Scaling Services Through a Proven Model for Mental Health and Development

Mental illness is the largest contributor to disability worldwide. By 2030 depressive diseases are projected to be the leading global burden of disease. 75% of the 450 million mentally ill people are in the developing world where a devastating link between mental illness and poverty has long been ignored and a treatment gap of 85% exists. Yet mental health remains acutely under-resourced. These innovators will replicate the The BasicNeeds Model for Mental Health and Development in Ghana via an innovative social franchise. This will enable a faster scale up of services than BasicNeeds could achieve alone and will make a serious contribution to the WHO's Global Action Plan. Tackling a public health problem with a business sector approach, BasicNeeds is the first organisation to bring social franchising to mental health. Creating a standardised training and quality assurance system for franchisees will enable BasicNeeds to significantly increase its reach by leveraging new and existing resources and partnerships. Scaling through a franchise business model also offers real prospects for the creation of a robust and diverse community of practice advocating a truly comprehensive approach to mental health. This will create a broad-based bank of evidence for the integration of the Model across public health systems to effectively close the treatment gap worldwide. For more information visit, www.basicneeds.org.