Abstract
French colonization had a profound impact on the development of mental health services well into the twentieth century. The mental health system has been, and continues to be, dominated by institutional approaches to treatment of mental disorders. Mental hospitals operated by the national and provincial government health authorities have been the main locus of treatment and care. Social care for persons with severe and persistent mental disorders is limited, with national and provincial social affairs authorities providing minimal subsistence and little else in large social protection institutions. Over the past two decades, the Government of Vietnam has devoted increasing attention to the mental health of the population and has initiated major programs of reform of both the mental health system managed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the social protection system managed by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). While the mental hospitals and social protection centers continue to be essential and major elements of the two systems, there is a strong and sustained move in both sectors to community-based programs. It is also particularly important that there is continuing improvement in the extent and quality of collaboration between the two ministries. These developments are supported by appropriate national policy and development of the legal frameworks for modern mental health service provision and for community-based social support. This chapter outlines these developments and identifies some of the continuing challenges and opportunities for sustained mental health system improvement in Vietnam.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Do, K. N., Weiss, B., & Pollack, A. (2013). Cultural beliefs, intimate partner violence and mental health functioning among Vietnamese women. International Perspectives in Psychology, 2(3). doi:10.1037/ipp0000004
Eaton, J., Kakuma, R., Wright, A., & Minas, H. (2014). A position statement on mental health in the post-2015 development agenda. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 8, 28. doi:10.1186/1752-4458-8-28
Fisher, J., Tran, T., Duc Tran, T., Dwyer, T., Nguyen, T., Casey, G. J., et al. (2013a). Prevalence and risk factors for symptoms of common mental disorders in early and late pregnancy in Vietnamese women: A prospective population-based study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 146(2), 213–219. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.09.007
Fisher, J., Tran, T., La, B. T., Kriitmaa, K., Rosenthal, D., & Tran, T. (2010). Common perinatal mental disorders in northern Viet Nam: Community prevalence and health care use. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88(10), 737–745. doi:10.2471/blt.09.067066
Fisher, J., Tran, T. D., Biggs, B., Dang, T. H., Nguyen, T. T., & Tran, T. (2013b). Intimate partner violence and perinatal common mental disorders among women in rural Vietnam. International Health, 5(1), 29–37. doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihs012
Fisher, J., Tran, T. D., Nguyen, T. T., & Tran, T. (2012). Common perinatal mental disorders and alcohol dependence in men in northern Viet Nam. Journal of Affective Disorders, 140(1), 97–101. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.03.029
Fisher, J. R., Tran, H., & Tran, T. (2007). Relative socioeconomic advantage and mood during advanced pregnancy in women in Vietnam. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 1(1), 3. doi:10.1186/1752-4458-1-3
Fisher, J. R. W., Morrow, M. M., Nhu Ngoc, N. T., & Hoang Anh, L. T. (2004). Prevalence, nature, severity and correlates of postpartum depressive symptoms in Vietnam. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 111(12), 1353–1360. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2004.00394.x
General Statistics Office. (2005). Report on Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth (SAVY). Hanoi: General Statistics Office.
General Statistics Office. (2011). Report on Survey Assessment of Vietnamese Youth 2 (SAVY 2). Hanoi: General Statistics Office.
Government of Vietnam. (1998). Prime Ministerial Decision No. 196/1998/QD-TTg of October 10th 1998 on adding targets for the national target program to prevent and combat some social diseases, dangerous epidemic. Hanoi: Government of Vietnam.
Hung, P., Minas, I., Liu, Y., Dahlgren, G., Hsiao, W., Duong, H., et al. (Eds.). (2001). Cham Soc Suc Khoe Nhan Dan Theo Dinh Huong Cong Bang Va Hieu Qua (Efficient, equity-oriented strategies for health: International perspectives, focus on Vietnam). Hanoi: Hanoi Medical Publishing Company.
Institut de médecine tropical (PHARO). (1934). Fonctionnement de l’Asile de Bien Hoa. Marseille: Institut de médecine tropical (PHARO).
