Promotion

52 MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION
between key policy areas and health will be discussed in the following lifespan chapters
but we can offer introductory comments on selected areas. Policy which impacts on
economic status is widely seen as a major priority in promoting all aspects of health. At
the global level there is growing recognition of the damaging impact of poverty on
whole regions of the world and consideration of strategies that may ameliorate the
issues. The links between poverty and mental health will be raised frequently in subsequent
chapters. Make Poverty History had a high profile in 2005 and campaigning to
address world poverty is an ongoing and sustained campaign. Achieving global policies
on trade that will impact on the poverty of poorest nations and communities is slow to
achieve. Millennium goals were agreed but progress towards these is slow (see Box 3.3).
A second policy area with major significance for mental health is that of education.
By this we mean education as a whole rather than specific education for health. While
the links between education and mental health have been widely recognized with
respect to children the contribution of education to health throughout life has not
always received the same attention. For example, the Acheson Report (1998) recommendations
on education were confined to pre-school and school aged children. Those
involved in the encouragement of lifelong education have, however, recognized its
importance. Adult involvement in education has the potential to impact on mental
health directly and indirectly through, for example, increasing employability, and
enhancing economic status and social inclusion. Currently, in the UK, resources for
post-school education are being targeted towards increasing skills for work in young
adults which is clearly important. Similar provision for older adults is also needed but is
being reduced along with education for personal development not directly related to
work and recreation (Tuckett 2006). The significance of education for promoting positive
mental health has been acknowledged, as Tuckett points out, in national mental
strategy. Initiatives such as a project to issue doctor’s prescriptions for education on the
same lines as prescriptions for exercise have been developed in recognition of this link
(Challis 1996, in Friedli 2001: 27). The current reductions in adult learning provision
illustrate a lack of joined up thinking between education, health and economic policy.
A third area of policy with strong influences of mental health is that which relates
to work and employment, including policies which increase opportunities for securing
employment, which ensure that work takes place in health promoting settings, and
which support prompt return to work following involuntary unemployment or illness.
Other policy areas with significance for mental health include housing, transport, leisure
and recreation, environment, nutrition and neighbourhood renewal. One policy
area where there is growing interest in its links with health is that relating to the arts.
While people have always reported the positive impacts on mental health of participation
in music, dance and other arts activities this has not always been reflected in policy
making. In some countries there are now a growing number of evaluations of arts for
health projects generating evidence to support relevant policy actions (see the arts for
health network: www.nnah.org.uk).
Are policies promoting mental health or preventing ill health?
The emphasis in many countries has traditionally been on policy dealing with established
ill health at tertiary and secondary levels with a gradual move towards greater