Abstract
Gender is related not only to biological differences but also to how we are perceived and expected to think and act as women and men because of the way society is organized. Gender is one of the most important biological and social determinant that influences mental health in all its domains, epidemiology, understanding the nature and course of illness, experiences of illness and suffering, access to care treatment resources and living with and after illness in the community. The implication of understanding the link between gender and mental health paves way for improving, improvising and bringing out innovative options in all aspects of mental health care. The provision of care in the community cannot be exclusive of such factors, limiting only to the medical and traditional care-cure model. Mehac Foundation not for profit organization working in and with the community in Kerala, India, outlines its experiences with mental health and illness, indicating some important developments and components of the model, with a special focus on gender.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allen, L. M., Nelson, C. J., Rouhbakhsh, P., Scifres, S. L., Greene, R. L., Kordinak, S. T., et al. (1998). Gender differences in factor structure of the self-administered Alcoholism screening test. Journal of clinical psychology, 54(4), 439–445.
Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice: (1979). Berkeley: Perseus Books Publishing LLC.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub.
Bird, C. E., & Rieker, P. P. (1999). Gender matters: An integrated model for understanding men’s and women’s health. Social Science and Medicine, 48(6), 745–755.
Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge/Sydney/Berkeley.
Dandona, R., Kumar, G. A., Dhaliwal, R. S., Naghavi, M., Vos, T., Shukla, D. K., et al. (2018). Gender differentials and state variations in suicide deaths in India: The global burden of disease study 1990–2016. The Lancet Public Health, 3(10), e478–e489.
Doyal, L. (1998). Gender and health: Technical paper. Geneva: World Health Organization.
Flax, J. (1993). Multiples: On the contemporary politics of subjectivity. Human Studies, 16(1), 33–49.
Greenstein, T. N. (2000). Economic dependence, gender, and the division of labor in the home: A replication and extension. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(2), 322–335.
Heise, L. L., Pitanguy, J., & Germain, A. (1994). Violence against women. The hidden health burden.
Kessler, R. C., Barker, P. R., Colpe, L. J., Epstein, J. F., Gfroerer, J. C., Hiripi, E., et al. (2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(2), 184–189.
Krause, N., & Markides, K. S. (1985). Employment and psychological well-being in Mexican American women. Journal of Health and Social behavior, 15–26.
Kudumbashree | What is Kudumbashree. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.kudumbashree.org/pages/171.
Lennon, M. C., & Rosenfield, S. (1992). Women and mental health: The interaction of job and family conditions. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 316–327.
Lennon, M. C., & Rosenfield, S. (1994). Relative fairness and the division of housework: The importance of options. American Journal of Sociology, 100(2), 506–531.
Machung, A. (1989). Talking career, thinking job: Gender differences in career and family expectations of Berkeley seniors. Feminist Studies, 15(1), 35–58.
Moorkath, F., Vranda, M. N., & Naveenkumar, C. (2018). Lives without roots: Institutionalized homeless women with chronic mental illness. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 40(5), 476.
Murray, C. J., Lopez, A. D., & World Health Organization. (1996). The global burden of disease: A comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020: summary.
Murthy, R. S. (2017). National mental health survey of India 2015–2016. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(1), 21.
National Rural Health Mission. (2005). Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, National Rural Health Mission, New Delhi. In Guidelines on accredited social health activists. New Delhi: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, p. 11.
Piccinelli, M., Gomez Homen, F., WHO Nations for Mental Health Initiative, & World Health Organization. (1997). Gender differences in the epidemiology of affective disorders and schizophrenia (No. WHO/MSA/NAM/97.1). Geneva: World Health Organization.
Pleck, J. H. (1985). Working wives/working husbands. California: Sage Publications.
Rosenfield, S. (1989). The effects of woman’s employment: Personal control and sex differences in mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 77–91, March 1.
Rosenfield, S. (1992). Factors contributing to the subjective quality of life of the chronic mentally ill. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 299–315.
Rosenfield, S., Lennon, M. C., & White, H. R. (2005). The self and mental health: Self-salience and the emergence of internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 46(4), 323–340.
Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (1995). Does employment affect health? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 230–243.
Trachsel, M., Irwin, S. A., Biller-Andorno, N., Hoff, P., & Riese, F. (2016). Palliative psychiatry for severe persistent mental illness as a new approach to psychiatry? Definition, scope, benefits, and risks. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1), 260.
Venkateswaran, C., Jose, S., & Francis, A. P. (2014). Community mental health and NGO engagement: The Kerala experience. In Social work in mental health: Areas of practice, challenges, and way forward, p. 276.
Vlassoff, C. (1999). Gender inequalities in health in the third world: Uncharted ground. Social Science & Medicine, 39(9), 1249–1259. November 1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Prabhu, A.V., Vincent, A.S., Parameswaran, U., Venkateswaran, C. (2020). Gender and Community Mental Health: Experiences of Mehac Foundation—A Community-Based Mental Health Service in Kerala, South India. In: Anand, M. (eds) Gender and Mental Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5393-6_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5393-6_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-5392-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-5393-6
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)