Future of Women’s Mental Healthcare

Published: Tuesday, February 13, 2018

In January 2018, NWCI welcomed the opportunity to input into the work of the Joint Oireachtas Committee to develop ‘a single, long-term vision for mental health care and the direction of mental health policy in Ireland.' As the differing health needs of women and men are not reflected in current mental healthcare services or policy, our submission focused on the specific issues relating to the mental health needs of women.

In recent years, NWCI has engaged on a comprehensive programme of work focusing on women’s mental health. Recent work includes convening a ‘Gender and Mental Health’ roundtable event; co-hosting, with the International Association of Women’s Mental Health and Trinity College Dublin, the World Congress on Women’s Mental Health in March 2017; and production in 2017 of the docu-film ‘Out of Silence – Women’s Mental Health in Ireland’ exploring mental health from women’s perspective.

Currently, we are using this film to frame women’s mental health and wellbeing conversations with our member groups across the country. The information we are gathering from these conversations ensures that women’s experiences of mental health and wellbeing are integrated into NWCI’s mental health policy work. In NWCI’s submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee, we recommended that gender sensitive mental healthcare must –

• Accommodate the vulnerabilities of trauma survivors and understands their symptoms in the context of their experiences.
• Recognise the significant link between violence and women’s mental health.
• Address the impacts of caring responsibilities on women’s access to health services.
• Focus on the diversity of women’s experiences (including asylum seekers, homeless women, Traveller and Roma women, LGBTQI women and women with disabilities).

Read our submission here.