Making Mental Health a Global Priority 

PROMOTION & PREVENTION
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Dr. Elena Berger Director WFMH Office for the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental Disorders
	The World Federation for Mental Health includes in its core goals the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental disorders. It established the Office for the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental Disorders in 2006 to recognize and bring together strands of this work that had been carried out in various programs. The director is Dr. Elena Berger. The office is supported by an anonymous donor who has given the Federation valued support over many years. The promotion of mental health refers not to mental illness but to a concept of positive, optimal well-being. It is endorsed by the World Health Organization, which defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Mental health promotion follows the guidelines that were set out in the Ottawa Charter on general health promotion in 1986 and aims to foster personal resilience within a supportive community environment. Ideal programs are evidence-based, and attentive to social settings and related issues such as poverty, culture and human rights. Because of this broad-based approach, the concept of mental health promotion covers more than direct health issues and includes areas such as housing, education, justice, the arts and community participation. Prevention of mental and behavioral disorders is an expanding field of rigorous research and analysis that seeks to find interventions which can be shown to reduce the incidence of disorders. WFMH is particularly interested in primary prevention, in which initiatives are introduced to change or modify circumstances known to contribute to mental health problems. Primary prevention can be divided into universal, selective and indicated prevention. Universal prevention consists of initiatives that target the public as a whole, or specific groups that have not been identified as having a higher risk of mental disorders. Selective prevention targets people or groups identified as being at higher risk of such disorders. Indicated prevention targets those who are at high risk and also show some signs linked to the development of a mental disorder, but with insufficient criteria to merit a medical diagnosis. TOP WFMH’s support for these areas was encouraged by a pioneer in mental health advocacy, Beverly Long, who initiated a track for researchers in mental health promotion and the prevention of disorders at the Federation’s biennial World Congresses. As these World Congress tracks expanded at successive meetings, she proposed a separate conference in the alternate years between Congresses. WFMH joined with The Clifford Beers Foundation and The Carter Center Mental Health Program to organize the First World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders at The Carter Center in Atlanta in December 2000. The same partners held the Second World Conference in London in September 2002. They were joined by the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand as host organization for the Third World Conference in Auckland in September 2004, and by Voksne for Barn (Adults for Children, a Norwegian NGO) as host organization for the Fourth World Conference in Oslo in September 2006. The Fifth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders will take place in Melbourne, Australia, on 10-12 September 2008 with the Victorian Health Foundation, VicHealth, as the host organization. After the first three conferences WFMH undertook the editing of a volume of proceedings for each event. (To inquire about obtaining a copy of the proceedings for the Atlanta, London or Auckland conferences contact eberger@wfmh.com and provide a complete mailing address.) In conjunction with the development of the conference series, WFMH has also supported the growth of a small new international consortium. The Global Consortium for the Advancement of Promotion and Prevention in Mental Health (GCAPP) brings together like-minded organizations working in the field that are interested in exchanging information and working collaboratively on opportunities that arise in the intervals between conferences. WFMH provides the interim secretariat for GCAPP, edits its e-newsletter and maintains its web site at www.gcappmentalhealth.org. TOP
	2008 WORLD CONFERENCE ON THE PROMOTION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PREVENTION OF MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS “FROM MARGINS TO MAINSTREAM” The Fifth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders presented a program firmly set in the social context of mental health, a trademark of the host organization, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth). The meeting attracted 860 participants from 44 countries and added several new plenary program topics to the themes established at previous conferences in the series. Altogether 370 presentations at various levels from plenary addresses to posters were crowded into the three-day event on 10-12 September 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. Previous conferences had emphasized research, advocacy and policy-making, coalition building, program design, and building up workforce capacity. While carrying forward these topics, the Melbourne organizers added social participation, discrimination and diversity, violence, and access to economic resources. The sessions on violence covered many situations and incorporated discussions of human rights. Presentations on measuring population mental health and happiness from an Asian perspective were among the innovations that drew particular interest. The special efforts throughout the conference to engage young people and take account of their views were also noteworthy. Premier John Brumby’s Government in the State of Victoria has initiated a major review of mental health services with the goal of introducing widespread reforms. Both the Premier and the Minister for Mental Health, the Hon. Lisa Neville MP, spoke at the opening of the conference. VicHealth found that the timing of the conference was particularly valuable in a period when the state’s policies and services were under examination. Please click here for a longer report on the conference program. TOP
	WFMH’S LEADERSHIP IN PROMOTION & PREVENTION: A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY Throughout its 59 year history, the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders have been central elements of WFMH’s work. Here are some brief examples of WFMH initiatives and activities that have addressed the Federation’s prevention and promotion goals: In September 2004, WFMH and the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborated on the publication of “MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION: Case Studies from Countries,” a collection of mental health promotion programs and activities from grassroots mental health organizations in 30 countries; With the International Labour Organization and the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (HK), WFMH co-sponsored a regional conference on the challenges of job stress and its impact in the workplace, held in Hong Kong in February 2002; In 1995-1996 WFMH’s European Regional Council represented the mental health interests of European NGOs in discussions of a proposed European Commission plan to promote mental health as a component of a broad based program on health promotion, education and training. At the end of the year the WFMH/ERC was invited to become the European Commission’s liaison office for the European Network on Mental Health Promotion; The 1995 WFMH Biennial World Mental Health Congress (Dublin, Ireland) theme had a major focus on prevention and promotion with a number of sessions on topics relating to prevention research, preventive intervention models and dissemination of knowledge. From this emphasis evolved efforts to form a WFMH International Consortium for Prevention including 45 members from 7 regions; In 1993, in collaboration with the Vermont Conference on Primary Prevention of Psychopathology, WFMH created the George W. Albee Lecture on Prevention as a regular part of the program for future WFMH biennial world congresses; In 1989, WFMH formed the International Committee on Prevention, which was approved by the WFMH Board of Directors in 1991; In 1986, the Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention Research became WFMH’s first Collaborating Center; In February 1986 WFMH co-sponsored, with the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Mexican Committee for Mental Health, a symposium entitled “Prevention and Education in the Field of Mental Health: Implications for Latin America”; One of the two major themes for the 1985 WFMH Biennial World Mental Health Congress in Brighton, England, was “Prevention of Mental and Emotional Disability.” The other primary theme for the Congress was “Services for the Chronically Mentally Ill”; The August 1975 WFMH World Congress in Copenhagen included papers on such topics as “Preventive Health and the Psychology of Economic Growth.” TOP