Developing the Perth Charter for the promotion of mental health and wellbeing

Abstract

While the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion promotes a holistic approach to health promotion, health promotion in practice has largely been confined to physical health promotion. Hence the organising committee for the Seventh World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (held 17–19 October 2012 in Perth, WA) decided to develop a ‘Perth Charter for Mental Health Promotion and Wellbeing,’ which has just been published in the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion. It was hoped that the Perth Charter for Mental Health Promotion would be helpful as a first step towards eventual integration of physical and mental health promotion. The Charter was designed to be succinct and actionable, and was developed in three phases through an iterative feedback process with input from health professionals around the globe. The Perth Charter is intended to be a useful resource for mental health professionals in advocating for greater resource allocation and policy support for mental health, and mental health promotion in particular at a local level. It was envisaged that the Perth Charter would do for mental health promotion what the Ottawa Charter did for health promotion generally, and physical health promotion in particular. An abridged version of the Perth Charter is provided within this review, while the full version is available for download from the Clifford Beers Foundation or from Dr Julia Anwar McHenry.