The uniqueness of mental health as a health promotion issue, Pia Solin M.Soc.Sc; University of Tampere, National Institute for Health and Welfare

1. Pia Solin M.Soc.Sc
University of Tampere
National Institute for Health and Welfare
The uniqueness of mental health as a
health promotion issue
Nordic Public Health Conference
24.-26.8. Turku Finland
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

2. Mental health promotion in
policymaking
This presentation aims to raise discussion
• what kind of health issue and target mental health is
from policymaking perspective
• how mental health is constructed in various national
health policy documents and texts
• what special features has to be acknowledged when
mental health policy is designed and carried out
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

3. Background: The problematic
nature of mental health
• What is mental health?
⇒ Lack of common system of ideas, concepts, definitions and
indicators for monitoring the state of mental health
• Mental health is affected in many levels and settings
• Past decades health promotion had a lower status (vs curing
illness). Furthermore, it tend to focus on physical health
• Stigma of mental illness
• Lack of integration within overall health policy?
→ Interest in research of health policy documents with
qualitative methods
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

4. Health promotion policy documents
argue mental health to be:
• a public health challenge
• an economic and societal burden
• a part of overall health
• a factor which affect quality of life and human burden
• a problematic issue
- the problem of definition
- the problem of measurement, indicators and data
- the problem of care
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

5. Health policy documents also discuss
mental health from various
perspectives
They use:
• political perspective, which consists of
– the public health epidemiology perspective
– the preventive action perspective
– the everyday perspective
– the reflective perspective
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

6. The perspectives are used to activate
policymaking by:
1. Acting as tools
• To ensure the widest range of recipients
2. Giving additional information
• To widen the perspective
• To point out that there are no easy solutions
3. Justifying the actions proposed
• To ensure that the measures suggested are
thoroughly considered for everyone’s best interest
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

7. Evaluation is an important
phase of policymaking
• As a health issue it is problematic in many
ways
• In the policy documents it is discussed with
several manners of speech (perspectives)
• How this affects on evaluation phase? How
can such a complex issue/target be evaluated?
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

8. If mental health is such a complex
issue/target, can it be evaluated?
• It is difficult due to the lack of sufficient time and
appropriate data. Also the target was often
unsuitable.
• Suicide presents the most popular mental health
target
– It is measurable, accurate and simple
• However, it is a poor indicator of the nation’s
state of mental health
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

9. Promoting mental health (and
health) is always a political issue
• Policy and programme decisions are too often based
on other reasons than scientific evidence
• Policymakers have limited resources and obligation in
pleasing voters, → use of targets and measurement of
outcomes which are quick and easily quantifiable.
⇒ Measuring what is easy may lead ignoring what is
valuable
• Even though in the long run; everyone benefits
from knowing what will work, what needs
modifying and which efforts are worthless
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

10. Why conduct research on mental
health policy?
It does
• help us understand what kind of policy issue mental health is.
We already know it is a delicate and complex area
• point out the weaker areas of mental health policy making ⇒
implementation, evaluation, especially the link between research
and policymakers
• how mental health is valued compared to other health issues?
• at its best it may lead into better designing of mental health
policy making, better execution and finally into better mental
health of the population
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi

11. Thank you for your attention!
Thank You!
20/10/2011 Pia Solin National Institute for Health
and Welfare pia.solin@thl.fi