Equity in mental health.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this paper is to discuss the study of equity in mental health contexts.


METHODS
We review major principles and theories of distributive justice, covering various disciplines such as ethics, philosophy, economics, medicine and sociology. Recent literature on empirical analysis of inequalities in the mental health field is also reviewed.


RESULTS
The review of literature reveals a general lack of debate on equity principles in relation to mental health. Robust empirical evidence on inequalities in the field is also scarce.


CONCLUSIONS
There is need for better exposition of the relevance of different equity principles for mental health policy and practice. There is also a need for developing standardised methods for the empirical analysis of equity, to examine the distribution of psychiatric morbidity and use of services by income, socio-economic group, ethnicity, gender and place of residence, and, of course, to examine how equity can be promoted.
Mangalore
Roshni
R
Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A, 2AE, United Kingdom.
Knapp
Martin
M
D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D012935:Social Justice; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors