WFPHA Public Mental Health Working Group

The WFPHA Public Mental Health Working Group was launched on May 5, 2023, at the 17th World Congress on Public Health in Rome, Italy. Chairpersons include Dr. Marta Caminiti (Italy), Dr. Jonathan Campion (UK), and Professor Jutta Lindert (Germany). Other members include Professor Bettina Borisch (Switzerland) and Professor Paul Unschuld (Switzerland).

three people sitting in front of table laughing together

What is public mental health?

While various definitions exist, public mental health involves a population approach to sustainably reduce the disease burden from mental health conditions, and promote population mental wellbeing and resilience.

Why is public mental health important to public health?

  • Mental health conditions (MHCs) account for at least 20% of the global disease burden and have a broad range of public health-relevant impacts.
  • Mental well-being has a broad range of impacts. 
  • Concepts of mental health and symptoms vary across population groups.
  • Evidence-based public mental health (PMH) interventions exist to treat MHCs, prevent associated impacts, prevent MHCs from arising, and promote mental well-being and resilience. Various sectors provide different types of PMH interventions.
  • Only a minority with MHCs receive any treatment, far fewer receive interventions to prevent associated impacts, and there is negligible coverage of interventions to prevent MHCs or promote mental wellbeing and resilience. The scale of the PMH gap is far greater in low- and middle-income countries compared with high-income countries.
  • PMH implementation failure results in population-scale preventable suffering and broad public health-relevant impacts. It has further widened since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aims of the WFPHA Public Mental Health Working Group

These include supporting sustainable reduction in MHCs and improved population mental wellbeing by facilitating: 

  • PMH training, knowledge, and practice  
  • Integration of PMH into the work of public health practitioners 
  • Improved population awareness about MHCs and mental well-being
  • Collaboration between practitioners and researchers from different fields of expertise
  • PMH research and its implementation into practice

Actions to achieve these aims include:

  • Cross-sector and multidisciplinary collaboration
  • Disseminating and developing relevant resources, publications, and training  
  • Presentations and workshops at WFPHA conferences 
  • Publications highlighting new and evolving relevant developments

Opportunities to work with the WFPHA Public Mental Health Working Group

The WFPHA Public Mental Health Working Group meets quarterly. We look forward to active collaboration with individuals and organizations interested in public mental health. Contact: secretariat@wfpha.org

    Public mental health publications 

    Public mental health training resources:

    Global

    Africa 

    Europe

     

    Public mental health-related events (past and upcoming):

    WFPHA Public Mental Health Working Group media activity