From Disability Theory to Practice pays tribute to Professor Jerome Bickenbach's highly influential and immensely important work. Professor Bickenbach is a scholar, policy-maker, and activist, of international stature. This volume brings together ten friends, mentors, and mentees, who have penned eight chapters engaging in topics that range, as the title suggests and as Professor Bickenbach's work has spanned, from theory to practice. This volume begins, much as Professor Bickenbach's career has, by grappling with philosophical and sociological issues related to the definition of disability, its relation to health, and conceptions of justice for people with disabilities. Subsequently, these conceptions are utilized to advance policy suggestions that range from assisted dying legislation, mental health policy, and the implementation of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Mental disorders have a huge cost, both to individuals and to society. The direct costs of providing appropriate mental healthcare must be considered along with the societal costs of not doing so. This volume uses the findings of the WHO Mental Health surveys, a long-term study with more than 150,000 people from 24 countries, to present a comprehensive portrait of the burden of mental disorders. The most up-to-date measures, field procedures, and analysis methodology were used and the results have been rigorously peer-reviewed and assessed for accuracy. Topics covered include the effects of mental disorders on educational attainment, marital stability, violence, absenteeism, earnings, and the disability they cause. The book also discusses the implications for policy and practice. This information will be valuable for anyone involved in establishing policy for mental health, including epidemiologists, clinicians, administrators, service managers, and health economists.