Scottish Government launches its policy and action plan for improving Mental Health
CHEX would highly recommend that Community Health Initiatives familiarise themselves with the Scottish Government recently launched policy and action plan Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland. There is much in the document that resonates with the experience and expertise of CHIs together with opportunities for joined up working with statutory sector partners.
In resonating with CHIs, the action plan highlights:
-
“Our approach is based on a social model of health which recognises that our mental state is shaped by our social, economic, physical, and cultural environment…”
-
“The participation and engagement of individuals themselves in activities has a clear well being benefit” and
-
“The actions of individuals and communities are also central to this agenda”
The Third sector is specifically mentioned as making “a significant contribution to the mental health improvement agenda both nationally and locally. Its key roles are to:
-
Deliver services which directly or indirectly promote mental health improvement
-
Innovate in the development of new service approaches and interventions
-
Act as a catalyst in promoting active citizenship and social capital to develop community capacity
-
Advocate change and improvement for service users and the general population”
The six key planks to the action plan are:
-
Mentally Healthy Infants, Children and Young People
-
Mentally Healthy Later Life
-
Mentally Healthy Communities
-
Mentally Healthy Employment and Working Life
-
Reducing the Prevalence of Suicide, Self-harm and Common Mental Health Problems
-
Improving the Quality of Life of those experiencing Mental Health Problems and Mental Illness
Download the document here: Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland (pdf, 5.83Mb)
Published: 14 May 2009
