Last year ended with a rush of reports that, taken together, provide impressive evidence for the growing recognition among British policy makers and advisers of the importance of psychological health and needs.

Early in December the UK government launched its much-anticipated New Horizons programme, which aims to improve the well-being of the nation and the care provided to people with mental health problems. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) also published an independent review, Realising Ambitions, about employment support for people with mental health issues. And finally, the Young Foundation, a UK think-tank, published its report Sinking and Swimming, Understanding Britain's Unmet Needs about the psychological needs of the nation and the importance of helping the minority of people who struggle to bounce back from adversity. British Psychological Society members led or advised on both the DWP and Young Foundation reports.

New Horizons is described by government as their 'new over-arching vision for mental health in England'. Flagship policy announcements included a new network of mental health coordinators in every Jobcentre Plus, the launch of occupational health advice lines, the national roll-out of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme, as well as new plans to tackle mental health stigma.

New Horizons also draws heavily on recommendations made in the DWP Realising Ambitions report led by BPS Associate Fellow and Chartered Psychologist Dr Rachel Perkins. She told us: 'We looked at ways we can better support people who are out of work, and who have mental health conditions, to get and keep employment.'

Recommendations in the report include ways that existing systems can work better and ways to implement evidence-based practice to extend support to those who need help. 'The report makes it clear that health services must see employment and educational issues as a core part of their work and the outcomes of their work - it's not sufficient to focus on reducing symptomatology,' Perkins said. 'We must help people rebuild their lives and a core part of that is employment, pursuing your career.'

Dr Perkins is Director of Trust Assurance for South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust and has spent many years setting up programmes that help people into employment, and showing that these can be effective. 'Very often outcomes speak louder than statements,' Perkins told us.

'I think it's vital that mental health professionals get involved at a broader level than just looking at health services,' Perkins added. 'I think that mental health has to be across departments - it's all our business. And I found the DWP very interested and often a lot more constructive and positive than some other departments, as reflected in their responses to some of my recommendations.'

The Sinking and Swimming report from the Young Foundation describes our society as 'brittle' and includes case studies from South Wales, London, Teesside and Bedford. The report asks 'why some people can cope with shocks and setbacks and others can't' and discusses the implications this has for public policy. It recommends a focus on helping people make transitions, whether from adolescence to adulthood, or from reliance on care to independence. Professor Nicholas Emler at the University of Surrey, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, was a key adviser to this report.

--Christian Jarrett