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Communication for Mental Health Promotion

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Communication and Informatics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2020) | Viewed by 12072

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
2. School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA 6027, Australia
Interests: social policy; social marketing; health promotion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As you are all aware, around the globe there are, and have been for a number of years, numerous mass and targeted media communication campaigns (and associated strategies) successfully changing beliefs, attitudes and behaviours in the areas of alcohol, tobacco, sun protection, road safety, physical activity, diet, and so on. On the other hand, in spite of the number of government and non-government reports and enquiries and political rhetoric, when it comes to positive mental health promotion, the reality is that “There’s a lot more said than done. A lot more!”

Nevertheless, a growing number of mental health promotion, mental illness and suicide prevention campaigns are emerging in the public domain, albeit most being limited in funds or geographic domain (or both). Further, many of these initiatives focus on early intervention, destigmatising mental illness and reducing risk factors, rather than adopting a salutogenic approach of building positive mental health and resilience, overall wellbeing and quality of life for individuals and communities. That is, mental health promotion aims to achieve the World Health Organization’s definition of mental health as “…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”.

This Special Issue offers an opportunity to publish high-quality multidisciplinary research and reviews that report on the development, implementation and evaluation of mental health promotion and illness prevention campaigns, and particularly with respect to the role these campaigns’ communication strategies play alongside other campaign strategies, and how these communication strategies have contributed to overall campaign outcomes. (Note that “communication strategies” is used broadly here to include elements such as, but not only, messaging and message framing, tailoring of messages and selection of media to reach and impact specific target audiences, media selection in general, measurement of reach and impact of different media channels, etc.)

Prof. Robert J. Donovan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Mental health promotion
  • Communication
  • Social marketing
  • Mental illness prevention

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1840 KiB  
Article
Dual-Task Tests Predict Conversion to Dementia—A Prospective Memory-Clinic-Based Cohort Study
by Hanna B Åhman, Lars Berglund, Ylva Cedervall, Lena Kilander, Vilmantas Giedraitis, Kevin J. McKee, Martin Ingelsson, Erik Rosendahl and Anna Cristina Åberg
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 8129; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218129 - 3 Nov 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2841
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate whether Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) dual-task (TUGdt) tests predict dementia incidence among patients with subjective or mild cognitive impairment (SCI; MCI). Other study objectives were to determine whether TUGdt improves dementia prediction compared to a) demographic [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) dual-task (TUGdt) tests predict dementia incidence among patients with subjective or mild cognitive impairment (SCI; MCI). Other study objectives were to determine whether TUGdt improves dementia prediction compared to a) demographic characteristics and standard cognitive tests alone; and b) TUG and Verbal Fluency performed separately. Patients (n = 172, age range 39–91 years, 78 women) with SCI or MCI performed TUGdt tests, including 1) naming animals and 2) reciting months backwards, and clinical cognitive tests at baseline. Diagnoses were identified at follow-up after 2.5 years. Logistic regression was used to predict dementia incidence, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and c-statistics for predictive capacity. Analyses were stratified by age and gender. At follow-up, 51 patients had developed dementia. The TUGdt result “animals/10 s” was associated with dementia incidence (standardized odds ratio (OR) = 4.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.28–7.23, p < 0.001), more so among patients under the median age of 72 years (standardized OR = 19.4, 95% CI 3.53–106.17, p < 0.001). TUGdt “animals/10 s” improved dementia prediction compared to demographic characteristics and standard tests alone (c-statistics 0.88 to 0.94) and single-task tests (c-statistics 0.86 to 0.89), but only in the younger patient group. TUGdt has the potential to become a useful tool for dementia prediction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication for Mental Health Promotion)
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14 pages, 521 KiB  
Article
Verification of the Mediating Effect of Social Support on Physical Activity and Aging Anxiety of Korean Pre-Older Adults
by Ahra Oh, Jiyoun Kim, Eunsurk Yi and Jongseob Shin
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 8069; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218069 - 2 Nov 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2947
Abstract
There is a lack of research on Korean prospective elderly persons. In particular, there is little research regarding whether social support has a mediating effect on the relationship between physical activity and aging anxiety. Accordingly, this study investigated how social support affected physical [...] Read more.
There is a lack of research on Korean prospective elderly persons. In particular, there is little research regarding whether social support has a mediating effect on the relationship between physical activity and aging anxiety. Accordingly, this study investigated how social support affected physical activity and aging anxiety in 778 prospective senior citizens (55 to 65 years old) out of a total of 1447 senior citizens who participated in the Embrain Panel Power and Panel Marketing Interactive. Participants completed the IPAQ (International Physical Activity Questionnaires), Social Support Scale, and Aging Anxiety Scale. Physical activity in these Korean pre-older adults affected aging anxiety (p < 0.001), with a fixed effect of physical activity on social support (p < 0.001). Further, social support affected aging anxiety (p < 0.001). Social support was also an important parameter in the relationship between physical activity and aging anxiety. In conclusion, high physical activity of pre-older Korean persons lowered their anxiety regarding aging. Social support acted as a mediator that lowered anxiety regarding aging in the most active pre-older persons. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication for Mental Health Promotion)
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19 pages, 1529 KiB  
Article
The Sacred Power of Beauty: Examining the Perceptual Effect of Buddhist Symbols on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in China
by Zhenzhen Qin and Yao Song
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2551; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072551 - 8 Apr 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5407
Abstract
The theoretical relationship between Buddhism and subjective well-being has gained much academic attention in recent decades. However, the prominent determinants of religiosity remain limited for researchers to understand a holistic picture of religion-informed subjective well-being, particularly in the context of Buddhism. This study [...] Read more.
The theoretical relationship between Buddhism and subjective well-being has gained much academic attention in recent decades. However, the prominent determinants of religiosity remain limited for researchers to understand a holistic picture of religion-informed subjective well-being, particularly in the context of Buddhism. This study has applied a quantitative survey to verify the impact of the aesthetic effects of the Buddhist gesture symbol on Chinese people’s subjective happiness through sequential mediators of life satisfaction and the perceived religiosity. The significance of this study is threefold. Firstly, it aims to enrich the current academic understanding of the religion-informed subjective well-being by introducing a new determinant of the Buddhist symbols. Secondly, the current study investigates the mechanism of how Buddhist symbols could influence happiness by analyzing the sequential mediating roles of religiosity and life satisfaction. Thirdly, this study empirically examines the topic in the context of China to confirm and underpin the theoretical relationship between Buddhism and subjective well-being in relevant research, which has previously focused on Western culture. Our results indicated that the aesthetic perception of the Buddhist gesture symbol positively influenced perceived happiness and life satisfaction. In addition, perceived religiosity and life satisfaction sequentially mediated the perceived happiness after seeing the Buddhist gesture symbol. Our findings contribute to the current academic understanding of religious symbols and their impacts on subjective well-being. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Communication for Mental Health Promotion)
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