Public Health Approach

Transforming the Nation's Mental Health System

A public health approach is needed to transform the Nation's mental health system. Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America(2003)  as well as the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health (1999) provide a bold vision for mental health transformation.  They recommend that a public health approach is needed to transform the Nation's mental health system.

Kathryn Power, Director of the Center for Mental Health Services at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has provided us with a challenge to improve policies affecting children and their families and to rethink our traditional ways of creating systems and making decisions.   She states that the mental health of a child should be a concern for every individual and system in the community. Each child and family is a public health concern, because each is a reflection of the community's overall health.

What is a Public Mental Health Approach?

"A Public Health Approach is a community strategy for preventing and treating illnesses.  Its premise is that caring for the health of an individual protects the community, while... in turn... caring for the health of the community protects the individual... with society at large reaping the overall rewards".  K. Power, Director, CMHS/SAMHSA (2004)

A Public Health Approach recognizes:

• It is better to promote health and prevent illness before it begins;
• A  person's health and the physical, psychological, cultural, and social environments in which he or she live, play, learn, and work are linked;
• Good mental health is essential to our quality of life from infancy and throughout the entire lifespan; 
• Clinical and medical services work in concert with a public health approach.  Evidence based strategies can be designed to respond to the needs of individuals, special populations and promote the health of the entire community; 
• Healthy children, families, and communities are possible when we all work together to achieve a common vision; and
•  Youth, families and the entire community must be meaningfully engaged to identify and prioritize assets, and strategic approaches to promote, protect, and improve the well being of our community.

The Public Health Approach and the National Technical Assistance Center

The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health shares these perspectives in both its broad view of mental health and it's work to support systems of care development.  The National Technical Assistance Center assists States and communities in the development and implementation of strategies to promote mental health and prevent or reduce the mental illness and behavioral challenges in their communities.   Technical assistance activities, tools, and resources support systems of care that include a continuum of mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and treatment programs, services, and supports within a public health framework. 

To Learn More about the Public Health Approach

• Public Health in America: Essential functions and services of a public health /mental health approach 
• The Role of Risk and Protective Factors
• A Public Health Approach for Children's Mental Health: A Five-Step Process
• Tools for Promoting the Mental Health of Youth, Families, and Communities: Resources for an assests-based, public health approach
• Guiding Principles for Collaboration between Mental Health and Public Health