Global Mental Health UCL

Overview

The global mental health crisis is one of the defining features of our time affecting low-resource settings. As the prevalence of mental health conditions grows, we need to accelerate services and support to help people manage these problems across the world, in ways that meaningfully engage those most at risk, and directly affected. Never before has there been such an acute need for mental health researchers, policy makers and practitioners. This Global Mental Health course at UCL combines a modern critical lens with established training in global mental health frameworks, including an emphasis on understanding epidemiological disease profiles and community engaged work to translate interventions as part of efforts in scaling up access to mental health care.

Recent advances in the field highlight the need to address social and structural drivers of mental health in low- and high-income countries alike. Students will learn tools necessary for working with complex communities across cultures and power levels in respectful ways, centering on empowerment and equity.

What this course will give you? 

If you study global mental health at UCL you will join a community of academics and students who are passionate about working to improve mental health in low-resource settings around the world. UCL Institute for Global Health (UCL IGH) academics are engaged in ground-breaking mental health research in countries including Nepal, Colombia, India, South Africa and the UK, partnering with key global policy makers including the World Health Organisation and UNESCO and Africa CDC. These academics will channel their first-hand experience of working at the forefront of global mental health directly into their teaching. As a student at UCL you will study global mental health from a unique perspective, with teaching from across different disciplines including public health, psychology, epidemiology and social science. You will learn to think critically about global mental health research and intervention and what needs to change to better serve communities and populations. You will have exposure to innovative techniques in the field from a multidisciplinary perspective that introduces you to drivers of poor mental health globally and pathways of response.Study at a university ranked 9th in the world (QS World Rankings 2026), 3rd in the world for public health (ShanghaiRankings 2024) and rated number one for research power and impact in Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, medicine, health and life sciences (REF 2021). On completing the course, you will join a new generation of professionals trained to engage both theoretically and pragmatically with global mental health research and practice.