The training programme embraces the idea of mental health promotion as distinct from mental illness prevention or curative care. Positive mental health is seen as a resource, as a value on its own and as a basic human right essential to social and economic development. Mental health promotion aims to impact on determinants of mental health so as to increase positive mental health and to reduce inequalities.

The training programme embraces the principle of community participation and involvement. Mental health promotion involves encouraging and empowering all community stakeholders in mental health promotion in general or in developing specific mental health promotion projects. In the case of training professionals for specific mental health projects, representatives from the populations directly concerned by the mental health promotion objective in question are encouraged to participate in fixing the health objectives and designing and delivering the programme. The training programme also takes into account how the populations concerned are going to be able to resource and manage their health promotion in a sustainable way (finance, time, etc.).

The training programme takes into account the necessarily interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach to mental health promotion. It aims for all stakeholders to have collective ownership of the training programme and of the mental health promotion interventions associated with the programme. It encourages the acquisition of leadership skills to build shared vision, shared planning and strategy for mental health promotion actions.

The training programme applies its objectives also to people with experience of mental health problems, mental health service users and their carers. People with mental health problems and, in the case of training related to a particular mental health promotion programme, people with mental health problems related to the programme objective, are included from the outset.

The training programme underlines the importance of advocacy, i.e. knowing how to bring out and defend the point of view of people who may not have the skills or the social power necessary to defend themselves or, in the policy arena, working for positive change in the social or health care system environment.

The training programme takes into account up-to-date scientific evidence and ethnographic information, drawing from a variety of methods, including epidemiology and social sciences, for identifying action strategies.

The training program highlights the fact that interventions to promote mental health must be adapted to local contexts and needs (taking into account the context in which people live) and to the individuals involved. From the individual’s perspective, this means treating specific mental health objectives in a holistic manner, taking into account the particularities of the community and the physical environment the individual lives in, and taking into account different cultures, socio-economic and educational situations, age, gender, sexual orientation, health and abilities. The training program is built around health promotion objectives that are measurable and can be evaluated; and the communities or individuals in question are involved in this process of evaluation: assessing local needs, choosing objectives and indicators and evaluating results.

The training programme addresses not only the expected positive outcomes but also the possible risks of the mental health promotion intervention(s) being presented for both individuals and communities. All changes involve a degree of risk-taking. Empower individuals and communities to decide the level of risk they are prepared to take with their health and safety.

The training programme integrates a media and communication strategy in promoting mental health and fighting against stigma associated with mental illness.

The training underlines the importance of monitoring implementation processes as well as evaluating mental health promotion training and programme outcomes in general.