Editorial
| Date | 01 March 2000 |
| Pages | 2-4 |
| Published date | 01 March 2000 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200000016 |
| Author | Michael Murray |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
EDITORIAL
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 • AUGUST 2000 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited. 2
To me,one of the most vivid proofs tha t there
is a moral governance in the Universe is the fact that when men or
governments work intelligently and far-sightedly for the good of others,
they achieve their own prosperity too.
Barbara Ward (1914-1981)
his morning I received a copy of the Surgeon General’s
Report (1999), from a colleague at the US Department of Health and
Human Services. Although
Ihave not had time to read and digest the near-500 pages of the
report, I was impressed by the willingness of so many to contribute to
the efforts of the Surgeon General in exploring and investigating the
problems
to be overcome and the opportunities available in Promoting Mental
Health for all Americans.
It is not only in the United States thatthe promotion of mental
health is taking far greater prominence as
amajor component of government policy.There are numerous other
examples. Initiatives in Australia and Canada have been well-
publicised, while the British Government’s National Service
Frameworks (1999)
set out a range of tasks to be achieved within set timetables. The
European Commission has promoted
anumber of programmes and policy statements (Lehtinen et al.,
1997), and WHO led the Mental Health Promotion in Prisons Project
(1998).
Increased political awareness of the need for effective mental
health promotion initiatives is to be applauded by providers and users
of services.
However, unless policy-makers and administrators/ managers
nationally and locally have the skills, knowledge and expertise to
identify and implement effective practices within their area of remit,
the benefits of government action will not be fully realised.
An illustration of this phenomenon is the occasion when I partici-
pated in a conference in London to disseminate the results of the
European project on Mental health Promotion for Children up to Six
Years.
Iwas struck by the excellent range of programmes from England that
had been selected as Effective Model Programmes (European
Commission, 1999). However, in the discussions between delegates it
T
became clear that these programmes were implemented in a scatter-
gun way, the location of programmes being dependent upon a series
of variables. A great deal depended on how well the programme staff
were able to publicise their good work, rather than health and social
agencies actively seeking out programmes of good practice. Many
areas in the country consequently have little
or no knowledge of these good practices.
For some time the need to replicate model programmes has been
recognised (Hosman & Engels, 1999) and the 1997 European
Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health took The Value of Model
Programmes as its theme, but if we are to pursue government initia-
tives and use the benefits of model programmes, governments and
policy-makers must provide an infrastructure to nurture this new
mental health promotion framework.
Weneed appropriate organisational and
managerial frameworks so that policies can meet expectations.
Hosman et al. (1996) proposed thatthe
organisational structures should consist of:
■
an international network with a ‘health watch’ function for mental
health policyin European countries
■
anetwork of ‘clearing houses’ to stimulate joint research and
development activities
■
amechanism to exchange experiences between member coun-
tries and to exchange programmes and research
■
the involvement of new parties and disciplines
and a forum to stimulate international planning and evaluation of
new initiatives
■
aEuropean mental health information system
■
closer collaboration between international
governmental and non-governmental
organisations.
Although steps have been taken to improve
collaboration and co-operation between individuals and countries,
there has been little progress and agencies in the public and voluntary
sectors often work in isolation, even though there are limited
resources
of expertise and specialist knowledge. There are nowhopes thatmore
positive progress will be forthcoming with the Inaugural World
Michael Murray
The Clifford Beers Foundation
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