UW Consortium for Global Mental Health
UW Global Mental Health develops, tests, and builds the capacity to deliver contextually-appropriate and sustainable models for mental health intervention with local and global partners
Initiated in 2011, the UW Global Mental Health Program was expanded in 2018 with the recruitment of Dr. Pamela Collins as the director. UW Global Mental Health is a joint effort of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Global Health, in the UW Schools of Medicine and Public Health.
Our Mission
Contribute to the reduction in the burden of mental disorders in low resource settings globally.
Our Vision
Evidence-based, quality mental health care is available for anyone who wants or needs it.
Our Goals
Our goal is to contribute to reducing the burden of mental disorders in low resource settings through evidence-based research, training, education, and advocacy to influence global mental health policy decisions through:
- Understanding mental health intervention gaps and opportunities
- Building workforce capacity to deliver mental health services
- Elevating mental health on the global and local agenda
Our Four Pillars
Partnership
We prize equitable partnerships with individuals and organizations who seek to improve mental health outcomes globally. Collaborative research and training activities with university partners, ministries of health, non-governmental organizations and community-based networks enable us to engage diverse perspectives for complex problems.
Advocacy
We produce research, education, and training activities that can inform policy makers and advocates in the design of quality mental health care in low resource settings around the world.
Research
We generate and value mental health research with real world relevance and impact. Our faculty collaborate with partners locally, regionally, and globally. We work on projects developing and testing treatment and preventive interventions, system integration of mental health care, stigma reduction approaches, incorporation of mental health services into diverse community settings, and much more. See our full list of faculty projects here.
Training & Education
We are committed to training and educating the next generation of global mental health leaders, providers, researchers, and advocates. Our departments’ long history of mental health care innovation and training in the vast reaches of Pacific Northwest and decades of collaborative research and capacity-building in Africa, Asia, and Latin America provide valuable opportunities for learning inside and outside of the classroom.