Public mental health and occupational health
This chapter describes the wide-ranging role of occupational health in optimizing the health of the workforce and the workplace. In doing so it highlights the importance of the workplace for improving public mental health. It examines the relationship between work and public mental health from a number of angles, and describes how in the context of health inequalities mental health can each be seen as both an exposure and an outcome. It explores the impact that work can have on mental health. The main models describing the psychosocial work environment are explained. The chapter also explores the effect poor mental health can have on the workplace at an individual, organizational, and wider economic perspective. The unique role of occupational health in supporting employees and employers and benefits at the population level are emphasized.