MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION - Health Promotion Agency

Mental Health Promotion in Northern Ireland
Examples of mental health promotion initiatives that aim to enhance citizenship include:
• the establishment of mental health policies in the workplace – reducing the rate of absenteeism and
increasing productivity through reducing organisational causes of stress, increasing opportunities for
control and promoting awareness of mental health issues;
• anti-bullying schemes – reducing the rate of physical and verbal abuse/bullying within schools and
increasing the self-esteem of pupils;
• the development of a community safety policy – reducing the rates of crime and vandalism,
increasing citizens’ feelings of safety resulting in their increased use of public spaces.
3. Emotional resilience – inner world
Emotional resilience relates to how people feel about themselves, the interpretation of events and
people’s ability to cope with stressful or adverse circumstances. Self-esteem, coping and life skills, and
opportunities to make choices and exercise control over one’s life increase emotional resilience and
reduce mental distress. Emotional and physical neglect and deprivation in childhood inhibit the
development of emotional resilience and greatly increase vulnerability to mental health problems.
Examples of mental health promotion initiatives that aim to increase emotional resilience include:
• parenting skills courses – increasing the confidence of parents in dealing with their children,
improving relationships between parents and children and between parents and professionals;
• life skills training – increasing appropriate services provided by primary health care teams and
increasing the coping strategies among older people, who may be particularly vulnerable;
• the development of good childcare facilities – allowing parents to work and care for their children
more effectively and children in turn to feel more cared for and therefore better able to learn and
develop;
• peer support programmes – to discourage alcohol and substance abuse among adolescents;
• training schemes for registered childminders – promoting understanding of the emotional needs of
pre-school children.
Source: Health Education Authority (1997). Mental Health Promotion: A Quality Framework
A range of definitions of mental health now exist which span a wide theoretical base and have moved
away from traditional views of mental health equalling mental illness.
The Regional Strategy for Health and Wellbeing (1997-2002) states “the determinants of mental health
include physical health, personality, early childhood influences, particularly the quality of parenting,
recent life events and social factors, eg unemployment and social isolation. Good mental health is
associated with positive self-image, healthy and satisfying relationships with peers and family, skills and
competencies in decision making and problem solving and self-motivation and social support in facing
life events. The changing nature of social roles and factors such as unemployment have a bearing on
emotional wellbeing. In particular the issues of anxiety and depression, especially in vulnerable groups
such as women, older people, unemployed people and those recently bereaved or traumatised, and of
caring for carers, need to be addressed.”
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