Mental health: promoting healthy minds for living and learning

Abstract

The Victorian government is committed to building the capacity of schools and early childhood education and care settings to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.  This website has been designed to support staff in these settings to recognise their role in promoting mental health, and to act to create environments where children and young people can thrive, learn and grow. To support this, a range of Promoting Healthy Minds for Living and Learning materials have been developed: Early childhood poster (PDF - 308Kb) Primary school poster (PDF - 239Kb) Secondary school poster (PDF - 282Kb) Flyer (PDF - 406Kb) Overview poster (PDF - 297Kb) Promoting Healthy Minds for Living and Learning has been developed as part of Because Mental Health Matters: Victorian Mental Health Reform Strategy 2009-2019. Improving mental health outcomes for children, young people and their families is a priority of the Mental Health Reform Strategy.  The Strategy envisages a broader system of child and youth (birth- 25 years) and family mental health care involving both promotion of mental health and wellbeing and early identification and intervention for mental illness. What is mental health? Mental health refers to a state of wellbeing in which a person can realise their own abilities, engage in learning, cope with the normal stresses of life, and is able to make a contribution to their community.  Mental health is a combination of both positive feelings and positive functioning. The term “mental health” is often confused with mental illness, or a mental disorder, and while they are related, mental health is more than the absence of a mental illness. Mental health is determined by multiple and interacting social, environmental, psychological and biological factors. Growing research identifies that mental health and wellbeing has a critical role in the development of lifelong learning