HUMAN

RIGHTS OF
MENTALLY ILL
HARIOM GANGWAR
MSC NURSING 1yr
PSYCHIATRY NSG
INTRODUCTION
All persons with a mental illness, or
who are being treated as such
persons, shall be treated with
humanity and respect for the inherent
dignity of the human person...There
shall be no discrimination on the
grounds of mental illness..."
CONT..
All Human rights organizations set forth
codes by which they align their purposes
and activities . The mental health
declaration of human rights articulates
the guiding pricples of CCHR (citizen
communication of human rights ) and the
standard aginst which human rights
violations by psychaitry are relentlessly
investigated and exposed .
MENTAL HEALTH:-
Mental healthis a state of well-being in
which the individual realizes his or her own
abilities, can cope with the normal stresses
of life, can work productively and fruitfully
and is able to make a contribution to his or
her community
MENTAL ILLNESS:-
Mental illnessis a recognized, medically
diagnosable illness that results in the
significant impairment of an individuals
cognitive, affective or relational abilities.
Mental disorders result from biological,
developmental and/or psychosocial factors and
can be managed using approaches comparable
to those applied to physical disease (i.e.,
prevention, diagnosis, treatment and
rehabilitation)
HUMAN RIGHTS :-
The simplest way defining human rights is that
they are about balancing the inalienable rights
of all of us as human being within the
community regardless defferences in birth
,social origin,gender ,physcial defferences ,faith
and belief ,ideology ,nationality and so on.
THE PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS CURRENTLY HAVE THE
FOLLOWING RIGHTS:-

Righttocommunicatewithpeopleoutsidethe
hospitalthroughcorrespondence, telephone,
and personal visits.
Right to wear clothing andpersonaleffects
with them in thehospital
Righttoreligiousfreedom
Righttobeemployedifpossible
Right to manage anddispose of property
Righttoexecutebills

CONT..
Righttoeducation
Righttohabeascorpus
Right to independent psychiatric examination
Righttocivilservicestatus
Right toretain licences, privileges,or permitsestablished bylaw,
such asa drivers or professional licence
Righttosueorbesued
Righttomarryanddivorce
Right to make purchase
Right to hygienic condition
CONT..
Right nottobesubject to
unnecessarymechanicalrestraints
Righttoperiodicreviewofstatus
Right to legal representation
Righttoprivacy
Righttoinformedconsent
Righttotreatment
Righttorefusetreatment
Righttotreatmentintheleastrestrictivesetting
CONT...
Some of these rights deserve a more thorough discussion :-
Right to Communicate With People Outside the Hospital :

This right allows patient to visit and hold telephone conversations

in privacy and send unopened letters to anyone of their choice,
including judges, lawyers, families, and staff. Although the patient
has the right to communicate in anuncensored manner, the staff
may limit access to the telephone or visitors when it could harm
the patient or be a source of harassment for the staff. The hospital
also can limit the times when telephone calls are made and
received and when visitors can enter the facility.
CONT...
Right to Keep Personal Effects:-
The patient may bring clothing and personal items to the
hospital, taking into consideration the amount of storage
space available. The hospital is not responsible for their
safety, and valuable items should be left at home. If the
patient brings something of value to the hospital, the staff
should place it in the hospital safe or otherwise provide
for maintaining a safe environment and should take
dangerous objects away from the patient if necessary.
CONT...
Right To Enter Into Contractual Relationships:-
The court considers contracts valid if the person understands
the circumstances of the contract and its consequences.
Once again, a psychiatric illness does not invalidate a
contract, although the nature of the contract and degree of
judgement needed to understand it are influencing factors.
CONT...
Right to education:-
Many patient exercise the right to education on behalf of
their emotionally ill or mentally retarded children. The U.S.
Constitution guarantees this right to everyone, although
many states have not provided adequate education to all
citizens in the past and are now required to do so.
CONT...

