Public mental health in England since 1997: past, present and future
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200500005 |
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| Pages | 13-16 |
| Author | Jenny Bywaters |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Although public mental health has rarely been an explicit element of national health policy in England,
arange of programmes have contributed to moving it up the agenda. There is a growing movement
for recognition of the potential benefits of a population-wide approach to promoting mental health
and well-being. This paper describes work streams developed since 1997, under the current
government, and outlines opportunities for the future.
Public mental health in
England since 1997:
past, present and future
Jenny Bywaters
Director of public health
National Institute for
Mental Health in England
jenny.bywaters@dh.gsi.
gov.uk
POLICY
13
Although public mental health has rarely
been an explicit element of national
health policy in England, a range of
programmes have contributed to moving
it up the agenda. There is a growing
movement for recognition of the potential benefits of a
population-wide approach to promoting mental health
and well-being. This paper describes work streams
developed since 1997, under the current government,
and outlines opportunities for the future.
Public mental health: the past
In September 1999 the government published the
National Service Framework for Mental Health
(Department of Health, 1999a). Standard one of the
framework required of health and social care
communities that they:
lpromote mental health for all, working with
individuals and communities
lcombat discrimination against individuals and
groups with mental health problems, and promote
their social inclusion
Eighteen months later, the Department of Health
published practical guidance to support implementation
of standard one, Making It Happen: A Guide to
Delivering Mental Health Promotion (Department of
Health, 2001). Furthermore, a letter went out from the
department requiring all NSF local implementation
teams, of which there were then 126, to include a
standard one lead, and to begin to develop a local
mental health promotion strategy.
Public health funding of £1 million a year was made
available centrally to commission a mental health
promotion campaign under the brand name ‘mindout
for mental health’. The focus of the campaign, which
ran for three years from 2001 to 2004, was reducing
stigma and discrimination, with an emphasis on
employers, young people and the media, as well as the
general public (Gale et al, 2004).
In parallel with the publication of the NSF,the 1999
public health white paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier
Nation (Department of Health, 1999b) identified mental
health as one of the four priority areas for public health
activity. The white paper set a target to reduce the rate
of deaths from suicide and undetermined injury by 20%
by 2010.
The challenge of reducing the suicide rate was
picked up by the national programme director for
mental health, Professor Louis Appleby,who was
already leading on the National Confidential Inquiry
into Suicides and Homicides by Mentally Ill People,
based at the University of Manchester. In December
2002, the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for
England was published (Department of Health, 2002),
which sets out six goals for action:
lreduce risk in key high risk groups
lpromote mental well-being in the wider population
lreduce the availability and lethality of suicide
methods
journal of public mental health
vol 4 • issue 1
©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Ltd
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