Children's Mental Health in the Region of Andalusia: an Analysis of the Reality of Education and Health Care

Abstract

Despite the efforts made by politicians as well as health care and education professionals to improve the population’s mental health and to optimize social integration, the data provided by the World Health Organization still point to worrisome conditions, since during the first decade of the 21st Century –between the years 2000 and 2010– more than 20% of the population will suffer from some type of mental disorder throughout their lives. These numbers expose not only the importance of raising awareness about this issue, but the urgency to demand that necessary measures be taken in order to prevent these disorders from developing, starting from early childhood. The following study presents, along those lines, a diagnosis of children’s mental health in Spain, focusing on the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. This analysis reports, firstly, a brief history of children’s mental health in Spain; secondly, a map of the many contributions that are being made by both the health care and educational systems; and finally, it offers several contributions and considerations that, in our opinion, justify the existence of certain prevention programs that are specifically directed toward children.