Right to Habeas Corpus:-

Habeas corpus is an important constitutional right patients
retain in all states even if they have been involuntarily
hospitalized. It provides for the speedy release of any person
who claims to be detained illegally. A committed patient may
file a writ at any time on the grounds of being sane and
eligible for release. The hearing takes place in court, where
those who wish to restrain the patient must defend their
actions. Patients are discharged if they are judged to be sane.
CONT...
Right to privacy :-
The right to privacy implies the persons right to keep some
personal information completely secret or confidential.
Confidentiality involves the nondisclosure of specific information
about a person to someone else unless authorized by that
person. Every psychiatric professional is responsible is
responsible for protecting a patients right to confidentiality,
including even the knowledge that a person is in treatment or in
a hospital. Revealing such information might result in damage to
the patient. The protection of the law applies to all patients.
CONT...
Right to informed consent:-
The goal of informed consent is to help patients make better
decisions. Informed consent means that a clinician must give
the patient a certain amount of information about the
proposed treatment and must attain the patients consent,
which must be informed ,competent and voluntary.
Information to be Disclose in Obtaining Informed Consent
Diagnosis : Description of the patients problem
Treatment: Nature and purpose of the proposed treatment
CONT...

Consequences: Risks and benefits of the proposed treatment

including physical and psychological effects, costs, and potential
resulting problems
Alternatives: Viable alternatives to the proposed treatment and their
risks and benefits
Prognosis : Expected outcomes with treatment, with alternative
treatments, and without treatment.
Right to treatment :-
Early court cases extended the right to treatment to all mentally ill and
mentally retarded people who were involuntarily hospitalized.
The courts defined three criteria for adequate treatment :
CONT...

1. A humane psychologicaland thephysicalenvironment

2. A qualified staff with asufficient number of members to
administeradequate treatment
3. Individualizedtreatmentplans
Right to Refuse Treatment :-
The relationship between right to treatment and right to refuse
treatment is complex. The right to refuse treatment includes the
right to refuse involuntary hospitalization. It has been called the
right to left alone . The involuntary therapy conflicts with two basic
legal rights: freedom of thought and the right to control ones life
and actions as long as they do not interfere with the rights of others.
CONT...

Right to Treatment in the Least Restrictive Setting :-

The right to treatment in the least restrictive setting is closely
related to the right to adequate treatment. Its goal is evaluating
the needs of each patient and maintaining the greatest amount of
personal freedom, autonomy, dignity, and integrity in determining
treatment. This right applies to both hospital-based and community
programs. Another consideration in the least restrictive alternative
is that it applies not only to when a person should be hospitalized
but also to how a person is cared for. It requires that a patients
progress be carefully monitored so that treatment plans are
changed based on the patients current condition.
LEGAL ASPECTS:-
Legal aspects of mentally ill :
Civil commitment
Competence and informed consent to treatment

Confidentiality and the coordination of care

Right to treatment in the Hospital and community

Recommnedations
ROLE OF NURSE IN PATIENTS
RIGHTS:
The National League for Nursing (1977) issued a statement on the nurses
role inpatients rights. The league urged nurses to get involved in ensuring
patients human and legal rights .
The league identified many ofthe previously mentioned following rights :
Right to health care that is accessible and meetsprofessionalstandards ,
regardless of the setting
Right to courteous and individualized health care that is equitable, human ,
and given without discrimination based on race, colour, creed, sex, national
origin, source of payment, or ethical or political beliefs
Right to informationabout theirdiagnosis,prognosis,and treatment ,
including alternatives to care and risks involved
CONT...
Right toinformation about the qualifications, names, and
titles ofhealthcare personnel
Right to refuse observationbythose

notdirectlyinvolvedintheir care
Righttocoordinationandcontinuityofhealthcare

Right to informationonthe chargesfor services,including

the rights to challenge these charges

Above all, theright to be fullyinformedabout alltheir

rights in all health care settings.

REFERENCES
https://www.scribd.com/doc/19653522/human-rights-of
-mentally-ill
http://www.tnhealth.org/hrm.htm
http://wmhp.cmhaontario.ca/workplace-mental-health-
core-concepts-issues/what-is-mental-health-and-ment
al-illness
http://www.slideshare.net/nithiy7391/human-rights-
for-mentally-ill-persons?next_slideshow=1
THANK YOU