In this follow up to Preventing Mental Illness, Jennifer Newton describes real life examples of good practice in preventive mental health. Five areas covering the life span have been identified and promising strategies are described in detail: what is provided, how the target group is engaged, the resources required, management problems and evidence of effectiveness. Interviews with both clients and providers help to bring to life the descriptions as we learn how the support came to be needed and what benefits they themselves feel have been reaped. These descriptive studies, together with criteria for judging the efficacy of interventions, provide an excellent resource for planners and policy makers. The book will also be invaluable to those who seek to implement preventive policies in their day to day work - lives - such as social workers, clinical psychologists, health visitors, community psychiatric nurses and general practitioners.

Is there any evidence that we can reduce the incidence of mental ill health? Is it possible to prevent recurrence of mental ill health? Aspirations to achieve both these goals have featured in mental health policy and practice for over 100 years. This comprehensive and accessible book draws on research on the development and persistence of behavioural problems in childhood, adult depression and schizophrenia. The association between social disadvantage and mental ill health, as well as the need for preventive care to start from conception and the crucial importance of maternal mental health, are discussed. A variety of prominent programmes which have good evidence of efficacy are described. These include: Targeted approaches with individuals and families Macro policies affecting housing and employment Lifestyle contributions such as diet and exercise However, some attempts to achieve preventive benefits have not succeeded, and reflecting on these problems is an important feature of this review. Jennifer Newton has written extensively on these issues for over twenty years, and her careful examination of the research literature provides a succinct overview of the state of current knowledge which will benefit mental health professionals, and students of health psychology and public health. It also takes a life course perspective, and considers how, when and why vulnerability persists through childhood into adult life, so will interest those whose work focuses on child well-being.

This book provides an overview of a diverse array of preventive strategies relating to mental illness, and identifies their achievements and shortcomings. The chapters in this collection illustrate how researchers, clinicians and policy makers drew inspiration from divergent fields of knowledge and practice: from eugenics, genetics and medication to mental hygiene, child guidance, social welfare, public health and education; from risk management to radical and social psychiatry, architectural design and environmental psychology. It highlights the shifting patterns of biological, social and psychodynamic models, while adopting a gender perspective and considering professional developments as well as changing social and legal contexts, including deinstitutionalisation and social movements. Through vigorous research, the contributors demonstrate that preventive approaches to mental health have a long history, and point to the conclusion that it might well be possible to learn from such historical attempts. The book also explores which of these approaches are worth considering in future and which are best confined to the past. Within this context, the book aims at stoking and informing debate and conversation about how to prevent mental illness and improve mental health in the years to come. Chapters 3, 10, and 12 of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com

This Research Topic is the second volume of the "Community Series In Mental-Health-Related Stigma and Discrimination: Prevention, Role, and Management Strategies". Please see the first volume here. Despite the tremendous progress and successes achieved in diagnostics, therapy, and rehabilitation in psychiatry over the past few decades, the stigma towards mental health patients, their relatives and caregivers, and healthcare professionals is still present. Social stigma, in particular, represents a major obstacle to maintaining adequate mental health care. This increases reluctance to seek help delays patients' diagnosis and limits their compliance and adherence to treatment. In the long term, this reduces psychiatric rehabilitation effectiveness and causes a burden to healthcare providers and society alike. The main goal of this Research Topic is to evaluate the impact and role of stigma, in all its forms, on individuals with psychiatric disorders, their caregivers, and mental health providers.

In 2004, California voters passed the Mental Health Services Act, which was intended to transform California's community mental health system from a crisis-driven system to one that included a focus on prevention and wellness. The vision was that prevention and early intervention (PEI) services comprised the first step in a continuum of services designed to identify early symptoms and prevent mental illness from becoming severe and disabling. Twenty percent of the act's funding was dedicated to PEI services. The act identified seven negative outcomes that PEI programs were intended to reduce: suicide, mental health-related incarcerations, school failure, unemployment, prolonged suffering, homelessness, and removal of children from the home. The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) coordinated with the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), an independent administrative and fiscal intergovernmental agency, to seek development of a statewide framework for evaluating and monitoring the short- and long-term impact of PEI funding on the population. CalMHSA selected the RAND Corporation to develop a framework for the statewide evaluation. This report describes the approach, the data sources, and the frameworks developed: an overall approach framework and outcome-specific frameworks.

This WHO report co-funded by the European Commission gives an overview of policies and practices for mental health in 42 Member States of the European Region. A large majority of countries have made significant progress over the past few years, and several are world leaders in mental health promotion, mental disorder prevention activities, service reform and human rights. Nevertheless, this report also identifies weaknesses in Europe, some systematic, such as a lack of consensus on definitions, and of compatible data collection, and others such as the need for development and investment across several areas. It identifies gaps in information where further work must be done, and is a baseline against which progress can be measured towards the vision and the milestones of the Mental Health Declaration for Europe. The data were obtained from the ministries of health of 42 European Member States. Over 150 figures and tables in the report demonstrate the diversity across the European Region, and allow country to country comparisons of indicators such as numbers of psychiatrists, financing, community services, training of the workforce, the prescription of anti-depressants and representation of users and carers.

Provides practical advice to managers on the implementation of change necessary to achieve the targets set out in "The Health of the Nation" White Paper. This handbook builds on feedback from the first edition and on policy developments which have taken place since its publication.