Priority Work Areas

The CHPCP members agencies have identified Social Connection and Inclusion as a priority work area for the PCP, which includes a focus on Mental Health. 

The specific focus of partnership work for the PCP and member agencies will be - 
 - To create a new service delivery model for mental health.
 - The year 1 focus will be the service model for the 0-25 year age group.

Social Connection & Inclusion - including Mental Health
“Mental Health is a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” WHO 2001, Strengthening Mental Health Promotion 

Social isolation is linked to higher death rates, higher sickness rates and lower rates of survival of disease.  It is also connected to healthy early childhood development.  Social connectedness affects both our health and health-related behaviour. 

Social inclusion is a determinant of mental health and wellbeing that is integrally linked to the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.  It represents the degree to which individuals feel connected with their communities.  It is also about the strength within communities and organisations that sustains positive mental health according to the Department of Human Services’ Evidence-based mental health promotion resource, 2006.  Individuals need to be able to connect with their community and to build supportive social networks.  

Social exclusion is felt through the effects of marginality and inequity on people’s opportunities to contribute and to participate economically and socially.  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2000) identified four dimensions of social exclusion as impoverishment, or exclusion from adequate income or resources; labour market exclusion; service exclusion; and exclusion from social relations.

Populations most commonly identified as vulnerable to, or most at risk of, social exclusion include those with limited employment opportunities, particularly women, racial and ethnic minority groups, refugees, prostitutes, people living with disabilities, people living with drug addiction, people living with chronic illness (including mental ill health), the long term unemployed/underemployed, people who  are homeless, people living in temporary accommodation, young people (especially early school leavers) and older people (esp. those living on pensions).  The evidence suggests that the prevalence of illness and mortality increases in individuals who do not feel connected and who feel socially excluded (Department of Human Services, Evidence-based mental health promotion resource, 2006).

Mental health is not just the absence of mental illness.  It encompasses more than the medical aspects and relates to the individual being able to achieve good mental health through a supportive and socially inclusive environment that provides them with the resilience and personal support structures to help themselves, their families or communities through the ups and downs that life gives us.