Meeting Relevant Cultural Mental Health Needs with Global Training

Palo Alto University's Global Advancement of Counseling Excellence (GACE) model is designed to address the growth of mental health issues around the world by giving local communities the tools to improve counseling practices in a culturally relevant way.

While scientists, medical practitioners and governments fight to eradicate preventable diseases such as polio and malaria, mental health issues have yet to receive equal attention. Directing attention and resources to the world's physical health concerns is critical, as is addressing the individual and collective mental health consequences of terrorism, genocide, poverty, rapid environmental change, and other global-scale issues.

What are the specific impacts on the global community of mental health?

The following facts were sourced from the World Health Organization. 

Youth

• About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14.
• Around 20 percent of the world's children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or problems; it is similar across cultures.  Yet, regions of the world with the highest percentage of population under the age of 19 have the lowest levels of mental health resources.
• Most low- and middle-income countries have only one child psychiatrist for every 1 to 4 million people.

Disasters and Economic Impacts

• Mental disorders are among the risk factors for communicable and non-communicable diseases.  They can also contribute to unintentional and intentional injury.
• It is projected that by 2030 unipolar depressive disorders will be the leading cause of productive years lost to disability, ahead of heart disease, traffic accidents, and HIV/AIDS.
• A loss of productivity results in a loss of income.  This, in turn, can produce deleterious health consequences due to hardships such as poorer nutrition or increased stress.

Community

• Efforts to rebuild war torn societies are hindered by the failure to address psychological consequences of trauma.
• Data from Rwanda indicate that exposure to trauma in genocide in 1994 were strongly correlated with PTSD symptoms in 2005 (i.e., 11 years later).
• PTSD symptoms were associated with lower physical functioning, more bodily pain, lower general health, etc.

The GACE model addresses such challenges and seeks to have a positive impact in communities and alleviate a portion of the physical, economic, and social consequences of mental health disorders for societies around the world.

The GACE model supports mental health professionals with a deeper understanding of human behavior, conflict resolution, and crisis-management. It imparts the essential skills clinicians will need to succeed as mental health practitioners in their own culture, country and community.

GACE Continuing Success

Development efforts are underway in Rwanda and India.  In addition, Dr. Helena Young received a Fulbright Scholarship to pilot a mental health counseling program to train counselors to provide help and healing to a country devastated by genocide.