Yongin Psychiatric Hospital WHO Collaborating Center, Pioneer in Improving Human Rights and Social Reintegration of Mental Illness Patients

Hwang Tae-young, Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center

[Asia Economy (Yongin) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The WHO Collaborating Center within Yongin Mental Hospital in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is attracting attention for carrying out various projects aimed at improving the human rights, recovery, and social reintegration of people with mental illnesses.

The WHO Collaborating Center is the only mental health sector collaborating center in Korea, operated by the Yongin Hospital Maintenance Foundation. Since being designated as a WHO Collaborating Center in 2003, it has been conducting various projects such as hosting international academic conferences, running programs inviting overseas mental health experts, and promoting suicide prevention and a culture of respect for life.

The center’s flagship project is the international academic conference, which has been held 16 times to date. At the end of April last year, it co-hosted with WHO the "International Workshop and Conference on WHO QualityRights Community-Based Mental Health Service Best Practices."

At the event, over 30 participants including WHO mental health officials and key figures, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights, mental health experts from around the world, and mental health policy leaders from the Western Pacific Region gathered to share mental health policies and best practices and discuss the details of WHO QualityRights. WHO QualityRights is a service guideline aimed at promoting human rights and recovery in the mental health field.

Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), WHO is focusing on developing and disseminating this guideline with the goal of institutionalization by 2030. WHO completed the final version in the first half of this year.

In addition, the Collaborating Center is engaged in various projects including ▲ WHO support for developing community-based psychosocial rehabilitation programs ▲ capacity-building support activities for psychosocial rehabilitation in countries of the Western Pacific Region ▲ publication and distribution of materials on mental health policies and services ▲ participation in WHO Western Pacific Region projects on suicide prevention and mental health programs.

Furthermore, the center has promoted programs to enhance the abilities of patients with schizophrenia not only at Yongin Mental Hospital but also at Gyeonggi Provincial Mental Hospital and Seoul Metropolitan Yongin Mental Hospital, which it previously managed under contract, and has produced and distributed Korean versions since 2005.

Every year, it holds a "Workshop for Mental Health Professionals" targeting staff of mental health facilities. The workshop held in mid-August this year received applications from about 60 institutions, but due to COVID-19, only 30 institutions participated.

Through cooperation with the Yongin Suicide Prevention Center and related organizations, the Collaborating Center also carries out various projects to spread suicide prevention and a culture of respect for life, including suicide means and location control projects, support for suicide survivors, training of life-loving guardians, and identification and case management of high-risk suicide groups.

Experts in the field of global mental health attending the international academic conference held annually by the World Health Organization Collaborating Center are listening attentively to the keynote presentations.

The Collaborating Center is also committed to promoting mental health overseas. Since 2006, through the annual Mental Health Expert Training program (MHET), it has invited mental health experts from Western Pacific countries with relatively underdeveloped mental health services?including China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Kiribati, Fiji, Mongolia, Japan, Thailand, and Laos?to Korea for four weeks to provide lectures on psychiatric rehabilitation and community mental health, visits to related institutions, and participation in various rehabilitation programs.

As of September this year, a total of 104 participants from 13 Western Pacific countries have completed this course. Graduates actively participate in improving mental health in their countries based on the field experience provided by the Collaborating Center.

Hwang Tae-young, Director of the WHO Yongin Mental Hospital Center, stated, "Yongin Mental Hospital, as a WHO-certified hospital, is committed to strengthening capabilities to improve the human rights and recovery of people with mental illnesses and to doing its best to help them return to daily life as soon as possible." He added, "We will carry out the 'WHO (QualityRights) Korean Translation and Dissemination Project' based on the final version of the 'WHO human rights-related program (QR)' developed by WHO."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.