The programme builds on the initial results and lessons learned from the current MHE project “Good Practices for Combating Social Exclusion of People with Mental Health Problems” and aims to increase efforts to raise awareness at the local, national, regional and European level by:

• analysing the situation of social exclusion of people with mental health problems in all the EU Member States, in access to health and social services, employment, education and training, housing, transport and leisure activities – special emphasis will be given to the social exclusion of women, children, adolescents, immigrants and elderly people with mental health problems, who are often confronted with multiple aspects of social exclusion at the same time;
• in each of the EU Member States, bringing together the different stakeholders and discussing together with all of them the present situation of social exclusion of people with mental health problems as well as developing policy proposals and strategies for social inclusion of people with mental health problems;
• in each of the EU Member States, approaching the responsible officials for the National Reports on Strategies on Social Protection and Social Inclusion and participating in the monitoring and implementation of the Reports as well as advocating strategies for social inclusion of people with mental health problems to be included in the future Reports dealing;
• disseminating the results of the activities at all levels, local, national, regional and European, through press releases and other publications, the use of media (e.g. local newspapers and television), presentations at meetings, the MHE General Assembly etc.

As MHE has member organisations in all the 27 EU Member States, one member organisation in each Member States will become a focal point under the present work programme. The focal points will at the same time become “country coordinators” for all the other MHE member organisations in the country. The project partners of the previous “Good Practices” project will serve as “trainers” for the new focal points, each one of them linking up, or twinning, with one or two MHE member organisations from the neighbouring countries.

A European Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from different European networks will be established and asked to comment on the developments and outcomes of the work done in the area of social inclusion from their specific (related to content), local (related to knowledge about the local, national and regional situation) and European point of view. This will inform MHE and the focal points, as well as it will offer an opportunity for the European networks to enter into dialogue and exchange regarding their specific approach to the fight against social exclusion and poverty.

The expected result of the present work programme is to promote the social inclusion of people with mental health problems, i.e. to work towards a European society in which all people enjoy a high level of mental health, live as full citizens and have access to their human rights and to appropriate services and support when needed, through a better integration of mental health issues into the social inclusion process at the local, national, regional and European level.

For further information: contact the MHE Secretariat, E-mail info@mhe-sme.org, Tel +32 2 2800468

Mental Health Europe (MHE) responded to the Commission consultation on health services by contributing to the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and European Patients Forum (EPF)’s responses submitted to the Commission on 30 January 2007.

Mental Health Europe’s key comments to the communication are:

• MHE calls for health service organisation to be based on principles of accessibility, coordinated care, continuity of care, effectiveness, equity and respect for human rights.
• MHE urges the mental health and well-being dimension of patients’ mobility to be taken into account. Information provided by health services shall be accurate, reliable, and “handled with care”. Providing misleading or incomplete information as well as communicating it poorly can negatively affect patients’ mental health. In particular, the information provided should avoid generating unrealistic expectations or false beliefs about patient’s own health, treatment and care. Evidence shows that patients having realistic expectations are likely to cope better with their own health problems. Consequently, it is essential that provision of information leads to shared expectations between professionals and patients.
• MHE believes that the patients’ autonomy and freedom of choice must be respected. Patients should be supplied with useful information enabling them to make their own judgments both on the health treatment and on their health status. The needs and opinions of the patients should be taken into account. The involvement of consumer and family organizations in service planning and delivery should be encouraged and increased.
• MHE makes a plea for the establishment of a Community framework to support the provision of mental health services. In several Member States the process of deinstitutionalisation has led to a significant reduction in the number of mental health hospitals, and to a consequent increase in the demand for community-based mental health services. Experience shows that the provision of these services has been inadequate and that access to these services has been uneven. Action at the EU level is therefore needed to put emphasis on developing community mental health care services and coordinate them with general health services. Such an action will facilitate the access to mental health services and reduce the stigma associated with seeking help from stand-alone mental health professionals.

For more information: MHE Secretariat, Tel +32 280 04 68, E-mail info@mhe-sme.org
To read EPHA and EPF’s responses: www.epha.org and http://www.eu-patient.eu/

The new website of the Mental Health Economics European Network (MHEEN II), led by the London School of Economics and Political Science and coordinated by Mental Health Europe, is now up and running. The website will be updated continuously and will provide information related to MHEENII partners and project activities, as well as news from other networks and key events on mental health economics issues.

A MHEENII fact sheet with key information about the project, its membership, aims and outcomes can be downloaded at:
http://www.mheen.org/Members%20only%20documents/Working%20documents/MHEENII%20Fact%20Sheet_v.6.pdf

For more information: the MHEENII website, www.mheen.org, or contact Mari Fresu, at mari.fresu@mhe-sme.org

On 5-6 February 2007, John Henderson, MHE Senior Policy Advisor, attended the IMHPA (Implementing Mental Health Promotion Action) Project meeting in Leiden (Netherlands).

From 5 to 8 February 2007, Sogol Noorani, Project Coordinator, and Elisabeth Muschik, MHE Vice-President, participated in the field exchange visit to Prague (Czech Republic) and Bratislava (Slovakia) in the frame of the project "Good practices for combating social exclusion for people with mental health problems".

On 7-8 February 2007, Ms. Ali Brummer, from the MHE member organisation Finnish Association for Mental Health, represented MHE at the Helsinki High-Level Conference on Healthcare Financing, which occurred in Helsinki (Finland).

On 8-9 February 2007, Elisabeth Muschik, MHE Vice-President, attended a high-level conference on the European Social Model, which took place in Nuremberg (Germany).

On 12-13 February 2007, Mary Van Dievel, MHE Director, Mari Fresu, Project Coordinator, and Fanny Muller, Information Officer, represented MHE at the first coordination meeting of the PROMENPOL project, which took place in Brussels (Belgium).

On 19 February 2007, Mary Van Dievel had a meeting with Reinis Upenieks, President of the Latvian organisation SKALBES.

On 20 February 2007, Mari Fresu had a meeting with Mrs. Almhjell, Senior Advisor from the Vestfold County Council of Eastern Norway, to discuss youth and mental health policies and funding opportunities at EU level.

On 23-24 February 2007, Josée Van Remoortel, MHE Senior Policy Advisor, attended the EDF (European disability Forum) Board meeting in Berlin (Germany).
On the same dates, Colette Versporten, MHE Board Member, represented MHE at the CEMEA (Centre d'Entraînement aux Méthodes d'Education) conference n Picardie (France).

From 26 to 28 February 2007, Sogol Noorani and Malgorzata Kmita, MHE President, participated in the field exchange visits of the Good Practices project to Edinburgh (Scotland).

On 27 February 2007, a meeting between the European Commission's Social Inclusion Unit and the EU Networks active in the social inclusion and protection process was organised in Brussels. Mary Van Dievel attended the meeting and presented Mental Health Europe.

On 28 February 2007, Mari Fresu attended the Information Day on the 2007 Call for proposals for Public Health in Luxembourg (Luxembourg).