Mental health impact assessment

MWIA provides a structured analysis of how policies, proposals, services and projects can influence mental health and well-being. The method is called Mental Wellbeing Impact Assessment since it both reflects a focus on positive mental health (mental wellbeing) and, because it is informed by Health Impact Assessment (HIA) methods. MWIA is based on a review of the evidence on which factors promote and protect mental well-being. 
MWIA was developed in England in the 2000’s to address three gaps: 

• Limited coverage of mental well-being in HIA tools: 
• A lack of tools to influence policy and programme design to improve population mental health and well-being and
• To enable the development of indicators that measure mental wellbeing.

This represented the culmination of a decade of experience, undertaking some 500 MWIAs, and offered a robust, evidence-based process for assessing the impacts of policies, services, programmes or projects on mental well-being. 
Based on HIA, it has similar consideration for the impacts of the wider (or social) determinants on mental wellbeing, but unlike HIA, it provides a specific focus on the determinants of mental health and wellbeing. The MWIA assessment framework is based on the “Protective Factors” for mental health identified in guidance on mental health promotion from the Department of Health (England) (2001). 
The aim of MWIA is to maximise positive and minimise negative impacts on mental health and well-being. MWIA has been applied to over 1000 projects and programmes in a very wide range of settings and population groups in the UK . 
It was identified by the European Union Joint Action on Mental Health and Wellbeing (2015) as a tool for implementing Mental Health in All Policies and by Public Health England (2017) in their “Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health” as a tool for understanding the impact of plans and policies on mental health and wellbeing.

 

The toolkit below can be used to assess and improve policies, programmes, services or projects to ensure they have maximum equitable impact on people's mental wellbeing.