Welcome
to the Mentally Healthy Western Australia Website
Act-Belong-Commit
Mentally Healthy WA's Act-Belong-Commit campaign aims to improve mental
health in Western Australia.
The whole population
is encouraged to: Act-Belong-Commit
to improve individual resilience and build community cohesion. The
Act-Belong-Commit campaign is directed
by The Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control,
Curtin University and has been funded by Healthway, Lotterywest and implemented through Department of Health and Local Government offices.
Mental Health and Mental Illness Increasing rates of mental illness is causing concern for governments worldwide. Depression alone is predicted to be the largest health problem globally by 2020. In Australia an estimated 1 in 5 people are affected by a mental health problem in any one year, and in WA mental health disorders account for about 16% of the total burden of disease. The personal, social and financial costs associated with mental health problems are enormous. Mental health problems cost the health system $3 billion in Australia 2000-01 and contribute to social problems such as substance misuse, violence and crime, absenteeism from work, family and relationship troubles and physical illnesses such as cardiovascular disease. It is clear that interventions are needed to prevent the onset of mental health problems before the situation in WA worsens.
Program Overview Mentally Healthy WA’s Act-Belong-Commit Campaign is the first documented project which aims to prevent mental health problems occurring in the first place. The Campaign encourages everyone to do things to keep mentally healthy. The Campaign will be launched state-wide on 24th April 2008.
The intervention is based around the A-B-C guidelines for positive mental health: Act-Belong-Commit. The Act-Belong-Commit ‘guide’ demonstrates the three major ways individuals can – and should – take steps to build and maintain their mental health. The three steps indicate an increasing contribution to an individual’s sense of self and mental health and are consistent with what people believe contribute to good mental health:
Act refers to individuals being physically, mentally and socially active. At the basic physical and cognitive levels, individuals can act alone or independently: take a walk; read a book; do a crossword puzzle; garden; take a correspondence course; and so on.
Belong refers to becoming a member of a group or organisation, such that an individual’s connectedness with the community is strengthened. Belonging to a book club not only expands the cognitive activity involved, but adds a socialisation dimension as well; joining a walking group is likely to expand the physical activity, and adds a social connectedness dimension.
Commit refers to the level of effort an individual ‘commits’ to the activities engaged in. For example, one can be a spectator member of the local theatre group or sporting club, or one can be an active participant; one can volunteer to be treasurer or go on a recruiting drive or in some other way commit to more engagement with an organisation. Similarly, an individual can enrol in a hobby class that requires little intellectual effort, or a walking group that has a fairly regular route of mild effort, or, the individual can take on a challenging (but achievable) educational class or join a walking group that has an orienteering bent.
