At present, schools of public healt

At present, schools of public health are contributing relatively little to the field of mental health, at least in comparison with other graduate schools (social work, medicine, nursing). In part, this maybe due to the purposes which originally motivated the establishment of schools of public health; moreover, in all probability, the conditions which govern their financing have deterred their expansion into newer areas. In any event, we would do well to identify more precisely the major obstacles which have impeded the adequate development of educational programmes to enable students of public health to deal effectively with the community aspects of mental illness and health. Are they essentially ideological? Do they reflect a cultural lag on the part of the schools of public health? Or do these obstacles stem primarily from the fact that the content to be taught is vague and inapplicable?