Public Mental Health: An overview of challenges, approaches and measurement Sarah Stewart‐Brown Professor of Public Health, Warwick Medical School Co‐Chair Faculty of Public Health Mental Health Committee
Challenge Number One: Mental, emotional and psychological health matter • Mental health underpins everything we do in public health • Psychological distress is fundamental cause of illness – Descartes got it wrong – Mind body links are fundamentally important for health – Health related lifestyles all related to mental health – Capacity for self care in chronic illness dictated by mental health
Policy
2011
2010
Our Strategy for Public Health in England
– Improving mental as well as physical health – Promoting wellbeing as well as preventing disease
2004 Explicitly recognises NHS should promote physical and mental health and prevent illness Parenting support School programmes in assertiveness and conflict resolution Stress at work Strengthening communities Employment practices
2008
Government Sponsored Initiative From Chief Scientist Draws attention to great burden of ill health caused by mental illness Clearly demonstrates economic case for investment in mental health promotion
Percent of people (18‐64yrs) reporting problems with work or other regular daily activity as a result of their health over 4 wks (SF‐36) 16 14 12 10
%
8 6 4 2 0 Physical health
Emotional health
Both
Postal questionnaire survey of 9332 adults in old Oxford Region Stewart‐Brown S Layte R J Epid Comm Health 1997
Global Burden of Disease 2001 DALYS: Developed World Comm Dis etc. Injuries Common Cancers CVD Mental Health Other
Mental illness underpins many public health problems • People with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than normal populations • Almost 50% of tobacco is now smoked by people with serious mental illness • Mental illness is the main determinant of social inequalities in health
Challenge Number Two Understanding that: •Mental wellbeing is more than the absence of mental illness •Promoting mental wellbeing prevents mental illness; but preventing mental illness does not promote mental wellbeing •The determinants of mental wellbeing are not the reciprocal of the determinants of mental illness
Policy
2011
2010
Our Strategy for Public Health in England
– Improving mental as well as physical health – Promoting wellbeing as well as preventing disease
1999 Std 1: Mental Health Promotion • Exercise Modern Standards and Service Models
National Service Framework
• Stress management • Workplace mental health • Good care in pregnancy and childhood • High risk groups • Prison • Homelessness • Dom vio, sexual abuse • D&A misuse • Racism
Distribution of Mental Health
No of People
Poor mental health/ mental illness
Good mental health/ mental well being
Distribution of Mental Health
No of People
Poor mental health/ mental illness
Good mental health/ mental well being
Distribution of Mental Health
No of People
Poor mental health/ mental illness
Good mental health/ mental well being
Distribution of Mental Health
No of People
Poor mental health/ mental illness
Good mental health/ mental well being
What is mental wellbeing ? • Feeling good – Life satisfaction – Happiness
• Functioning well, flourishing – – – – – –
Confidence, Optimism Autonomy, Agency, Good relationships with others, Purpose in life.
