With so much focus on mental health today, the National Wellness Institute wants to ensure that standards of practice are followed from an ethical and moral perspective. Mental health is an area that requires licensure to practice, and with all of the programs, applications, training, and platforms focused on mental health, there are a lot of moral, ethical, and legal considerations that must be taken into account.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) published this journal article called The Legal and Ethical Aspects of Mental Health Care, (author: Rajshekhar Bipeta) It states, “The Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (MHCA 2017), explicitly talks about the rights of patients with mental illness (PWMI) and lays down the ethical and legal responsibilities of mental health professionals and the government. The rights of PWMI are at par with the fundamental rights of human beings and need to be clearly talked about as they belong to a vulnerable group from evaluation, treatment, and research perspectives. Such rights translate into the ethics of psychiatric care that relate to respect for autonomy; the principle of non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice; confidentiality (and disclosure);
boundary violations; and informed consent (and involuntary treatment).
As you look to provide mental health programming, you may want to consider the legal and ethical principles of wellness promotion, as it relates to your overall strategy to combat mental well-being with your audience.
