Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing and Mental Health Promotion: An Eight Steps Path

Abstract

This chapter seeks to offer a new understanding and a new approach for Psychiatric/Mental Health nurses (P/MHNs) who want to take part in the important task of mental health promotion at a local, regional or national level: to be a mental health promoter and thus concomitantly to be an architect of mentally healthy societies. The chapter sets the background and context and thus explores key ideas around the concepts of mental health and mental health problems. After examining the economic base for engaging in more mental health promotion activities, the chapter explores and discusses the eight step path to mental health promotion. Having its roots in the work developed by Ozamiz and collaborators (Ozamiz et al., Structural indicators of positive mental health. In: Lavikainen, J., Fryers, T., Lehtinen, V. (Eds.) Improving mental health information in Europe. Proposal of the MINDFUL project. Helsinki: National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, 2006; Lehtinen, Building up good mental health. Monitoring mental health environments project, co-funding by the European Union. Helsinki: National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, 2008; Gomes and Loureiro, Revista Portuguesa de Saude Publica, 31(1): 32–48, 2013), this new understanding reflects how, in everyday work, P/MHNs can help encourage mental health, promoting the development of nurturing and supportive mental health environments.