Mental health indicators - adults

How do we know if Scotland is becoming more mentally healthy or less so? Are there variations in mental wellbeing between different areas of Scotland? How does Scotland's mental health compare to that of other countries?

NHS Health Scotland [external site] has developed a set of standard measures (indicators) [PDF: 132kb] that can be used to gauge changes in the mental health of Scotland's population.

What will the indicators be used for?

One of the uses for the indicators is to measure the current state of Scotland's mental health. This information will help to inform policy development in many different areas, but particularly those around the provision of services.

Regular updates will help establish the effectiveness of new policies.

The work on establishing a set of indicators has six stages. These are:

  • To identify a set of defined indicators for public mental health that are relevant to mental health improvement in Scotland.
  • To review current data sources and datasets available on a national basis.
  • To develop consensus on a set of indicators that are practical to monitor over time.
  • To recommend new data collection to fill the gaps in the agreed set of indicators.
  • To explore new ways of collecting additional data to fill the gaps in the agreed set of indicators and develop a system of data collection for potential new indicators.
  • To ensure continued data collection of both current and new data.

If you have comments on the indicators programme or require further information, please contact Jane Parkinson (jane.parkinson@nhs.net).