BasicNeeds
Encyclopedia
BasicNeeds is a global mental health organisation, which works with people with mental illness
or epilepsy
in the developing world to alleviate their poverty
and help them secure their basic rights.
The organisation was established 1999, by Chris Underhill
MBE, who had worked with mental health organisations in Africa for over 25 years and arrived on the continent in the early 1970s with Voluntary Service Overseas
(VSO). BasicNeeds was a response to the lack of real mental health care in lower and middle income countries. Led by Chris Underhill
, BasicNeeds developed a new approach called the Model for Mental Health and Development, to accommodate lack of national government action in this area of healthcare. BasicNeeds started its work in India in 2000 and quickly expanded to Sri Lanka later that year. Since its foundation until 2009 the organisation has helped over 78,036 people with mental illness or epilepsy as well as their families and carers in India
, Sri Lanka
, Ghana
, Tanzania
, Kenya
, Uganda
, Lao PDR, Vietnam
and Nepal
. For 2010, this figure rises to 85,308 people. This arguably places BasicNeeds as the largest global operator in mental health. Additionally further programmes are currently being developed in Pakistan
, China
and the UK.
, 91 million were affected by alcohol-use disorders and 15 million by drug-use disorders. In addition, there are 50 million people with epilepsy
and 24 million with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The report noted that low- and middle-income countries’ provision of mental health services is minimal. Many do not invest in mental health care at all, and one third of the global population live in countries that allocate less than 1% of their total health budget to mental health. There was a huge lack of community facilities, and many individuals received no real care, but were merely placed in institutions where they were often physically chained and abused.
BasicNeeds was set up because of the factors which the WHO report highlighted, and now works throughout the world attempting to ensure that mental health is given due attention. In 2000, the same year that the WHO report was being written, the first BasicNeeds programme began in south India. Work began with consultation of those who had mental disorders, their families and carers, non-governmental organisations, mental health specialists, and government officials. This initial consultation aimed to find out what the problems were, and to create some initial ideas for developing solutions.
These initial consultations in India made those involved in BasicNeeds’ set up realise that the medical and socio-economic issues related to mental health could not be separated, but must be dealt with concurrently, if any change was to be real and sustainable.
, and pioneered and tested in India by D.M. Naidu, recognises both the lack of medical provision for those with mental illness in developing countries, but also the lack of presence of the third sector and the community in their rehabilitation into everyday life, once the medical issues are conquered. BasicNeeds’ model addresses these problems by creating a sustainable programme of mental health care and treatment. There are five separate, but linked, areas to BN’s model:
The BasicNeeds Model for Mental Health and Development is a holistic method for providing mental health services in developing countries. The Model helps ensure that change resulting from medical treatment is sustainable by improving the social marginalisation and poverty associated with mental illness and epilepsy. This includes helping people get back to work, but also providing support to their carers and families, and educating communities about mental health. The BasicNeeds Model has 5 parts: Capacity Building, Community Mental Health, Livelihoods, Research and Policy, and Management. The aim of the Model is to demonstrate that cost-effective community mental health care can be introduced into poor communities in developing countries and that mentally ill people can advocate for and secure their own human rights
.
, Alan Wilkinson, chose BasicNeeds as one of his three official charities for his year in office. BasicNeeds was also 'highly commended' by the Charity Awards in 2011.
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
or epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
in the developing world to alleviate their poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and help them secure their basic rights.
The organisation was established 1999, by Chris Underhill
Chris Underhill
Chris Underhill MBE is a social entrepreneur working with marginalised people.He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of London and later with an Master of Science in International Policy from the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol...
MBE, who had worked with mental health organisations in Africa for over 25 years and arrived on the continent in the early 1970s with Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas is an international development charity that works through experienced volunteers living and working as equals alongside local partners. It is the largest independent volunteer-sending organization in the world...
(VSO). BasicNeeds was a response to the lack of real mental health care in lower and middle income countries. Led by Chris Underhill
Chris Underhill
Chris Underhill MBE is a social entrepreneur working with marginalised people.He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of London and later with an Master of Science in International Policy from the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol...
