Mental Health is a Global Public Health Issue

Mental, emotional, and psychological health have garnered increased attention as a major public health issue. Mental health includes not only the traditional focus on individual therapy interactions but also emerging frameworks designed to address mental health at the population health level. Health is shaped by a plethora of determinants (eg, genetics, gender, socioeconomic status, education, physical environment, social support networks, access to health services) that operate at the individual, family, community, health systems, and societal levels. Because these determinants of health affect not only physical health but also psychological health, it’s imperative in public health to gain a better understanding of the many pathways through which determinants of health impact the psychological well-being of large groups of individuals.

Over the past 5 years, Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) has received an increase in submissions addressing aspects of mental health and chronic disease. PCD is pleased to release this collection, Mental Health Is a Global Public Health Issue, which consists of 10 articles that examine relationships between family history, self-care practices, sleep, obesity, educational attainment, and depression. This collection also includes 2 articles from our previously published COVID-19 special supplement: one that addresses the critical need for a population approach to improve the nation’s behavioral health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and one that offers recommendations on keeping parks and green spaces accessible to promote mental and physical health. We hope this collection contributes to ongoing efforts to provide reliable, peer-reviewed research and proven practices to improve health outcomes worldwide in mental health and chronic disease. The topics featured below represent areas in which future submissions would be of great interest to the journal, and PCD will continue to release timely peer-reviewed articles on mental health issues in chronic disease as new information comes available.

Leonard Jack, Jr, PhD, MSc
Editor in Chief, Preventing Chronic Disease

Mental Health is a Global Public Health Issue [PDF – 3MB]

COMMENTARY

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

COMMENTARY

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

CME ACTIVITY

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

RESEARCH BRIEF

RESEARCH BRIEF