Twenty-One Reasons for Implementing the Act-Belong-Commit—‘ABCs of Mental Health’ Campaign

While there has been increased attention worldwide on mental health promotion over the past two decades, what is lacking in many countries around the globe is practical knowledge of what constitutes a population-wide mental health promotion campaign, and how such a campaign can be implemented. This paper provides such knowledge based on the development, implementation and evaluation of the Act-Belong-Commit campaign, the world’s first comprehensive population-wide public mental health promotion campaign which was launched in 2008 in Western Australia. Given the learnings from the full-scale implementation and evaluation of the campaign in Western Australia and its expansion nationally and internationally, along with the continuing and expanding evidence base for the campaign constructs, we crystallise 21 reasons why jurisdictions who wish to achieve the goals of the WHO and adopt the recommendations of the European framework on mental health and wellbeing should consider adopting or adapting Act-Belong-Commit when considering implementing a public mental health promotion campaign.

Experiential learning in public health: evaluation of a health promotion campaign assessment for pharmacy students

Description: Students in small groups designed, delivered and evaluated real-life health promotion campaigns in the local community. A peer assessed component was included from the fifth cohort onwards. Evaluation: Six successive cohorts of pharmacy students anonymously completed an evaluation questionnaire after finishing the assessment. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were undertaken on the data. The results showed that consistently more respondents reported the assessment as a positive experience than a negative experience. Significantly more respondents reported peer assessment as being useful and group members equally contributing to campaign planning in the cohorts with peer assessment compared to the pre-peer assessment cohorts, but peer assessment did not significantly affect enjoyment ratings. Respondents’ reported enjoyment of the assessment was significantly associated with agreement that it prepared them for health promotion in practice. Conclusions: Pharmacy students perceived the health promotion campaign assessment as appropriately challenging and enjoyable preparation for health promotion in practice.

RMIT together: An integrated mental health promotion campaign designed to build wellbeing and connection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing requirements and new psychosocial risks, the RMIT Wellbeing team andleaders in the community focussedon responding to the changing needs of students and staff. Communication of reliable, timely and evidence-based information through the lens of mental health and wellbeing was a top priority. The ‘RMIT Together’ campaign was designed to bring the whole community together, creating new online groups to foster peer connection and coping skills development. This case study demonstrates the various functions and wellbeing benefits that mental health and wellbeing promotion, prevention and education can play during periods of unforeseen life-changing global stress. It also demonstrates the sustainability of such interventions to build community resilience and mental wellbeing.

Updated estimates of comorbidities associated with risk for COVID-19 complications based on US data

We updated previous estimates (wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/8/20-0679_article) of adults with any underlying condition increasing risk of complications from COVID-19 using recent US hospitalization data instead of mortality data from China. This substitutes obesity for cancer in the definition and increased the percentage of adults reporting ≥1 condition to 56.0% (95% CI 55.7-56.4). When controlled for all measures listed, factors increasing odds of reporting any of the underlying conditions include being male, older, African American, American Indian, household income <$25,000, < high school education, underinsurance, living in the South or Midwest (vs. West), plus the risk factors of ever smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption. Population-attributable risk for the listed risk factors was 13.0%, 12.6%, and 15.0% respectively. Results have potential implications for policies based on risk-stratification of the population and for improvement of risk status through lifestyle change. National support for a “health promotion” campaign would be timely.

Evaluation of the All Right? Campaign’s Facebook intervention post-disaster in Canterbury, New Zealand

Summary The All Right? campaign was developed as a mental health promotion campaign following the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes. One aspect of the overall campaign was the utilisation of social media as a means of promoting wellbeing messages. This research evaluates the use of the All Right? Facebook page as a means of promoting wellbeing after a major natural disaster. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to gather data about the social media component of the All Right? campaign. Findings indicate that the All Right? Facebook page has become a valued source of consistent wellbeing tips and advice -‘the place that I go’. Wellbeing reminders posted on the page were especially valued following earthquake aftershocks. High proportions of respondents to a survey (n = 212) linked from the All Right? Facebook page agreed that the page was helpful (98%), gave people ideas of things that they can do to help themselves (96%), and made people think about their wellbeing (93%). Over four fifths (85%) of respondents had done activities as a result of what they saw on the All Right? Facebook page. Success factors for the Facebook page often mirrored those for the campaign itself, including: local research to inform the use of appropriate language for translating evidence-based wellbeing messages into a local setting; not being marketed as a government message; and effectively combining public health and communications expertise. Success factors specific to the Facebook page included: regular posts with a focus on issues that affect everyone in Canterbury post-disaster; timely posts, especially immediately following aftershocks; a consistent tone for the All Right? Facebook page; and balancing wellbeing facts and tips with other content that was relevant to the Canterbury population. The overall success of the All Right? Facebook page was reliant on being part of a trusted population-wide mental health promotion campaign.