PMHIC Commercial Determinants of Mental Health (CDoMH) Symposium
In September 2023, the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre (PMHIC) held a Symposium on the Commercial Determinants of Mental Health.
On Friday 29 September 2023, the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre (PMHIC) in collaboration with the Commercial Determinants Research Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) hosted a symposium on the topic of Commercial Determinants of Mental Health.
The event took place at Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) and brought together experts from academia, policy, and people with lived experience to discuss and raise awareness of the impact of Commercial Determinants of Mental Health and foster collaboration between relevant stakeholders.
The event was chaired by Dr Peter Byrne; Joint Clinical and Strategic Director of the PMHIC, and featured the following presentations:
- Commercial determinants of mental health: where to start – Dr Peter Byrne
- The cross-industry playbook and mental health – Professor Mark Petticrew, Professor of Public Health Evaluation in the Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
- Moving from products to producers: understanding the gambling and pharmaceutical industries as commercial determinants of mental health – Dr May van Schalkwyk, MBBS MPH, Specialist Registrar in Public Health and Honorary Research Fellow at the Faculty of Public Health and Policy, LSHTM
- Commercial interference in health improvement: why the Scottish Parliament wanted minimum unit price for alcohol and why there was five years delay in implementation – Professor Peter Rice, MB ChB, FRCPsych, FRCPE, President of the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (APA), Chair of the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS)
- The tobacco and vaping industries – Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
- The role of industry in our broken food environment – Alfred Slade, Government Affairs Lead, Obesity Health Alliance (OHA)
- The deep interconnections between the climate crisis, climate action, and mental health determinants – Dr Emma Lawrance, Climate Cares Lead, Climate Cares Centre Imperial College London
The symposium sparked insightful conversations and highlighted the similarities in the strategies of different industries such as tobacco, food, alcohol, fuel, and gambling, in promoting commercial determinants. It also underscored the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to face the industries’ strategies.
The event was a testament to the collective dedication of attendees to understanding the impact of commercial determinants on mental health and served as a catalyst for reflection on possible actions to mitigate their effects.
Attendees left the symposium with a deeper understanding of the challenges at hand and approaches to tackle them. Moving forward, we are fostering key collaborations with attendees from different areas of research and policy to create change in this area.