21 reasons why you should be encouraging your constituency ...€¦ · 21 reasons why you should be...
TRANSCRIPT
21 reasons why you should be encouraging your constituency to act, belong, commit
OsloSeptember
2018
Rob Donovan
1. Evidence-based and incorporates other major conceptual frameworks
Five ways to wellbeing (UK)
Belong…
Act…
Act…
Commit…
Commit…
Salutogenic approach(Antonovsky)
By Acting, Belonging and Committing people will strengthen their view of the world as:
* comprehensible
* manageable
* meaningful
2. Messages are universal …
•Consistent with Eastern and Western philosophies and religions …
•Aristotle, Epicurus, Confucius, Buddha …
•Proverbs and sayings …
•Songs, poetry, books and stories …
–Children & adolescents
–New mums & dads
–Retirees & elderly
3. Applies across the lifespan from infancy to old age
–Individuals in recovery from mental illness and/or addiction
–People with a disability
–Migrants, refugees
–Ethnographic groups … within and across nations
4. Whole populations and specific sub-populations … flourishing to unwell
5. Can be implemented community wide and in specific settings:
- schools, universities - worksites- sports clubs- hobby & recreational groups - hospitals, recovery settings - general practice, other health professionals …
6. Simplicity
– easy to understand
– easy to interpret
– easy to derive an action plan
– easy to remember
10 tips for mental health
7 ways to increase your
wellbeing
8 tips to be happy
5 ways to wellbeing etc etc -
Positive Psychology
The PERMA model:
Positive Emotions
Engagement
Relationship
Meaning
Accomplishment
7. Framework can be used both by individuals and by health/professionals
8. Action-oriented
– tells what you can do in practical, concrete ways
9. Options are broad
– wide variety of attainable affordable /available behaviours under each domain
10. Messages are accepted because people already intuitively ‘know’ these
actions are ‘good for their mental health’
11. Message is open - non-prescriptive and positive
– emphasises what you can do – not what you shouldn’t do
- especially important for those in recovery
12. Can incorporate/collaborate with campaigns across a variety of social
issues and government departments
– physical activity, road safety, recycling, care for environment …
– housing, transport, sport & recreation, ageing, employment, planning & community design
Collaborating partner: Department for Sport & Recreation
“…. Join up, join in and enjoy life more …”
Collaborating partner: Department for Sport & Recreation
“…. Join up, join in and enjoy life more …”
13. Contributes to suicide prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary
“I’m a suicide survivor – and I care for a suicide survivor … We’ve been sitting around feeling hopeless thinking we can’t do anything --- then I saw the ad and realised that I can work …. I can volunteer and use my
finance skills for non-profits” (MBA graduate)2009 World Suicide Prevention Day LIFE Awards
Didn’t you
think anyone
loved you
Didn’t you
think you were
worth anything
Lucinda William’s view of why people suicide …
Why you left this world
Thwarted belongingness
Perceived burdensomeness
Suicide predictors(Joiner; O’Connor – motivational moderators)
Motivation to suicide
Suicide predictors(Joiner; O’Connor – motivational moderators)
Resilience
Belong:strong sense
of belonging & identity
Commit: achieving goals
and helping others
Destigmatises mental illness and increases openness about mental health
14. Contributes to primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental illness
Early help-seeking: better for the individual, family, community as well as reduced costs on the health system
Why people do something
38%
11%9%
32%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
I was generallyhappy but
wanted to enjoylife more
I wanted moremeaning and
purpose in mylife
I felt lonely andwanted to meet
people
I was a bitdepressed andfelt this could
help
Enhancing wellness and encouraging people to take action on loneliness and depression
Attracts those with diagnosed mental illness
“Well I did it! Joined a group to do machine embroidery. Meets once a month to learn and share different styles etc.
I suffer with extreme social anxiety, have bipolar and a few other mental illness problems. When I first saw act belong commit on tv I thought "ok that's fine for other people but I won't be able to do that!" Well I can do it and I have done it!
Whoo hoo !!!!!”
Lorraine’s story
15. Social franchising is cost-efficient
- no need for comprehensive professional training
- ensures community ownership
- utilises existing infrastructure
16. Puts meaning into the mantra that“mental health is everybody’s
business”
17. Promotes civic engagement … via
- public participation in public spaces - volunteerism …
… what Aristotle would call civic virtue
On the other hand ….
Bergen October 2016
Civic engagement leads to motivation and capacity to seize opportunities to get involved in decisions that affect them …
sense of empowerment …
sense of self-worth …
sense of control …
Which all add up to enhanced mental health and wellbeing – of individuals and communities – ie society
Intellectual capital
Spiritual capital
Social capitalsocial
capital spiritual capital
intellectual capital
Intellectual, social and spiritual capital
18. Builds capital
Intellectual capital
Spiritual capital
Social capitalEQ
SQ
IQ
Intellectual, emotional and spiritual intelligence
Spiritual capital(Zohar)
Capital earned from serving a deep sense of purpose and serving fundamental human values –
saving life, raising the quality of life, improving health, education, communication, meeting basic human needs, sustaining the global ecology, and reinforcing a sense of excellence and pride in service …
19. Acting, Belonging and Committing Promotes Mental and Physical Health
–Heart disease
–Stroke
–Alzheimer’s/dementia
–Obesity-related diseases
–Suicide
"A sad soul can kill you
quicker, far quicker,
than a germ."(John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley)
20. Can reduce health costs…
Costs of mental illness increasing
Dementia becoming leading cause of death and disability
We wouldn’t need “Ministers for loneliness”!
Loneliness in the elderlyJohn Prine 1971
(KK n 2:24 )
Old trees just grow stronger
Old rivers grow wider every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
Hello in there
Hello
So if you’re walkin down the street some time
Spot some hollow vacant eyes
Please don’t just pass emby and stare
As if you didn’t care
Say hello in there
Hello
Your people will simply feel happier too!
