About mental health promotion

The Mental Health Foundation's vision is for a society where all people flourish. 

Traditionally, the focus on mental health in society has been on mental illnesses and either treating or preventing them – so much so that most people think only about ‘mental health’ as a problem or as something negative. In fact, they are actually thinking about illness! However, everyone experiences mental health and most of the time it is a positive resource that defines how we see ourselves, interact with others, and contribute to the community.

Understanding how to protect and build positive mental health and wellbeing can lead to individual and family and whanau resilience and improved social relationships, which allow us to respond effectively to our complicated modern lives and the global challenges before us. 

We are promoting dialogue in Aotearoa New Zealand on why we should all work together to increase our wellbeing by creating a more open, creative, compassionate and equal society and encouraging opportunities for us all to adopt mentally healthy behaviours in our everyday life (for example see the five ways to wellbeing). We want to work with social researchers to measure our progress and from this be able to set targets to increase our collective mental wellbeing. 

The Foundation's Strategic Approach 2010-2015 also sets a clear framework of action by applying Te Pae Mahutonga, a Maori health promotion model. Under this framework we work with and support a wide range of agencies across health and wider sectors including local government, education, social services and employers. 

Read more about mental wellbeing the social science behind flourishing from our Director of Policy and Development, Hugh Norriss, in his 2011 MindNet article Flourishing, positive mental health & wellbeing

Meet our mental health promotion teams: northern and southern