MHE capacity building seminar – Vienna, 30 May 2007
Mental Health Europe will organise a capacity-building seminar for all its members, preceding its conference and General Assembly in Vienna (Austria). The seminar will be held on Wednesday 30 May from 9.30-17.30.
The aim of the seminar is:
The aim of the seminar is:
- to provide assistance, including specialised training, to mental health organisations in order to strengthen their capacity to fight the social exclusion of people with mental health problems;
- to make available information about the social inclusion process at the European and national level that mental health organisations can use to improve the situation of social exclusion of people with mental health problems in their countries;
- to promote dialogue and exchange of experiences and information between mental health organisations, within each Member State, at the national, regional and local level;
- to encourage the creation of national networks or platforms for dissemination of relevant European level information for the mental health sector.
MHE conference “No Health without Mental Health – From Slogan to Reality”, Vienna (Austria), 31 May – 2 June 2007
The MHE conference will focus on the outcomes of the consultation process of the European Commission’s Green Paper “Improving he Mental Health of the population” and the upcoming strategy for the next years.
The focus of the conference will be on the connection and the coherence between the different European policies and the impact they have on the mental health of the population. Lectures, roundtable discussions and workshops will give opportunity for sharing information and deepening knowledge but also for exchange of good practice.
Participants coming from all European countries will be encouraged to discuss the possibilities of implementing strategies on mental health throughout the whole life-span and to initiate co-operation between the different organisations and institutions working on mental health issues at the national and European level.
The conference is structured as follows:
The focus of the conference will be on the connection and the coherence between the different European policies and the impact they have on the mental health of the population. Lectures, roundtable discussions and workshops will give opportunity for sharing information and deepening knowledge but also for exchange of good practice.
Participants coming from all European countries will be encouraged to discuss the possibilities of implementing strategies on mental health throughout the whole life-span and to initiate co-operation between the different organisations and institutions working on mental health issues at the national and European level.
The conference is structured as follows:
- the first day (Thursday 31 May) will focus on the European level policies and strategies, and their implementation at the national level;
- the second day (Friday 1 June) will be devoted to a series of workshops, with contributions from the local, national, regional grassroots level;
- on the third day (Saturday 2 June) the reports from the Round Tables and Workshops will be presented and Recommendations will be formulated; in a final plenary session, the lessons learned for implementation at the national level will be discussed.
New CAMHEE project
A new project funded by the EU Public Health program "Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Enlarged EU - Development of Effective Policies and Practices" (CAMHEE) has started in January 2007.
In the light of the Declaration and Action Plan endorsed at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health (January 2005, Helsinki, Finland), the project aims to provide a set of recommendations and guidelines for effective child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policies and practices in the European Union (EU), with a special emphasis on new EU Member States and accession countries.
To achieve this goal the project will focus on four main objectives:
The CAMHEE project involves 35 associate partners from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and United Kingdom.
A website of the project will be soon available.
For more information, please contact Dainius Puras, Scientific leader of the project, at dainius.puras@mf.vu.lt
Thanks to Dainius Puras, Associate Professor of Vilnius University, for this contribution.
In the light of the Declaration and Action Plan endorsed at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health (January 2005, Helsinki, Finland), the project aims to provide a set of recommendations and guidelines for effective child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policies and practices in the European Union (EU), with a special emphasis on new EU Member States and accession countries.
To achieve this goal the project will focus on four main objectives:
- To create a network of partners within the EU, which will adopt and implement modern and effective public health approaches in the new EU Member States and accession countries;
- To develop guidelines and recommendations in the field of CAMH for the national and regional policies of the participating countries, based on evidence obtained through an independent analysis of the countries' situation, including an analysis of the context, resources, processes and outcomes;
- To initiate and support activities in new Member States and accession countries in the field of CAMH, with a special focus on the implementation of effective and evidence-based policies and practices based on the involvement and participations of children, families and communities;
- On the basis of the information, shared experience of the network and knowledge received through joint activities of all the project partners, to advise the European Union and the Member States on mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention among children and adolescents, with a special focus on the management of the changes needed in the new Member States to move from inherited patterns of institutionalisation and medicalisation to modern public health approaches based on the involvement of children, youth, parents and communities.
