Brain health is the state of brain functioning across the cognitive, sensory, socio-emotional, behavioral, and motor domains, enabling a person to realize their full potential throughout their life, regardless of the presence or absence of troubles.
Different determinants related to physical health, healthy environments, safety and security, lifelong learning and social connections as well as access to quality services influence how our brain develops, adapts and responds to stress and adversity. These give way to lifelong promotion and prevention strategies. Optimizing brain health addressing these determinants not only improves mental and physical health, but also creates positive social and economic impacts that contribute to greater well-being and help advance society.
However, conditions affecting the brain and nervous system in general appear throughout life and are characterized by disruptions in brain growth, damage to brain structure, and/or impaired brain function. These include, for example, congenital and neurodevelopmental diseases as well as neurological disorders throughout life. Health and social care for these conditions requires multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations with a holistic, person-centered approach focused on promotion, prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation and the active engagement of people with lived experience , their families and their caregivers.
