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Mental illness affects the majority of prisoners. Mental health issues are beginning to take a central position in the development of prison health services, reflecting this burden of disease. This change in focus is not before time. But prison mental health services cannot exist in isolation. Public health systems should lead provision of care for patients with acute and severe illness. A whole prison approach to health and, specifically, mental health will offer the greatest likelihood that offenders will thrive, benefit from imprisonment, and lead law‐abiding lives after release. Public awareness of the scale and commitment of prisons to mental health and illness, and understanding of prisons’ role in society, are necessary developments that would protect and enhance public mental health, as well as creating a healthier and safer society. This article draws on recent reviews, information and statements to set out a public health agenda for mental health in prisons.

Although public mental health has rarely been an explicit element of national health policy in England, a range of programmes have contributed to moving it up the agenda. There is a growing movement for recognition of the potential benefits of a population‐wide approach to promoting mental health and well‐being. This paper describes work streams developed since 1997, under the current government, and outlines opportunities for the future.

Campaigns to improve public attitudes to people with mental health problems have yet to show significant impact, according to national surveys. But how reliable are these surveys? Michael Smith reviews recent research in the UK and in Scotland and argues that their findings are complicated by methodological bias and doubts about the public's ability to acknowledge prejudice honestly.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a national framework for leadership and workforce development in public mental health, published by Public Health England in 2015.

It has been developed with national partners and the local public health workforce, responding to local need and national policy. It aims to build the capacity and capability of leaders and a workforce that is confident, competent and committed to: promoting good mental health across the population, preventing mental illness and suicide, and improving the quality and length of life of people living with mental illness.

The framework outlines six ambitions for change and suggests the core principles and competencies needed in the workforce, and in leaders, to make that change happen, alongside practical actions.

A call to action approach is used to gain commitment from strategic partners and key organisations. Planners and practitioners are encouraged to use the framework to inform the commissioning and delivery of workforce development.

This is the first time a national framework for workforce development in public mental health has been published and as such it sets direction for national and local bodies and provides a practical approach to inform and influence action.

Slovenia regained its independence in 1991, and in 2004 became a member of the European Union. Despite some progress in public health policy and practice, mental health has so far barely featured. Mental health literacy is poor, mental health services remain firmly rooted in the medical, institutional model, and public attitudes to mental ill health are predominantly negative. But Tanja Kamin here identifies some key opportunities that may lead to a greater emphasis on prevention of mental ill health and promotion of mental well‐being across the whole population.

This commentary considers the demographic ‘bulge’ of the so‐called ‘baby boomer’ generation and the public mental health challenge that this group will represent as they move into old age. Toby Williamson argues that now is the time to start a debate with the aim of identifying long‐term solutions to these new challenges.

Mental well-being is associated with positive outcomes throughout the life course. This study aims to examine interventions delivered by allied health professionals (AHPs) to alleviate community stressors adversely impacting public mental health and well-being.

Review inclusion criteria comprised experimental and qualitative process evaluations of public mental health interventions delivered by AHPs. Electronic searches in Cinahl, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library, were combined with grey literature searches of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence public health guidance. A narrative synthesis and the Effective Public Health Practice Project appraisal tool were used to evaluate the evidence.

A total of 45-articles were included in the review describing AHP-delivered interventions addressing social disadvantage, trauma, bullying, loneliness, work-related stress, transitional stress, intersectionality, pain and bereavement. No articles were identified evaluating interventions delivered by operating department practitioners or orthoptists. A conceptual map was developed summarising the stressors, and a typology of public mental health interventions defined including: place-based interventions, discrete/one-off interventions, multi-component lifestyle and social connector interventions and interventions targeting groups at risk of mental health conditions.

Many mental health conditions begin in childhood, and a strength of the review is the life course perspective. A further strength is compiling a compendium of public mental health outcome measures used by AHPs to inform future research. The authors excluded many articles focussed on clinical interventions/populations, which did not meet review inclusion criteria. While playing a key role in delivering public mental health interventions, clinical psychologists are not defined as AHPs and were excluded from the review, and this may be construed a limitation. Given heterogeneity of study designs and interventions evaluated numerical analyses of pooled findings was not appropriate.

The review highlights the breadth of community stressors on which AHPs can intervene and contribute in public mental health contexts, stressors which correspond to those identified in UK Government guidance as currently important and relevant to address. The findings can inform developing community public mental health pathways that align with the UK National Health Service (NHS) Long Term Plan, on prevention and early intervention to protect community mental health and well-being. Further can inform the NHS strategic direction for AHPs including informing ways of increasing utilisation of core AHP skills to optimise contributions in public mental health agendas.

It is surprising there were not more AHP delivered evaluations of interventions for other stressors important to address in public mental health settings, for example gambling, domestic violence or that used digital technology, and these are areas for future research. Future research should identify the most active/effective dimensions of multi-component interventions which could be informed by frameworks to guide complex intervention development. The relative paucity of research identified, highlights the predominant focus of research to date on interventions for clinical mental health conditions and populations. The lack of preventative approaches is evident, and an important area for future research to align with UK health and social care priorities.

The review highlights AHP-delivered interventions impacting diverse community stressors across the life course. The findings can inform developing public mental health pathways aligned with government health service priorities to protect mental health and well-being, prioritise prevention and early intervention and increase utilisation of AHP skills across public mental health settings.

Public health mental health is an emerging field with significant potential for contributing to improved public health. However there is a notable gap in support for people working in this field and limited opportunities to influence the public health agenda at a strategic or policy level. This article describes how the London‐wide public health mental health network provides a regional forum for members to share information, develop measures, databases and protocols, and support professional development. It is hoped that other such regional networks will be established, as well as sector groups at local level.

Partnerships for public mental health are common. At a national and regional level, partnerships are frequently developed in order to co‐ordinate programmes to deliver public health outcomes, such as tackling stigma (see me, 2010) or promoting recovery (Elament, 2010; Scottish Recovery Network, 2010). At a European level, public mental health partnerships commonly exist to enhance learning and knowledge exchanges commonly between countries. While these partnerships are valuable, there is an increasing recognition that public mental health programmes must be embedded, shaped and realised at a regional level. Thus regions are not ‘implementers’ of national public mental health policy, but instead should be recognised and empowered to inform policy and practice. This approach was taken in Scotland when the national programme for mental health was renewed through a highly devolved and participatory consultation process and publication of Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland (Scottish Government, 2009). Against this backdrop, we examine a different model of partnership working; regional‐level international collaborations. This case study explores 'FINLAN': a collaboration between Lanarkshire Mental Health Improvement Group in Scotland and The South Ostrobothnia Project in Finland.

This paper aims to use systems mapping as a tool to develop an organisation-wide approach to public mental health to inform strategic direction within a national public health agency.

Two workshops were facilitated with internal staff from a wide range of public health policy teams working in small groups to produce paper-based maps. These were collated and refined by the project team and digitised.

The approach engaged a range of teams in forming a shared understanding and producing a complex system map of the influences on population mental health and well-being, where current policy initiatives were addressing them and what the gaps and priorities were. Participants valued the approach which led to further study and organisational commitment to the whole system working as part of national public mental health strategy.

The approach was limited to internal stakeholders and wider engagement with other sectors and community members would help further the application of complex system approaches to public mental health.

It was a valuable process for developing a whole-organisation approach and stimulating thinking and practice in complex system approaches. The paper provides a practical example of how to apply systems mapping and its benefits for organising public mental health practice.