First Thematic Consultation Meeting: Promotion and Prevention in Mental Health

The first of three formal consultation meetings on the Green Paper was held in Luxembourg in January 2006. The SUPPORT project acted as rapporteur for these meetings, producing a summary report of key points discussed.

Key Messages

 

  • Recognition of the broad relevance of mental health and wellbeing at all levels across the social and policy spectrum, and therefore the competencies of the EU.
  • Member States have varied structures for mental health promotion and could benefit from culturally and politically sensitive collaborative approaches to this agenda.
  • There are many challenges in facilitating transferability of programmes, information and outcomes between Member States.  However, there is also willingness and momentum within a diverse stakeholder group to negotiate these.
  • A wide range of activities actions were suggested for EU level action.

 

Summary of Discussions

Mental health is integral to well being and therefore involves all sectors. The concepts of ‘Public Mental Health or Population Mental Health’ signal a new approach, and can provide a useful framework within which to develop strategies for change and to build alliances with other sectors whose involvement is crucial for success. MH promotion works at individual, community and government / societal level. 

 Strategies required to promote mental health at each of these levels include:

  • Development of resources, materials, tools and services
  • Building capacity: skills, knowledge, confidence, networks
  • Public policies that enable mental health to be mainstreamed
  • Supportive environments for living, working, learning etc.
  • Partnerships and collaboration 

 It is important that strategies and programmes are designed to address what is already known about the risk and protective factors for individuals and communities.

Current situation of promotion and prevention in the EU

Memeber States face very similar challenges in promoting the mental health of their populations.  However, different cultures and contexts require different strategies and actions.   Mental disorders account for a considerable and growing proportion of the disease burden in Europe and the associated costs. 

Currently although MS have a range of policies and programmes on mental health and mental health promotion appears to be moving up the agenda, the infrastructure and resources to support implementation are often poorly developed.

Relevance of promotion and prevention to other policy areas

Responsibility for many of the determinants of mental health lies outside the health care sector and the engagement of other sectors is therefore essential to the success of promotion and prevention strategies.  

Promotion and prevention can contribute to current policy objectives in relation to employment, health and safety at work, productivity and economic success, migration, social cohesion, and health gain.  There are strong social and economic grounds for promoting the mental health of the EU population; failure do so would have significant social and economic consequences.

 Key challenges for implementation

  • Developing programmes must build on available evidence and should be tailored to target population and local conditions. 
  • Knowledge on how to implement effective promotion and prevention programmes needs strengthening. Mechanisms to promote coordination and sharing of information would avoid duplication.
  • NGOs have a valuable contribution to make that is currently under-recognised.
  • Capacity building remains a key issue to ensure that skills and knowledge are developed and supported through strong leadership

 More work is needed to:

  • clarify concepts and language to promote engagement of key sectors
  • develop indicators that measure positive mental health not only ill-health
  • generate comparable data,  to track change and trends over time
  • broaden the understanding of mental health determinants

Areas for Action

Actions at EU level to support mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention should encompass:

  • The development of an EU strategy, action plan and monitoring system.
  • Improved information and knowledge systems, including support for research and evaluation in the areas highlighted above, as part of the 7th Framework Programme.
  • Targeted action, through specific recommendations on promotion and disorder prevention.
  • Promotion of intersectoral collaboration by engaging with other Directorates and reaching out to a wider range of stakeholders.
  • Support for coordination, exchange and dialogue through mechanisms such as the proposed Platform for mental health, to ensure effective interfaces between policy, research and implementation and to help address inequalities.
  • Building capacity through programmes and networks to exchange knowledge and skills.
  • Undertake proofing of EU policies to assess mental health impact.
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