Mental health promotion theory: review and application

Taking the principles of health promotion as a starting point, this paper begins with a review of the ways in which mental health has been defined in the mental health promotion literature. In order to move beyond definitions that revolve only around the absence of illness or reductionist lists of individual skills and attributes, it then introduces a model derived from health promotion theory. Finally, the paper concludes with an example of the model's application to promoting the well‐being of mental health service users through the provision of evidence‐based employment support.