Mental Health Review Journal: Volume 17 Issue 4

Mental Health Commissions of Different Sub‐species: can they effectively propagate mental health service reform? Provisional taxonomy and trajectories

Alan Rosen

The aim is to provide a brief overview of a series of articles tracing the emergence of several Mental Health Commissions (MHCs) in developed countries over recent years…

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland: individual visits and investigations can effect system change

Donald Lyons

The experience of the individual patient can be an important driver in improving care. This paper seeks to outline the way the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland (MWCS) uses…

The life cycle, achievements and transformation of the New Zealand Mental Health Commission: opportunities and risks

Peter McGeorge

The aim of the paper is to describe the “organisational lifecycle” of the New Zealand Mental Health Commission (NZ MHC) including factors that led to it being established, the…

The contribution of the Mental Health Commission in Ireland to the reform of mental health services

Lisa O' Farrell, Patricia Gilheaney, Rosemary Smyth

This paper aims to describe the establishment and evolution of Ireland's Mental Health Commission including its functions, strategic objectives and the challenges encountered.

Mental health policy in California: the “millionaire's tax” and the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission

Deborah Lee

This article's aim is to describe the history, purpose, challenges, strategies, and progress of California's Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC)…

The Mental Health Commission of Canada: the first five years

David Goldbloom, Louise Bradley

This paper aims to examine the progress of the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) over the first five years of its existence toward stated goals while existing outside the…

Western Australia's Mental Health Commission

Lesley van Schoubroeck

Machinery of government changes and budget strategy are powerful levers to drive reform in the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to describe the rationale, progress and…

Australia's ambitions to make a difference in people's lives: the early focus of the new National Mental Health Commission

Robyn Kruk

Mental health reform needs to engage leaders across jurisdictions and governments/communities. This paper aims to describe the history leading to the establishment of the…

New governance, new hope: findings and results of the taskforce to establish a Mental Health Commission for NSW

Sebastian Rosenberg

This article aims to describe the process by which the new NSW Government executed its election promise to establish a Mental Health Commission for NSW.

National Commissions on mental health in the United States: how many tries to get it right?

Kenneth S. Thompson

This paper aims to review the background, history and results of the three Federal Commissions addressing mental illness and health in the United States of America.