Integrating mental illness prevention into community-based undergraduate education

Including preventive models of health care in undergraduate education is essential as the nursing profession moves increasingly to community-based care. Traditionally, mental health curricula have focused primarily on psychopathology. This article presents current research in the attachment and temperament literature, which provides sound evidence for the need to synthesize prevention of mental illness concepts into undergraduate education. A curriculum model that integrates concepts from psychiatry and public health to prepare nursing students to promote mental health is described.