The who and the where of mental health promotion

Across the various papers in this issue, the issue of who to involve in mental health promotion as well as where promotion activities are best positioned is considered, even if not explicitly. In the first instance, those responsible for delivering mental health promotion activities need to actively engage with, and be led by, consumers. The right for consumers to be included in the decision-making processes that affect their treatment and care is increasingly been reiterated in policies around the world. Consumer involvement means that those with a mental health illness are engaged as genuine partners in advising and leading mental health services, policy development, staffing, education and supervision.

The first basic step in engagement is to actively and authentically listen to consumers. This initial and critical stance ensures that consumers’ concerns, experiences and aspirations are heard, valued and arguably most importantly, acted on. While intuitively most would agree with this premise, unfortunately, with few exceptions (Alliston, Kluge & Fudge, 2009), the consumer's voice is little heard and rarely acted upon. Rather than passive recipients of care, we need to establish systems and procedures that facilitate opportunities for consumers to actively participate in their health care. Consumer engagement and collaboration needs to be seen as a legitimate, valuable and indeed, a necessary feature of any given mental health system including mental health promotion.

Thus, it is pleasing to read the first paper in this issue from Morrison, Meehan and Stomski (2016). Their study documented the perceptions of 10 consumers of the support they received from mental health professionals in relation to antipsychotic medication side effects. On the whole, consumers were critical of the care system, which they described as being dismissive, disinterested, and not overly conversant about the side effects of the medications they were taking. The findings of this study add further argument to the need to authentically engage with consumers in order to improve the quality of the mental health care system, which as Morrison and colleagues point out, will facilitate more effectively the management of medication compliance and side effects. Another way of understanding consumers’ experiences, albeit indirectly, is via electronic health records (EHRs). As Spiranovic, Matthews, Scanlan and Kirkby (2016) suggest, EHRs provide a valuable source of health information about a particular consumer but may also be used to examine population-based studies of mental illness, interventions and outcomes.

Other papers in this issue focus on specific settings; McAllister et al. (2016) examined the enablers and barriers when promoting smoking cessation for consumers and staff in an acute mental health service, while Murphy, Jaman, Craike, Haynes and Austin (2016) provide a description and evaluation of a brief psycho-education and referral intervention for those with symptoms of panic attacks in emergency departments. Both studies underscore the importance of promoting mental wellbeing and primary prevention in settings that are not routinely considered for the delivery of mental health promotion.

Other settings for mental health promotion are explored in subsequent papers. Rasmussen (2016) examined the feasibility of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for foreign nationals living in Japan with tentative, though favorable results. Llyod, Williams, Machingura and Tse (2016) focus on mental health recovery in a recovery service. The final paper in this issue from Bond, Jorm, Kitchener and Reavley (2016) examines the effectiveness of mental health training for financial counsellors, in recognition that those experiencing financial difficulties may be also experiencing mental health issues.

Together these papers present novel and useful evidence, particularly about understudied settings for promoting advances in mental health and early intervention such as financial counselling services, or hospital emergency departments. Such evidence can be used to inform and advance practice not only to support consumers but also to inform a whole of service approach across multiple sectors and agencies.

On an entirely different note this is my first editorial as the new editor of Advances in Mental Health. I am honored to take on this role and would like to publically thank the previous editor, Professor Graham Martin for all he has done to help me prepare to serve as editor, including identifying reviewers when despite my best efforts I could not locate any, and assisting in the transition to our new publishing company, Taylor and Francis. As the founding editor, his vision was to create a journal that would be academically rigorous and at the same time appealing to practitioners. Under Professor Martin's stewardship, the journal went from being the Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (2002–2009) to the internationally positioned, Advances in Mental Health: Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention (2010–current). The large readership of the journal is testimony to the realization of this vision which has resulted in a dynamic, international journal, relevant to both researchers and practitioners, and for that I commend and thank him.

This is also an opportune time to thank the previous publisher, James Davidson from eContent Management for his passion for publishing and his ability to work with both creative and commercial acumen. Together with the Board I look forward to working with the team from our new publishing company, Taylor and Francis.

The Editorial Board has also seen some changes with some long-time members stepping down and new members coming on board. I will continue to work closely with the Editorial Board as I have found this group to be critical to the success of the journal. We have now included into the management of the journal the new role of Associate Editors, who together with the Board will do much of the work behind the scenes and promote Advances in Mental Health as an important international journal in the mental health field.

It is essential that the journal maintain its reputation for quality, its appeal to both researchers and practitioners and its continued relevance in a policy and practice environment that is rapidly changing. My main goals will be to continue the strong, international reputation of the journal and disseminate new and exciting developments in the field of mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention. I look forward to working with you on this exciting new venture.