Contributions • Philosophers – Western: Aristotle Epicurus – Eastern: Buddhism, Hindu, Islam
• Psychologists – Psychological functioning, – Positive psychology – Flourishing
Wellbeing is something that is cultivated by the individual
Contributions • Social Scientists Wellbeing is something that is determined by social conditions –GDP –Income, wealth, poverty –Government –Services • Education • Health • Social
Life Satisfaction and GDP in the UK 1973‐2011
By Kind Permission of Ewen Mckinnon Cabinet Office Nov 2012
Gudmundsdottir D.G. The impact of economic downturn on happiness Social Indicators Research 2013;110:1083‐1101 Iceland Banking Crisis: Happiness scores declined marginally, but almost as many people had an increase in happiness as a decrease Decline in happiness Not predicted by education, unemployment, income or financial difficulties Increase in happiness Predicted by education and social relationships
Social determinants of mental health adjusted for age sex, employment status, marital status, ethnicity religion Odds of Mental Illness relative to highest category of income or education
Odds of Mental Wellbeing relative to highest category of income or education
*
Income
Education
Mental illness Mental wellbeing
Educational failure Poverty Unemployment Educational success Wealth Employment
Mental Wellbeing prevents Death Chida Y, Steptoe A. 2008
Meta‐analysis to 2008 •Positive affect: (emotional wellbeing, positive mood, joy, happiness, vigour, energy) and •Positive dispositions: (life satisfaction, optimism, sense of humour) Are equally predictive •35 Studies in healthy populations •Hazard Ratio for dying ‐ 0.82 (0.76‐0.89)
Positive Relationships Prevent Death Holt‐Lunstad J. Smith TB, Layton JB 2010
Meta‐analysis •148 Studies •OR 1.50 (1.42‐1.59) favouring stronger social relationships •Measures of social integration OR 1.91(1.63‐ 2.23) were more strongly predictive than measures of social networks OR 1.19 (0.99‐ 1.44)
Challenge Number Three: Infancy and parenting • The most important determinant of mental health is parenting because • The infant’s emotional and social brain is very plastic and it is the relationship with parents that shapes it • This dictates risk and resilience for mental illness and psychological distress throughout life
Life Course Influences 50 % of all diagnosed mental illness has emerged by 14 years of age
Parenting shapes the emotional and social brain • Neuroscience •Animal studies •Human studies •Stress response •Gene expression
•Epidemiological/ sociological studies •‘Attachment’ based studies •
Findings from Animal Models •Stress due to neglectful care-giving disturbs the higher and mid brain circuits that regulate response to psychosocial threat •Neglectful care-giving produces offspring who as adults are more fearful and exhibit persistent physiological abnormalities •As a consequence they have difficulties learning and problems trusting others and making healthenhancing relationships throughout life
Mechanisms Mirror Neurons
Epigenetic phenomena •DNA Methylation •Modification of transcriptome
Parenting and brain development ¾ The infant brain is very plastic ¾ The emotional and social brain is developed in the context of the parent infant relationship ¾ Parenting therefore sets ¾the thermostat on the stress response influencing a range of physiological processes and increasing the risk of disease ¾the scene for future relationships with others including partners and peers ¾and parents’ relationships with their own children ¾enables the capacity to learn and remember
Challenge Number Three (b): • The risk factors for poor parenting are: – Parental mental illness – Parental drug and alcohol misuse – Parents who were in care or abused as children – ?? Teenage parenting – ?? Poverty – ?? Educational underachievement
Parent Hostility, depression, anxiety, anger
Infant fear Distress, crying, withdrawal
Adult who is prone to fight, flight or freeze responses
Sets thermostat on HPA stress response
What reduces stress and increases resilience in adulthood ? • Breathing (Keltner 2009) • Relaxation exercises and mindfulness – Horowitz 2010 ; Shapiro Carlson 2010
• Bodywork: Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong – Sandlund Norlander 2000
• Natural environment (FPH 2010) • Heart rate coherence – (McCraty et al 2008)
• Positive social contact and touch – (Uvnas‐Moberg 1998)
• Smiling and laughter (Keltner 2009) • Sleep (Diekelmann and Bom 2010)
Challenge Number Four: Systems thinking • Public health operates in a complex system • Our primary research methods in public health are: – Deterministic: aiming to isolate a single cause and single effect
• Regression models are not a good way to identify the impact of determinants • RCTs are not a good way of working out what works
A systems approach Parent
Adult Social and fiscal policy
Mental health of societies
Infant
Systems Thinking: Complexity Unpredictable Outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Systems Thinking
Unpredictable outcomes Emergent Phenomena Everything is connected
Randomised Controlled Trials Aim to isolate the effect of a single therapeutic action or causal factor on a single problem, condition or disease Are not well suited to estimating effects when
•
• – – –
complex causal pathways are involved effects of intervention are holistic several different agents or conditions need to interact together to create the conditions for change
Settings and approaches in which mental health promotion is ‘evidence‐ based’ Very well •Schools •Parenting Quite well •Workplaces •Communities – – – –
Asset based approaches Physical activity promotion Debt management Time banks
•Elderly – Physical activity, social engagement, new learning
Challenge Number Five: Measurement • Almost all public health data relates to illness • Data related to mental illness is poor quality
Office of National Statistics: Approach to measuring wellbeing • Overall how satisfied are you with your life nowadays? • Overall how happy did you feel yesterday ? • Overall how anxious did you feel yesterday ? • Overall, to what extent do you feel things you do in your life are worthwhile ?
The Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale (WEMWBS) STATEMENTS
None of Rarely Some of Often All of the time the time the time
I’ve been feeling optimistic about the future I’ve been feeling useful I’ve been feeling relaxed I’ve been feeling interested in other people I’ve had energy to spare I’ve been dealing with problems well
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I’ve been thinking clearly I’ve been feeling good about myself
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I’ve been feeling close to other people
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I’ve been feeling confident I’ve been able to make up my own mind about things I’ve been feeling loved I’ve been interested in new things
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I’ve been feeling cheerful
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Distribution of WEMWBS scores: student and population samples
Student sample: median score: 50 Population sample: median score: 51
WEMWBS vs CESD‐D
Pearson correlation .842
WEMWBS • Validated in – 13 years ‐elderly – English speaking Pakistani and Chinese populations – Italian, Spanish French, Iceland Setswana,
• Sensitive to change in diverse health promoting interventions – – – – –
Healthy lifestyle interventions Parenting Complementary and alternative medicine Elderly physical activity School mental health programmes
The Short Warwick‐Edinburgh Mental Well‐being Scale (SWEMWBS) Below are some statements about feelings and thoughts. Please tick the box that best describes your experience of each over the last 2 weeks
STATEMENTS I’ve been feeling optimistic about the future I’ve been feeling useful I’ve been feeling relaxed I’ve been dealing with problems well I’ve been thinking clearly I’ve been feeling close to other people I’ve been able to make up my own mind about things none of the time, rarely, some of the time, often always “W
i k Edi b
hM
t l W ll B i
S l (WEMWBS)
Its: • ‘woolly’ •‘soft, fluffy’ • ‘all subjective’
‘Tree huggers’
‘They thought we were nuts’
Before WEMWBS, mental wellbeing was not credible as a goal for publicly funded services ‘You could see
‘What’s this got to do with us? … yeah.. bewilderment I suppose’
‘The key indicator was the suicide rate’
[the effect of {mental health promotion], you could feel it, but you couldn’t measure it’
‘It makes [MWB] more solid, Tangible’ WEMWBS has changed that
‘Raised profile of MWB’
Gave •‘confidence’ •‘credibility’
[it helps people] ‘relate to the concept [of MWB} and address it’ ‘Enabled us to pull down money; increased investment’
Direct Impact WEMWBS APP Ignite your life (Halton)
WEMWBS as overarching outcome in Wellbeing APP commissioning (Halton, Sandwell)
Use in JSNAs (N West) Measuring, monitoring MWB (N. West, Coventry)
10 Ways to Wellbeing (Coventry)
WEMWBS as outcome in effectiveness research/ evaluation
Mental wellbeing measures • Measures of mental wellbeing should: – Focus on the positive – Cover feelings and functioning – May be superseded as understanding of MWB develops
• Currently available measures vary, but are good enough for: – Monitoring population wellbeing – Evaluating interventions – Studying determinants
• We have focused for too long on the negative and therefore know more about the determinants of illness
Challenges in Public Mental Health • Mental health underpins all of public health • Focusing on the positive makes a difference • Understanding the implications of infant development • Allowing systems thinking to inform our approach to research • Measuring what matters
¾ We are part of the problem and part of the solution ¾ Exploring and improving our own mental wellbeing is part of the practice ¾ Rushing doesn’t work
FPH : Better Mental Health for All • Better Mental Health for All Website http://www.fph.org.uk/better_mental_health_for_ all • FPH Special Interest Group You can join here: http://www.fph‐ groups.org.uk/members/members_registration.p hp.Then, when you want to send an email to the group, from your own email you send an email to mentalhealth@fph‐groups.org.uk.