Public health interventions to promote positive mental health and prevent mental health disorders among adults

• identify all relevant systematic reviews, syntheses, meta-analyses and review-level papers on non-pharmacological interventions to promote positive mental health and prevent mental health disorders in adults aged over 16
• review these papers and highlight effective ways to promote positive mental health and prevent mental health disorders either by reducing the risk factors for adults with no diagnosed mental disorder (primary prevention) or by preventing relapse (secondary prevention) in people previously diagnosed with a mental disorder, particularly those in disadvantaged and vulnerable groups
• identify cost-effectiveness data for non pharmacological interventions that aim to promote positive mental health and prevent mental health disorders in adults
• highlight any gaps in the evidence and make recommendations for future research.

This briefing is intended to inform policy and decision makers, NHS providers, public health physicians and other public health practitioners in the widest sense.

It is designed to be accessed by a variety of users including those simply looking for headline findings, those wanting complete and detailed syntheses, and those who need to track back to the original primary and secondary sources.