Mental Health Promotion
Print friendly versionMental Health Awareness Week - MHAW 09
Our Mental Health Promotion Contract is funded by the Ministry of Health and runs until July 2010.
Our work is framed by the following documents:
The Ottawa Charter http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/ottawa_charter_hp.pdf
Te Pae Mahutonga, a model for Maori Health Promotion http://www.pha.org.nz/documents/tepaemahutonga.pdf
And of course the Treaty of Waitangi.
Mental Health Promotion
There is no health without Mental Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as:
...a state of physical,mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Mental Health is clearly an integral part of this definition. The goals and traditions of public health and health promotion can be applied just as usefully in the field of Mental Health as they have been in heart health, infectious diseases and tobacco control.
Mental Health is more than the absence of Mental illness: it is vital to individuals, families and societies.
Mental Health is described by WHO as:
...a state of well being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.
In this positive sense of mental health is the foundation for well being and effective functioning for an individual and for a community. This core concept of mental health is consistent with it's wide and varied interpretation across cultures.
Mental Health is everyone's business.
Those who can do something to promote mental health, and who have something to gain, include individuals, families, communities, commercial organizations and health professionals. Particularly important are the decision-makers in governments at local and national levels whose actions affect mental health in ways that they may not realize. International bodies can insure that countries at all stages of economic development are aware of the importance of mental health to community development. They can also encourage then to assess the possibilities and evidence for intervening to improve the mental health of their population.
Promoting Mental Health.
Mental Health is increasingly as fundamental to physical health and quality of life and thus needs to be addressed as an important component of improving overall health and well-being. The concept of health enunciated by WHO as encompassing physical, mental and social well-being is more and more seen as a practical issue for policy and practice. In particular, there is growing evidence to suggest interplay between mental health and physical health and well-being and outcomes such as educational achievement, productivity at work, development of positive personal relationships, reduction in crime rates and decreasing harms associated with use of alcohol and drugs. It follows that promoting mental health through a focus on key determinants should not only result in lower rates of some mental health disorders and improved physical health but also better educational performance, greater productivity of workers, improved relationships within families and safer communities.
There is wide acknowledgment of an increase in mental ill-health at a global level. The authoritative work undertaken by WHO and the World Bank indicates that by the year 2020 depression will constitute the second largest cause of disease burden worldwide (Murray & Lopez, 1996). The global burden of mental ill-health is well beyond the treatment capacities of developed and developing countries, and the social and economic costs associated with this growing burden will bot be reduced by the treatment of mental disorders alone (WHO, 2001c). 2003)
Promoting mental health is an integral part of public health.
Mental health and mental illness are determined by multiple and interacting social, psychological and biological factors, just as are health and illness in general. The clearest evidence relates to the risks of mental illness, which in the developed and developing world are associated with indicators of poverty, including low levels of education. The association between poverty and mental disorders appears to be universal, occurring in all societies irrespective of their levels of development. Factors such as insecurity and hopelessness, rapid social change and the risks of violence and physical ill-health may explain this greater vulnerability (Patel & Kleinman, 2003)
The twin aims of impoving mental health and lowering the personal and social costs of mental ill-health require a public health approach. Within a public health framework, the activities that can improve health include the promotion of health, the prevention of illness and disability, and the treatment and rehabilitation of those affected. These are different from one another, even though the outcomes and actions overlap. They are all required, are complementary, and no one is a substitute for the other.
The information above is taken directly from "Promoting Mental Health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice: report of the World Health Organization", Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in collaboration with the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the University of Melbourne / [editors: Helen Herrman, Shekhar Saxena, Rob Moodie].
For further information the full document can be found through the link below:
http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/MH_Promotion_Book.pdf