Nurturing narratives in public mental health

the role of creative literacy spaces in community library settings

Abstract

In the face of a growing mental health crisis in Africa, where access to therapeutic support and information remains limited, innovative, and accessible interventions are urgently needed. This paper explores the transformative potential of narrative therapy for mental health care users by establishing an on-site Adult Learning Centre. Additionally, this study aligns with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, emphasising societal well-being. Mental healthcare across Africa faces significant challenges due to limited resources, services, and access to information. Despite the increasing interest in Mental Health Literacy, there is a lack of contextually grounded frameworks integrating narrative therapy in adult education in public care facilities on the continent. While the benefits of narrative and bibliotherapy are known, their integration into public mental health strategies remains underexplored. This study explored how narrative therapy and literacy spaces can improve mental health literacy in South African mental health care facilities. Using a qualitative design, prompting mental health users over 5 weeks with open-ended questions, this study explored resilience stories, emphasising how individuals construct knowledge through lived experiences.  Findings indicated untapped and new roles for librarians in promoting mental health, such as creating sensory-friendly spaces, developing appropriate resource collections, and fostering nurturing authorship and advocacy. This approach provides a pathway for public mental healthcare to serve users better and support the well-being across the continent. In addition, this calls for a reconceptualisation of library services within mental health strategies and invites collaboration across sectors to expand access to mental health literacy interventions and consequently offer scalable, community-driven solutions that extend beyond traditional clinical models.