Question

Research and describe the effectiveness of the following community health promotional strategies.

Question1   Beyondblue:

Answer 1

beyondblue is pleased to make this submission to the Victorian Government, in response to ‘Victoria’s next 10-year mental health strategy – Discussion paper’. beyondblue supports the overall thrust of the Strategy and the proposed actions and congratulates the government on taking a long term approach. We particularly welcome the proposal to reduce disadvantage, and increase social and economic participation across the Victorian community. This recognises the importance of addressing the social determinants of mental health. it is important that the risk and protective factors across each level of the social ecology spectrum, including structural, community, interpersonal and individual factors, particularly those that have the greatest impact and are the most amenable to change, are prioritised. Collectively these initiatives need to: foster individual resilience; promote nurturing, supportive and respectful parent-child, family and interpersonal relationships; and create fair, inclusive and cohesive social environments which support social and civic participation and provide equitable access to material and economic resources. Within this context, beyondblue recommends that the Victorian Government considers adopting a more explicit focus on promotion, prevention and early intervention (PPEI) in the Strategy. While the importance of PPEI is strongly implied, it could be further strengthen by better highlighting potential PPEI initiatives across the existing outcomes, or establishing a separate outcome measure for this area. It is important that PPEI activities are implemented in the settings in which people live, study, work and play, taking a cross- sector, rather than a health-service centric, approach. beyondblue is committed to supporting all people in Australia to achieve their best possible mental health. As a national population mental health organisation, we manage initiatives that local services find difficult to address at-scale, including school and workplace-based PPEI programs, and an integrated suite of initiatives to raise awareness, increase knowledge, decrease stigma and discrimination, and encourage people to seek help early. beyondblue enjoys the support of the Commonwealth and every State and Territory government in Australia, philanthropy and public donations. The Victorian Government is a major contributor to beyondblue, enabling us to actively reach and engage the people of Victoria.beyondblue believes that the proposed outcomes for Victoria’s next Mental Health Strategy provide a solid platform for Victoria’s continued investment in mental health. Importantly, there is a continuing opportunity for the Victorian Government to greater leverage some of its initiatives from beyondblue’s work and consideration could therefore be given to incorporating beyondblue’s existing and planned initiatives into the Strategy. beyondblue is a natibeyondblue supports the proposed vision for the next Mental Health Strategy. For simplicity, the Victorian Government could consider rewording the Vision to be ‘All Victorians experience their best mental health’, rather than ‘All Victorians have the opportunity and right to experience their best mental health’. Focusing on the intended long-term outcome (that is, good mental health), rather than the process and mechanisms to enable good mental health (that is, having the opportunity and right), could better reflect the intention of the Strategy, as described in the Discussion Paper. The intended scope of the Strategy - all Victorians - is also appropriate. As the discussion paper notes, attention needs to be given to promoting good mental health, preventing mental health conditions and supporting people affected by mental health conditions. This requires a whole population focus with a blend of universal strategies and targeted strategies which address the needs of different population groups. While the stated scope of the Strategy includes the spectrum from prevention through to recovery, the outcomes and proposed actions appear to predominantly focus on treatment and consideration could therefore be given to including a stronger focus on mental health promotion, prevention and earlyintervention in the Strategy. The need for a new Strategy is clearly outlined and emphasises the need to focus on continuous improvement, shared responsibility and integrated and coordinated action.

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