Mental Health A-Z

Intervening early in an illness or at an appropriate age to avoid detrimental impacts upon a person’s health or development. In the context of mental health it is used to describe a co-ordinated approach to assisting a child, young person or adult through the early assessment and identification of risk factors, allowing the provision of timely treatment for problems to alleviate potential health problems. It is a term widely used in both mental health and childhood development.

The study of health-related factors and impacts at the whole population level. This includes the study of the distribution and determinants of health and health impacting events (including disease or pollution), and the application of this study to the control of diseases and other population and public health problems.

The principle according to which prison health systems are obliged to provide people in prison with the equivalent quality of care that they would receive in the community for a physical health or mental health problem.