Promotion of positive mental health

Abstract

The promotion of mental health is an essential component of nursing care that goes beyond the absence of illness. This work reviews the construct of Positive Mental Health (PMH) developed from the pioneering work of Marie Jahoda and operationalized by the author through a multifactorial model of six interrelated factors: personal satisfaction, prosocial attitude, self-control, autonomy, problem-solving and self-actualization, and interpersonal relationship skills, measured with the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire (PMHQ). It describes how nursing promotes PMH in two complementary ways: implicitly in all care interventions and as a specific activity aimed at reinforcing and maintaining the maximum possible level of health, both in situations of health and of illness. As an operational tool for practice, the Decalogue of Positive Mental Health is presented, ten recommendations applicable to the self-care of the professional and of the people cared for.