- Prevention of destructive and self-destructive patterns of behaviour in school settings;
- Development of modern approaches in parent training, with special emphasis on parents who have mental disorders or represent other risk groups;
- Development of effective community based activities in the field of CAMH, as alternatives to the tradition of institutionalisation and social exclusion, ant to provide tools for an economic evaluation of this process.
The CAMHEE project involves 35 associate partners from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and United Kingdom.
A website of the project will be soon available.
For more information, please contact Dainius Puras, Scientific leader of the project, at dainius.puras@mf.vu.lt
Thanks to Dainius Puras, Associate Professor of Vilnius University, for this contribution.
MHE study on the allocation of personal budget to people with mental health problems
Mental Health Europe has just released the final results of its survey on the allocation of personal budget to people with mental health problems.
The survey was designed to determine whether people with mental health problems benefit from the "personal budget" that is allocated to people with disability and older people in various European countries.
The term "personal budget" includes a variety of approaches which directly fund disabled and older people to employ their own personnel and organise their own care.
The central idea behind the personal budget concept is to place the person who is supported, or given services, at the centre of the process and to give them the power to decide the nature of their own support.
Alongside other stakeholders, MHE is campaigning for independent living, i.e. the shift from institutional to community-based services for people with mental health problems, and for a more equal relationship between mental health service users and service providers, where the former are enabled to manage their own personal support system. The wide survey on "personal budget" that MHE launched in November 2005 has been part of this effort.
The final results of the survey make clear that there is still a long way to go in this respect. Yet, only a small number of countries provide a legal framework for personal budget. As might be expected, there are also various similarities and differences in the systems and approaches to personal budget prevailing in Europe. These reflect a range of priorities in the management of social and health care in European countries.
The process is, however, moving forward and new developments are expected in some Member States.
MHE believes that the issue of personal budget, whose aim is to enhance the independence of people with mental health problems, as well as disabled and older people, should be given greater consideration by European, national and local authorities and decision-makers.
Personal budget brings in an essential transformation in the traditional relationship between service providers and service users. It offers to mental health service users a significant decision making responsibility and marks a distinctive move towards their empowerment and self-determination.
The study can be downloaded from the MHE website at:
http://www.mhe-sme.org/.../Final%20Results%20of%20the%20MHE%20Survey%20on%20Personal%20Budget.pdf
The survey was designed to determine whether people with mental health problems benefit from the "personal budget" that is allocated to people with disability and older people in various European countries.
The term "personal budget" includes a variety of approaches which directly fund disabled and older people to employ their own personnel and organise their own care.
The central idea behind the personal budget concept is to place the person who is supported, or given services, at the centre of the process and to give them the power to decide the nature of their own support.
Alongside other stakeholders, MHE is campaigning for independent living, i.e. the shift from institutional to community-based services for people with mental health problems, and for a more equal relationship between mental health service users and service providers, where the former are enabled to manage their own personal support system. The wide survey on "personal budget" that MHE launched in November 2005 has been part of this effort.
The final results of the survey make clear that there is still a long way to go in this respect. Yet, only a small number of countries provide a legal framework for personal budget. As might be expected, there are also various similarities and differences in the systems and approaches to personal budget prevailing in Europe. These reflect a range of priorities in the management of social and health care in European countries.
The process is, however, moving forward and new developments are expected in some Member States.
MHE believes that the issue of personal budget, whose aim is to enhance the independence of people with mental health problems, as well as disabled and older people, should be given greater consideration by European, national and local authorities and decision-makers.
Personal budget brings in an essential transformation in the traditional relationship between service providers and service users. It offers to mental health service users a significant decision making responsibility and marks a distinctive move towards their empowerment and self-determination.
The study can be downloaded from the MHE website at:
http://www.mhe-sme.org/.../Final%20Results%20of%20the%20MHE%20Survey%20on%20Personal%20Budget.pdf
MHE representation at various meetings
On 1 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel, MHE Director, flew to Copenhagen (Denmark) to meet with Palle Heilesen, Office Manager of the MHE member organisation SIND (Danish Association for Mental Health). After that, she met with Margarethe Ahlefeldt from the Egmont Fonden, together with MHE Board member Marianne Kastrup.
