Editorial
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200900014 |
| Pages | 2-3 |
| Published date | 20 November 2009 |
| Date | 20 November 2009 |
| Author | Woody Caan |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
2journal of public mental health
VOLsISSUE
© Pier Professional Ltd, 2009
the UK, tw o interesting initia tives are just taki ng
off: one ensu ring that ‘talkin g therapi es’ funde d
throu gh the Improving Access to Psyc hologica l
Ther apies (IAPT) Prog ramme really reach the
most margi nalised populations (Shepherd, 2009),
and another evaluating the potential for lay people
to prevent suicide among their friends and relatives
(Owens et al, 2009).
Soon after vis iting Parl iament, I represen ted
the J ournal of Public Mental He alth at t he Living
Well West Midlan ds con ferenc e Ment al Wel l-
being and Comm issioning , which t ook place on
22 October 2009. The L iving W ell pr ogramme
is s upporte d by th e Big L ottery Fund (W anless,
2009) and there were many impressive examples of
well-being partnerships from h ealth service, loca l
autho rity and voluntary sector en thusiasts. This
anti cipated the p ooling of reso urces for men tal
health that is n ow being ca lled for n ationally b y
the Audit Commission (Lomas, 2009) and built on
past, positive e xperiences of Joint Strategic Ne eds
Assessment (Ward & Cosford, 2008).
Gr ego r He nde rs on, w ho w as a p ion ee r
withi n Scotlan d’s menta l health and well -being
pro gramme , ha s mov ed t o Eng land’ s Nat ional
Men tal H ealth Devel opment Unit to lead the
New Horizo n’s p rogramm e for Well- Being and
Population Mental Health. This programme builds
on the Foresight (2008) mental capital project, and
he calls n ow for more evide nce for effective well-
being interven tions. Ka ren Newbi gging is based
at the University of Central Lancashire, and she
is cu rrently de veloping c ommissioni ng guidanc e
for public ment al health and well-being. T his will
give real sub stance to the vision in New Horizons,
an d t his sh ould be com e a vail abl e i n M arc h
2010. Karen’s wor k covers t he whole li fe course,
beginning with commissioni ng for better perinatal
mental health.
The theme of well-being ac ross the lifespa n is
permeating more and more UK policy, for example,
now the General Teaching Council (2009) requires
teachers to put the well-being of children and young
peop le ‘fir st’ and the Care Quality Commiss ion
(2009) req uires care homes to prevent illness and
promo te ‘heal thy, inde pendent l iving’. I hope t hat
Wor ld Me nta l Hea lth W eek
each October always brings
m uc h f oo d f or t ho ug ht ,
an d thi s year h as be en no
ex cep ti on. F or m yse lf, a n
unfo rgettabl e experi ence wa s atten ding the All
Party Parliamentary Group on Suicide Prevention
on 20 October 2009, chaire d by Madeleine Moon,
the MP for Bridg end. Br idgend experi enced 19
yout h sui cides in a bout 1 5 mon ths, someth ing
one ho pes other c ommunities will never h ave to
endur e in the future. T here were many va luable
contributions to the Group’s discussion on how to
reach young men with help and ad vice, including
advice from Mind, Samarita ns and The Campaign
aga inst Livin g Mi serab ly ( CALM) , but it was
especial ly timely to he ar Phil Hope, the Minister
for Ca re Service s, whose re sponsibili ties includ e
the New Horizons progr amme (see Caan, 2009a).
New Horizons includes a population perspective on
mental illness, a commitment to prevention and
early intervention and a strong theme of promoting
mental well-being (Department of Health, 2009).
The Mini ster linke d thr ee ne w me ntal healt h
promotion pilots for ‘emotional literacy’ to the
Public Service Agreement 16 that aims to ‘increase
the proport ion of socially exclud ed adul ts in settled
acc ommod atio n an d em ploym ent, educ atio n an d
training’ (Hope, 2009). Earlier, in relation to World
Mental H ealth Week, he had announced 52 new
sites for ‘talking therapies’ linked to a commitment
to ‘speed up access’ during the cur rent recession –
within a new ambition to ‘prevent people developing
mental health problems in the first place’ (Hope, 2009).
I stressed the need for joined-up thinking around
youth suicide that t akes acc ount bot h of ea rlier
‘adversities’ that can accumulate during childhood
(Ro bbins & R utter, 199 0) an d the imm ediate
‘antecedents’ of male self-ha rm, lik e alcoh ol use
(Caan, 2009b). Lack of ‘settl ed accommod ation’ is
another big factor influencing young men who kill
themselves, and in this issue Bonner and Luscombe
offer a comprehen sive overv iew of the impact of
homelessness. Dawson and Silva raise the ethical
issue of governments intervening with people who
are already socially excluded and powerless. In
EDITORIAL
Woody Caan
Editor
Email: Woody.caan@anglia.ac.uk
Editorial
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