Promoting mental health improves quality of life. For individuals, it increases skills, confidence and capacity; for organisations it improves productivity and helps to retain staff, while at community level it promotes trust, tolerance, social inclusion and civil liberties.
Mental health promotion can contribute to goals at the heart of modernisation, regeneration, social inclusion, reducing inequalities and supporting public health.
Mental health promotion is about:- how individuals, families, organisations and communities think and feel
- the factors that influence how we think and feel, individually and collectively
- the impact this has on overall health and well-being.
- improve physical health and well-being
- improve health at work
- prevent or reduce the risk of some mental health problems
- assist recovery from mental health problems
- improve mental health services and the quality of life for people experiencing mental health problems
- increase the 'mental health literacy' of individuals, organisations and communities
- help communities to support social inclusion, tolerance and participation and reduce vulnerability to social and economic stresses.
Positive steps for mental health:
mentality identified a set of evidence-based positive steps that help keep people mentally healthy - you can find them on the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health Website
