Evidence Synthesis of Impact of Mental Health Promotion

INTRODUCTION Executive Summary Good mental health is an integral component of population health and wellbeing and contributes to the functioning of individuals, families, communities, and the social and economic prosperity of society (WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2021-2030). Mental health promotion is concerned with strengthening protective factors for good mental health, enhancing supportive environments and enabling access to skills, resources and life opportunities that promote the mental health and wellbeing of individuals and populations (Barry et al., 2019). A health promotion approach conceptualises mental health as a positive resource for everyday life and promotes interventions that seek to intervene at the level of strengthening individuals and communities, reorienting health services, and implementing intersectoral actions to remove the structural barriers to mental health at a societal level (Herrman et al. 2005; Friedli, 2009). Current policy frameworks endorse a whole-of- government and whole-of-society approach (WHO, 2021) and call for universal actions across the lifecourse and in key settings to ensure that the environments and conditions that create good mental health and reduce inequities are accessible to all (WHO Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2014). This report presents the findings from an evidence synthesis on the impact of mental health promotion interventions across the lifecourse and in key settings. This review of reviews is concerned primarily with mental health promotion and primary prevention interventions for population groups across the following life stages; early years, school going children, young people, adults and older people in the settings of community, workplaces and primary care. This report was commissioned by the Department of Health and the findings will support the development of a National Mental Health Promotion Plan by the Department of Health, in the context of the Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan 2021-2025 and the implementation of Sláintecare.