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SDC's 10th Anniversary Conference Interim Report

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SDC's 10th Anniversary Conference
October 2007

With Scotland's Future in Mind:
Learning from the Past: Shaping the Future

Its tenth birthday in 2007 prompted SDC to reflect on some of Scotland’s assets and the burgeoning knowledge around good mental health and wellbeing, as well the challenges for the future, and what needs to be done to ensure Scotland flourishes.

For these contemplations, SDC used the themes Scotland’s people, places, and purpose to focus on the issues Scotland is likely to face in the future. In June it facilitated a series of roundtable discussions, where issues and challenges were raised around the Scottish identity; the changing nature of communities and what that means for improving our mental health; the perpetuation of economic and social inequalities, and the ways in which these can negatively affect social cohesion; and how individuals create meaning, through work, creativity and spirituality.

Much of the discussion was, as Professor Ken Thompson states, about how Scotland can best find a working balance between the needs and desires of the individual and the community, retaining the good qualities of the past and adapting for the future.

Insights from the Outside: Scotland from an International Perspective

SDC’s tenth anniversary discussions culminated in the October conference, in Glasgow, which drew connections between the mental health and wellbeing of the people of Scotland and wider social and policy issues. The conference focused on population mental health rather than individual mental health. It took as its starting point that mental health and wellbeing are vital assets which enable communities and individuals to flourish.

Where you live, how you do at school, your social networks, your employment status, the characteristics of your workplace and your social status all influence your mental health and wellbeing.

Plenary speakers and parallel session presenters at the conference gave delegates a chance to hear about and discuss these ideas on why mental health and wellbeing matters and what are the issues around mental health and wellbeing for people at different stages in their life – e.g. for younger and older people – and in different places and spheres of life. A significant contribution to the debate was made in a presentation on the economic case for investing in mental health improvement by Michael Parsonage.

At the conference Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health, launched the discussion paper for the next phase of the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing (2008-2011): Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland.

The Minister highlighted that good mental health is fundamental to all health, and the increasing focus in government and in the next phase of the National Programme on tackling inequalities.

With Scotland’s Future in Mind provided an opportunity for research and experience on the effects of income inequalities to be presented . Professor Richard Wilkinson drew attention to the tendency for more equal societies to enjoy better health and social outcomes and to the close correlation between a country’s social problems and its income inequalities. The conference considered the implications for action to address inequalities in Scotland in order to create a society where everyone can flourish. The debates about inequalities and mental health and wellbeing and considerations for economic and social policies and interventions are highlighted in the summary conference report.

We hope that you will take this opportunity to look at some of the images produced by the conference. As part of the event SDC engaged a graphic artist Graham Ogilvie to record some of the key points from the discussion in a cartoon format. Please view our Gallery to see a selection of these images.