Conceptualizing the Social Determinants of Mental Health Within an International Human Rights Framework: A Focus on Housing and Employment

Abstract

The social determinants of health and international human rights law share many overlapping concerns and goals in promoting human well-being. However, so far they have been developing largely in silos, resulting in calls for greater interdisciplinary collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the social determinants of health-specifically mental health-can fit within international human rights law conceptually and practically. I argue that the social determinants of mental health and international human rights law are mutually reinforcing. Both are necessary to realize the right to the highest attainable standard of health and its incorporation into domestic law and policy. International human rights law provides an indispensable universal and legally binding framework to realize both the right to health and the social determinants. Likewise, the social determinants enrich and expand international human rights law and challenge it to go further in responding to inequality, power imbalances, and the lifelong impact of adverse childhood experiences (especially in light of the early onset of mental ill-health). I use housing and employment as examples of how to deepen this conceptual and practical relationship.