Mental Health - Community Strategies
Our mental health affects how we think, feel and act. It also influences how we handle stress, work productively and contribute to our community.1
The good news is that communities can help increase positive mental health!
The strategies listed below offer some ideas to guide activities to promote or increase positive mental health in your community. To make the greatest impact, it is best to implement more than one strategy. Activities that work to change the social, physical, and economic aspects of a community, as well as local policies will have the best results. It is important to start where you are at. This may mean starting with one area of change and then building on it in other areas over time.
Ways to take action
All of the strategies below are based on current research, have been tested and shown to work. See the methods section for more information on how these strategies were developed.
Arts-based Group Activities
Awareness and Education
Awareness and education campaigns can reduce common misunderstandings about mental health.
Facilitate and Support Volunteerism
Volunteering can promote social interaction which contributes to positive mental health.
Facilitating Links and Access to Mental Health Resources and Services
Support communities to promote positive mental health by providing links to appropriate resources.
Gardening Activities
Gardening can increase motivation, self-esteem, social and mental health.
Download Mental Health Strategy Kit
Community action focus areas
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World Health Organization (WHO). Mental health: a state of well-being. Geneva (SW): World Health Organization; 2014. Available from: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/.
