ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the interplay among biological, psychosocial, behavioural, and environmental factors in relation to an individual’s mental health and wellbeing. Consideration is given as to how nurse educators, leaders, researchers, and practitioners can enable that mental health is valued, promoted, and protected. An aspiration towards excellence in mental health nursing practice requires person-centred approaches which reduce suffering, enrich hope, promote safety and recovery, and preserve people’s dignity. This includes highlighting the need for holistic systems of prevention and care, alongside integrated health and community based. The World Health Organization broadly defines mental health as ‘a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises their own abilities, copes with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make contributions to their community’. The definition frames reflection on the experiences of Matthew, a person with significant mental and physical health needs, which impact on his relationships and require acute and community care.
