Youth mental health promotion in the Hunter region

Objective: To describe the work of the Hunter Institute of Mental Health, w ith special emphasis on its role in mental health promotion and prevention with adolescents. Method and Results: The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion is used as a fr amework to describe the varied functions of this organisation. Four youth m ental health promotion programs are given as examples of the Institute's wo rk. Results of preliminary evaluation of the Youth Suicide Prevention - Nat ional University Curriculum Project are provided. Conclusion: The Hunter Institute of Mental Health, a self-funding unit of t he Hunter Area Health Service, provides innovative health promotion program s as part of its role as a provider of mental health education and training . The model may be particularly applicable to mental health services in reg ional Australia.