Community development as mental health promotion: principles, practice and outcomes

There is growing international interest in community development (CD) approaches to addressing mental distress and promoting mental well-being, generated by major changes in mental health policy, provision and the growing voice of mental health service users. Yet CD practitioners have tended to view these as issues outside their sphere of expertise, interest or influence. This article investigates the oparallel worlds' of CD and mental health with a view to promoting a productive engagement between them. Drawing on primary research in England and also current international debates, it highlights three issues and draws on a local case study: first, a tendency for mental health promotion interventions to be rooted in models of community pathology rather than individual and collective strengths; secondly, the ways in which mental health policies focus on individual determinants and responsibilities for mental health and well-being, and fail to challenge structural inequalities; thirdly, how omeasures' of the impact of CD are compromised in a policy environment which stresses brief interventions and outcomes. It concludes by suggesting ways in which such parallel worlds may be brought productively together.