Narrative Review of Mental Health Promotion Interventions

Irakoze Mukamana S.

 

School of Applied Health Sciences Kampala International University Uganda

ABSTRACT

Mental health promotion has become an essential component of contemporary public health practice, aiming to enhance psychological well-being and strengthen protective factors across the life course. Unlike prevention, which targets risk factors and individuals at elevated risk, promotion seeks to improve positive mental health across entire populations and settings. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from diverse interventions implemented in schools, workplaces, communities, and policy environments to examine their conceptual foundations, implementation processes, outcomes, and methodological challenges. Findings reveal substantial variation in definitions of mental health promotion, with many frameworks emphasizing human rights principles such as autonomy, dignity, equity, and fulfilment of basic needs. Population-wide interventions demonstrate potential for strengthening resilience, improving social and emotional competencies, enhancing mental health literacy, and reducing common indicators of psychological distress. Schools remain the most common implementation setting due to their universal reach, while workplace programmes address stress management, burnout, and organizational culture. Community-level strategies highlight multi-sector collaboration, public health campaigns, and structural interventions that promote mental health at social-ecological levels. Critical evidence suggests that programme success depends on implementation fidelity, contextual adaptation, scalability, and systematic measurement of outcomes. However, conceptual ambiguities, inconsistent methodologies, limited long-term evaluations, and insufficient attention to cultural and contextual variation remain significant barriers. This review identifies persistent knowledge gaps and presents priority directions for future research, including the need for clearer operational definitions, improved measurement tools, culturally responsive designs, and stronger alignment between promotion and broader health system policies.

Keywords: Mental Health Promotion, Population-Wide Interventions, Implementation Fidelity, Social and Emotional Learning, and Public Health Policy.

CITE AS: Irakoze Mukamana S. (2026). Narrative Review of Mental Health Promotion Interventions. IDOSR JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 11(1):33-38. https://doi.org/10.59298/IDOSRJSR/2026/11.1.3338