Implementing Mental Health Promotion: The Act–Belong–Commit Mentally Healthy WA Campaign in Western Australia

Abstract

Mental health promotion is attracting attention as health authorities become increasingly concerned with the rise in mental illnesses. However, there is little to guide health professionals in communicating to individuals and community groups what mental health promotion – in the sense of strengthening people's mental health and mental illness prevention – is about, or to guide population-wide interventions. The Act–Belong–Commit Mentally Healthy WA campaign provides a simple framework to assist mental health promotion professionals communicate with and gain the co-operation of potential partners and stakeholders for mental health promotion programs. The campaign is based on the results of focus group research on community members' perceptions of what mental health is, and concepts of positive mental health as described by psychologists and others in the literature. Two frameworks were developed: one for targeting individuals to be proactive about their own mental health, and one targeting people in authority to be mindful about the way they deal with those in their care. The frameworks are presented as ABCs to provide a simple mnemonic of relevant concepts. The Act–Belong–Commit component described here was developed to target individuals to be proactive about their own mental health and well-being.

Keywords:

• mental health promotion
• community engagement
• well-being
• population health