15th January 2019
The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) has signed up to Public Health England’s (PHE) Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health. This will see iHV work closely with PHE to take significant steps towards the promotion of good mental health and the prevention of mental health problems.
Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, Executive Director Institute of Health Visiting, with the iHV’s signatory certificate for Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health
Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, Executive Director of the Institute of Health Visiting, said:
“The Institute is delighted to have been awarded as a Signatory for the Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health. Our work in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, in particular our Champions project, acts on the recognition that parental and infant mental health are crucial to good mental health across the life-course. We support our Champions at every local level to lead the shift towards prevention-focused care, enabling early help through the use of upstream interventions at every level of need.
“The Institute is absolutely committed to supporting local authorities, policy makers, parents, NHS clinical commissioners, service providers and the voluntary sector to promote a prevention-focused approach towards improving the public’s mental health.”
The Prevention Concordat Programme for Better Mental Health marked the first time that agencies across the community and care sectors came together to make prevention a priority for mental health. Now 74 organisations representing all sectors have signed up and committed to action. These organisations are benefiting from resources designed specifically to help local areas put in place effective prevention planning arrangements.
The promotion of good mental health is everyone’s responsibility and can only be achieved by working together. As a signatory to the concordat, we recognise that we can all contribute to improving mental health and wellbeing and reducing stigma, facilitate local and national action around preventing mental health problems and promote good mental health.
Lily Makurah, national lead for public mental health at PHE, said:
“The Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health exists to help communities prevent mental health problems and promote good mental health. Through local and national action across sectors we can all contribute to improving mental health and wellbeing, improve outcomes and reduce stigmas for everyone. We’re delighted that the Institute of Health Visiting has joined the growing list of signatories.”
Background to the Concordat
- Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health and associated suite of resources.
- The Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health programme of work is one of the recommendations in the ‘Five Year Forward View for Mental Health’, published in 2016.