, BasicNeeds developed a new approach called the Model for Mental Health and Development, to accommodate lack of national government action in this area of healthcare. BasicNeeds started its work in India in 2000 and quickly expanded to Sri Lanka later that year. Since its foundation until 2009 the organisation has helped over 78,036 people with mental illness or epilepsy as well as their families and carers in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Lao PDR, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. For 2010, this figure rises to 85,308 people. This arguably places BasicNeeds as the largest global operator in mental health. Additionally further programmes are currently being developed in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and the UK.
Background
In 2001, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that there were approximately 154 million people had depressive illnesses, 25 million had schizophreniaSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, 91 million were affected by alcohol-use disorders and 15 million by drug-use disorders. In addition, there are 50 million people with epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
and 24 million with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The report noted that low- and middle-income countries’ provision of mental health services is minimal. Many do not invest in mental health care at all, and one third of the global population live in countries that allocate less than 1% of their total health budget to mental health. There was a huge lack of community facilities, and many individuals received no real care, but were merely placed in institutions where they were often physically chained and abused.
BasicNeeds was set up because of the factors which the WHO report highlighted, and now works throughout the world attempting to ensure that mental health is given due attention. In 2000, the same year that the WHO report was being written, the first BasicNeeds programme began in south India. Work began with consultation of those who had mental disorders, their families and carers, non-governmental organisations, mental health specialists, and government officials. This initial consultation aimed to find out what the problems were, and to create some initial ideas for developing solutions.
These initial consultations in India made those involved in BasicNeeds’ set up realise that the medical and socio-economic issues related to mental health could not be separated, but must be dealt with concurrently, if any change was to be real and sustainable.
The BasicNeeds Model for Mental Health Development
BasicNeeds works using a specific model for mental health development, devised by founder Chris UnderhillChris Underhill
Chris Underhill MBE is a social entrepreneur working with marginalised people.He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of London and later with an Master of Science in International Policy from the School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol...
, and pioneered and tested in India by D.M. Naidu, recognises both the lack of medical provision for those with mental illness in developing countries, but also the lack of presence of the third sector and the community in their rehabilitation into everyday life, once the medical issues are conquered. BasicNeeds’ model addresses these problems by creating a sustainable programme of mental health care and treatment. There are five separate, but linked, areas to BN’s model:
- Capacity buildingCapacity buildingCapacity building also referred to as capacity development is a conceptual approach to development that focuses on understanding the obstacles that inhibit people, governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations from realizing their developmental goals while enhancing...
- Community Mental Health
- Sustainable livelihoods
- Research
- Management and administration
The BasicNeeds Model for Mental Health and Development is a holistic method for providing mental health services in developing countries. The Model helps ensure that change resulting from medical treatment is sustainable by improving the social marginalisation and poverty associated with mental illness and epilepsy. This includes helping people get back to work, but also providing support to their carers and families, and educating communities about mental health. The BasicNeeds Model has 5 parts: Capacity Building, Community Mental Health, Livelihoods, Research and Policy, and Management. The aim of the Model is to demonstrate that cost-effective community mental health care can be introduced into poor communities in developing countries and that mentally ill people can advocate for and secure their own human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
.
BasicNeeds' Awards
In 2011, elected Mayor of Leamington SpaLeamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, Alan Wilkinson, chose BasicNeeds as one of his three official charities for his year in office. BasicNeeds was also 'highly commended' by the Charity Awards in 2011.
Where BasicNeeds Works
| Country | Start | Number treated | Self-Help Groups | Partner Organisations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ghana |
2002 (Northern Ghana) 2004 (Accra) |
17,720 | 183 |
|
 Uganda |
2003 | 19,374 | 63 |
|
 Tanzania |
2003 | 18,096 | 62 |
|
 Sri Lanka |
2001 | 8,131 | 316 |
|
 Laos |
2007 | 829 | 6 |
|
 India |
2001* | 12,269 | ||
 Kenya |
2005 | 8,485 | 97 |
|
 Nepal |
2010 | 404 | 8 | Livelihoods Education and Development Society (LEADS) |
 Vietnam |
2010 | Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) | ||
 Australia |
2010 | General Practice Network, Northern Territories |
- BasicNeeds India is now an independent organisation.