Leveraging contemplative practices to promote community mental health and resilience
Strategies to promote mental health are urgently required. An effective, though underused strategy, is to involve local communities to co-design engaging preventive programs for application in their community. Every culture on Earth uses contemplative practices such as meditation or deep listening, to make meaning, create hope, and cultivate connection – all crucial protective factors for mental health. In Australia, almost three quarters of adults have used a contemplative practice in their lifetime. Research supports using contemplative practices in mental illness prevention programs. Integrating contemplative practices alongside existing activities may prove agile, cost-effective, and self-sustainable. Contemplative practices need to be engaging to be effective, but preventive programs based on contemplative practices are not usually co-designed with target communities.
With this proof-of-concept study we aim to ignite an innovative program addressing this poor connection between communities and preventive programs based on contemplative practice. A pilot study comprising a modest version of the steps to be followed in a future larger study will engage a community to (a) understand their needs and how contemplative practices might be able to address these needs, (b) co-design a one-day contemplative practice intervention, (c) evaluate acceptability, and (d) present findings to local representatives to understand their views on the potential of this co-design approach.
In collaboration with University of Tasmania researchers, we are working with the Tasmanian Huon Valley community. This regional community is recovering from catastrophic January 2019 bushfires, experiencing unmet needs around the promotion of mental health and community resilience.
Data collection has been completed. We presented preliminary results at the International Conference on Mindfulness-Asia Pacific (ICM-AP) 2025 and at 3º Congresso Mundial de Medicina Tradicional, Complementar e Integrativa (WCTCIM 2025).
University of Melbourne contributors
- Associate Professor Julieta Galante, Deputy Director, Contemplative Studies Centre
- Stephanie Campbell, Research Fellow, Melbourne Climate Futures
- Kathryn Williams, Professor (Environmental Psychology), School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences
- Associate Professor Nicholas Van Dam, Inaugural Director, Contemplative Studies Centre
External contributors
Dr Penelope Jones, Dr Larissa Bartlett, Research Fellow - Mental Health, Menzies Institute for Medical Research