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2013). Data Visualizations.Vietnam country profile. Retrieved from http://www.healthdata.org/vietnam. (Accessed 24/6/2016).
Keller, R. (2007). Colonial madness: Psychiatry in French North Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Luong, N. K., La, D. C., Truong, L. V. N., Tran, T. H., La, N., & Minas, H. (2015). Vietnam. In H. Minas (Ed.), ASEAN mental health systems (pp. 171–190). Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat.
Minas, H. (1994). Vietnam. Australasian Psychiatry, 2(6), 280–283.
Minas, H. (1997). Psychiatry in Vietnam. Australasian Psychiatry, 5(1), 3.
Minas, H. (2007). Technical support to revise the model for community-based mental health care in Vietnam. (Unpublished).
Minas, H. (2009). Technical assistance to restructure system of Centres for care of mental health patients run by MOLISA. (Unpublished).
Minas, H. (Ed.) (1996). Recent developments in mental health: Proceedings of a collaborative workshop between Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: Centre for Cultural Studies in Health, University of Melbourne.
Minas, H., Izutsu, T., Tsutsumi, A., Kakuma, R., & Lopez, A. (2015). Asia-Pacific ready to act on mental health target in the SDGs. Lancet Psychiatry, 2(3), 199–201.
Ministry of Health. (2014). Decision 935/QD-BYT on establishment of the Drafting Committee for the National Mental Health Strategy period 2014–2020 and vision to 2030. Hanoi: Ministry of Health.
Ministry of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs. (2010). Prime Ministerial Decision No. 32/2010/QDTTG: National Programme on Development of Social Work Profession in Vietnam, 2010–2020. Hanoi: Ministry of Labour Invalids and Social Affairs.
Ministry of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs. (2011). Prime Ministerial Decision No. 1215/QD-Ttg Project. Community-Based Assistance and Functional Rehabilitation for Mental Ill and Mentally Disordered Project, 2011–2020. Haoi: Ministry of Labour Invalids and Social Affairs.
Monnais, L. (1999). Medecine et colonisation: l’aventure indochinoise 1860–1939. Paris: CNRS Editions.
Monnais, L., & Tousignant, N. (2006). The colonial life of pharmaceuticals: Accessibility to healthcare, consumption of medicines, and medical pluralism in French Vietnam, 1905–1945. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 1(1–2), 131–166.
Murray, C. J., Ezzati, M., Flaxman, A. D., Lim, S., Lozano, R., Michaud, C., et al. (2013a). GBD 2010: Design, definitions, and metrics. Lancet, 380(9859), 2063–2066. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61899-6
Murray, C. J., Vos, T., Lozano, R., Naghavi, M., Flaxman, A. D., Michaud, C., et al. (2013b). Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2010. Lancet, 380(9859), 2197–2223. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61689-4
National Archives Center 1. Etat des propositions présentées à l’Inspection Générale des Services Saniatires pour l’application au Tonkin du Décret du 18 Juillet 1930 sur l’assistance psychiatrique, 1391. Paris: National Archives Centre 1.
National Archives Center 1. (1928). Résident Supérieur du Tonkin, 73747-01, Asile d’Aliénés de Bien Hoa. Paris: National Archives Centre 1.
National Psychiatric Hospital No 1. (2002). National epidemiology mental disorder Survey. . Hanoi: National Psychiatric Hospital No. 1.
National Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. (2013). Vietnam National Psychiatric Hospital No 1–50 Years of Establishment and Growth. Retrieved from.
National Psychiatric Hospital No. 1. (2015). Annual Report on Community and Child Mental Health Care and Protection Project. Retrieved from Hanoi.
Ngo, V. K., Weiss, B., Lam, T., Dang, T., Nguyen, T., & Nguyen, M. H. (2014). The Vietnam multicomponent collaborative care for depression program: development of depression care for low- and middle-income nations. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 28(3), 156–167.
Nguyen, A. (2003). Cultural and social attitudes towards mental illness in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Stanford University Research Journal, 2, 27–31.
Nguyen, T. H. (2012). Thematic report of survey assessment of Vietnamese youth 2: Mental health. Hanoi: Ministry of Health.
