As the burden and cost of mental health problems rises, the cost and benefits of prevention and promotion efforts need to be weighed against the cost of not intervening, a health promotion conference in Galway has been told.
Prof Martin Knapp of the London School of Economics and professor of Health Economics at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, said that by promoting mental health, governments can reduce the overall risk of ill health in society and make cost savings at the same time.
"Mental health is a complex area that impacts way outside the health system.
"It can affect a person's ability to do well in school and to get a job and impacts the whole family and society in general, it's not like other health problems," he pointed out.
The professor was speaking at the 11th annual health promotion conference, organised by the Health Promotion Research Centre, NUI Galway in collaboration with the HSE Population Health and Health Promotion Policy Unit, and the Department of Health and Children, at NUI Galway at the weekend.
Prof Knapp explained: "There's a very strong continuity between childhood mental health problems and consequences in later life, i.e. continuing to use the health service, problems getting a job and getting into crime.
"There is evidence that intervention to improve parenting to deal with the particular anti-social behaviours of some young children can save those children from becoming teenage offenders and causing their families a lot of difficulties."
He highlighted the importance of early intervention in psychosis, particularly schizophrenia, which tends to show its early signs in the teens and early 20s. Diverting people into the appropriate support services at this stage would reduce hospital admissions and other negative consequences later in life, he said.
"We also need to look at older people. We are experimenting with programmes in England at the moment to divert older people with various health needs away from the hospitals by intervening early and putting in place the supports they need.
"There is a very good economic case for doing this as most of these people do not need full-time hospital care," Prof Knapp told the conference.
Professor of Health Promotion and Public Health at NUI Galway Margaret Barry said the challenge of ensuring that Ireland's health promotion policy and practice was based on best available evidence was critical in realising the Government's health improvement goals here.
She told the Health Supplement: "Health promotion is now on the policy agenda of a lot of national governments, particularly in high-income countries and there is good international evidence that it does work. Maintaining and protecting good health is vital because a lot of current illnesses are preventable."
Prof Barry highlighted the importance of investing in children in the early years to give them a good start in life.
"Studies in North America found that children from poor backgrounds, or at risk of poor outcomes, who got high quality intervention not only had a better chance of finishing school, but got better jobs and had a higher chance of owning their own homes.
"One study followed children from the age of three or four to middle age and the results were staggering. For every dollar that went into intervention, there was an estimated $17 return in terms of the reduction in crime and health and welfare costs," she explained.