied, S., & Frank, R. (2014). How the Affordable Care Act and Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act greatly Expand Coverage of Behavioral Health Care. The journal of behavioral health services & research, 41(4), 410-428.
Maylea, C., & Ryan, C. J. (2018). Response to Carroll, President of the Victorian Mental Health Tribunal. International Journal of Mental Health and Capacity Law, 24, 10-11.
Tonso, M. A., Prematunga, R. K., Norris, S. J., Williams, L., Sands, N., & Elsom, S. J. (2016). Workplace Violence in Mental Health: A Victorian Mental Health Workforce Survey. International journal of mental health nursing, 25(5): 444-451.
Vine, R., & Judd, F. (2019). Contextual Issues in the Implementation of Mental Health Legislation. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 62, 16-19.
