href=”https://mhanational.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mental-Health-Policy-Word-find.pdf”>
Getting involved in advocacy can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! This glossary breaks down commonly used policy and advocacy terms, helping you build confidence to navigate important conversations and take action for mental health.
Access: The ability for individuals to obtain timely and affordable mental health care and resources. This includes ensuring that everyone can receive the treatment they need and achieve positive outcomes.
Advocacy: Actions taken to support, promote, or protect mental health-friendly policies. Actions are targeted toward individuals, groups, organizations, businesses, policymakers, or other stakeholders to educate them about mental health topics.
Constituent: A person who resides or works in a voting district and has firsthand knowledge about mental health.
Committee or task force: Legislative committees are groups of lawmakers who meet to learn more about a set of topics that they are responsible for. Committees vote on legislation to advance it to the full legislative body at the state or federal level. Task forces can be legislators and others that meet to develop ideas for a limited time.
Data: A useful tool to collect, evaluate, and analyze information about issues and populations.
Discrimination: The exclusion of individuals or groups from participating or benefitting from opportunities or failing to make changes that people who have been excluded need to fully participate.
Formulary: A list of prescription medications covered by an insurance plan, including those for mental health treatment.
Insurance: A guarantee to help cover the cost of health services. Plans make decisions about which mental health services to cover, whether a covered service is needed by someone, and if there is a cost for the person getting care.
Integrated care: Efforts to offer mental health care services and supports as part of primary care or offer primary care along with mental health services.
Legislation: Laws created or changed by state or federal legislatures. Most federal laws are debated in committee, and they can give the power to carry out a task or create initiatives, or they can appropriate, which means deciding how much money programs receive. Resolutions may honor a person or designate a day, week, or month to a specific topic.
Lobbying: Efforts to influence lawmakers or policymakers to support or oppose specific mental health-friendly legislation. States and federal laws require tracking the amount of time certain individuals and organizations spend lobbying each year.
Medicaid: Medicaid is a public health insurance program that helps low-income individuals and families and people with disabilities pay for health care. It is jointly funded by both the state and federal government. Medicaid is the nation’s largest payer of mental health and addiction services and covers 42% of all children.
Parity: The requirement that insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorders is the same as coverage for physical health conditions.
Policy: A set of ideas or plans used to make decisions about mental health care and funding.
Prevention: Efforts to reduce the risk of developing mental health conditions through early intervention and education.
Regulation: A tool used by government agencies to provide more information about what a law means and what actions are required by the law..
Resources: Information, programs, tools, or services available to support mental health care and recovery or the money for them.
Screening: Tools or assessments used to identify whether a person has a mental health concern.
Stigma: Negative attitudes or discrimination against people with mental health conditions.
Wellness: Approaches to mental health that promote overall well-being.
Workforce: Mental health providers, such as therapists, counselors, psychiatrists, peer support specialists, and others, who provide care and support.