Nguyen, V. (1996). Mental health services in Vietnam. In H. Minas (Ed.), Recent developments in mental health: Proceedings of a collaborative workshop between Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne: Centre for Cultural Studies in Health, University of Melbourne.
Nguyen, V. H., Dunne, M. P., & Debattista, J. (2013). Modeling predictors of risky drug use behavior among male street laborers in urban Vietnam. BMC Public Health, 13, 453. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-453
Nguyen, V. H., Dunne, M. P., Debattista, J., Nguyen, T. H., & Dao, T. M. (2012). Social contexts of risk behaviors for HIV among male, unskilled, unregistered laborers in urban Vietnam. Qualitative Health Research, 22(7), 871–879. doi:10.1177/1049732311424510
Niemi, M., Thanh, H. T., Tuan, T., & Falkenberg, T. (2010). Mental health priorities in Vietnam: A mixed-methods analysis. BMC Health Services Research, 10, 257. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-257
Patel, V., Rahman, A., Jacob, K. S., & Hughes, M. (2004). Effect of maternal mental health on infant growth in low income countries: New evidence from South Asia. BMJ, 328(7443), 820–823.
Phan, T., & Silove, D. (1997) The influence of culture on psychiatric assessment: the Vietnamese refugee. Psychiatric Services, 48(1), 86–90.
Phuong, T. B., Huong, N. T., Tien, T. Q., Chi, H. K., & Dunne, M. P. (2013). Factors associated with health risk behavior among school children in urban Vietnam. Global Health Action, 6, 1–9. doi:10.3402/gha.v6i0.18876
Read, P., Minas, I., & Klimidis, S. (2000). Vietnam: Life expectancy and economic development. In M. Pham, I. Minas, Y. Liu, G. Dahlgren, & W. Hsiao (Eds.), Efficient equity-oriented strategies for health: International perspectives, focus on Vietnam (pp. 53–69). Melbourne: Centre for International Mental Health.
Reboul, H., & Régis, E. (1912). The French mental health legislation of 1838 and its reform. Congrès des médecins aliénistes et neurologistes de France et des pays de langue française, 1(7), 121–123.
Teerawichitchainan, B., & Giang, T. L. (2013). Socioeconomic status and health among older adults in Vietnam, 2001–2011. Paper presented at the XXVII IUSSP International Population Conference.
Tsutsumi, A., Izutsu, T., Ito, A., Thornicroft, G., Patel, V., & Minas, H. (2015). Mental health mainstreamed in new disaster framework. Lancet Psychiatry, 2(8), 679–680.
Van Huy, N., Dunne, M. P., & Debattista, J. (2015). Factors associated with depression among male casual laborers in urban Vietnam. Community Mental Health Journal. doi:10.1007/s10597-015-9835-y
Vuong, D. A., Van Ginneken, E., Morris, J., Ha, S. T., & Busse, R. (2011). Mental health in Vietnam: Burden of disease and availability of services. Asian Journal Psychiatry, 4(1), 65–70. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2011.01.005
Weiss, B., Dang, M., Trung, L., Nguyen, M. C., Thuy, N. T., & Pollack, A. (2014). A nationally-representative epidemiological and risk factor assessment of child mental health in Vietnam. International Perspectives in Psychology, 3(3), 139–153. doi:10.1037/ipp0000016
Weiss, B., Ngo, V. K., Dang, H. M., Pollack, A., Trung, L. T., Tran, C. V. … Do, K. N. (2012). A model for sustainable development of child mental health infrastructure in the LMIC World: Vietnam as a case example. International Perspectives in Psychology, 1(1), 63–77. doi:10.1037/a0027316
Whiteford, H. A., Degenhardt, L., Rehm, J., Baxter, A. J., Ferrari, A. J., Erskine, H. E. … Vos, T. (2013). Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Minas, H., Edington, C., La, N., Kakuma, R. (2017). Mental Health in Vietnam. In: Minas, H., Lewis, M. (eds) Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific. International and Cultural Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7999-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7999-5_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7997-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7999-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)