On the same day, Sogol Noorani, Project Coordinator, attended the meeting of the promoters of the 2nd transnational Exchange Programme projects, organised by the European Commission, DG EMPL: Social Protection and Integration, and gave a presentation on the MHE led project "Good Practices for Combating Social Exclusion of People with Mental Health Problems".
On 2 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel had a meeting in Aalborg with Jens Ibsen, President SIND North Denmark, Finn Graa Jakobsen, President SIND Denmark, Inger Grønhøj, Psychiatry Consultant, and Anne-Grethe Rasmussen, Educational Consultant – Psychiatry, for a first discussion about the MHE conference 2008.
On the same day, Mari Fresu, Project Coordinator, and Sogol Noorani participated in the European Commission's Info Day on European research activities concerning Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), which took place in Brussels (Belgium).
On 5 March 2007, Sogol Noorani participated in the Services of General Interest Working Party, organised by the Social Platform in Brussels (Belgium).
On 6 and 26 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel met with Elisabeth Muschik, Vice-President, to further discuss the MHE conference in Vienna.
On 9 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Sogol Noorani met with Mrs. Marie-Anne Paraskevas from the Social Inclusion Unit, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, to discuss about her involvement in the MHE capacity-building seminar, the MHE conference in Vienna and the final seminar for the EU project on "Good practices for combating social exclusion of people with mental health problems".
On 15 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Josée Van Remoortel, Senior Policy Advisor participated in a celebration at the Flemish Federation for community mental health centres in Gent.
On 17-18 March, Elisabeth Muschik attended the meeting of the European Disability Forum’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee in Brussels.
On 20 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Mari Fresu had a meeting with Dr Albert Jan Schutte from Organon and representatives from Weber Shandwick to exchange information on mental health policies and schizophrenia.
On 21 March 2007, Mari Fresu represented MHE at the launch event of the Bulgarian HIT Health System Review, which took place in the European Parliament in Brussels.
On 22 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel participated in a meeting with Eufami, Astra Zeneca and Hill&Knowlton on the follow up of the EC Green Paper on Mental Health.
From 22 to 23 March 2007, Sogol Noorani, Malgorzata Kmita, President, and Josée Van Remoortel participated in the field visits organised in Belgium in the framework of the project "Good practices for combating the social exclusion of people with mental health problems". Mary Van Dievel, Elisabeth Muschik and John Henderson, Senior Policy Advisor, took part in the first part of the partners meeting.
On 24 March 2007, they attended the project's partners meeting in Brussels.
On 23 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel, Mari Fresu and John Henderson had a teleconference call with the London School of Economics to discuss further activities of the Mental Health Economics Network and further collaboration opportunities.
On 24 March 2007, a meeting of the MHE Executive Committee took place in Brussels.
On 27 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Elisabeth Muschik, Vice-President, participated in the Social Platform General Assembly in Brussels.
On 28 March 2007 in the morning, Sogol Noorani attended the preparatory meeting of the 4th Round Table on Poverty, organised in Brussels.
In the afternoon Sogol Noorani participated in the Thematic Review Seminar "Modernising and activating benefit and social protection systems to promote employment".
On 29 March 2007, Fanny Muller, Information Officer, represented MHE at the European Patients' Rights Day, held in the European Parliament in Brussels.
On the same day, Sogol Noorani, Project Coordinator, attended the meeting of the promoters of the 2nd transnational Exchange Programme projects, organised by the European Commission, DG EMPL: Social Protection and Integration, and gave a presentation on the MHE led project "Good Practices for Combating Social Exclusion of People with Mental Health Problems".
On 2 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel had a meeting in Aalborg with Jens Ibsen, President SIND North Denmark, Finn Graa Jakobsen, President SIND Denmark, Inger Grønhøj, Psychiatry Consultant, and Anne-Grethe Rasmussen, Educational Consultant – Psychiatry, for a first discussion about the MHE conference 2008.
On the same day, Mari Fresu, Project Coordinator, and Sogol Noorani participated in the European Commission's Info Day on European research activities concerning Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), which took place in Brussels (Belgium).
On 5 March 2007, Sogol Noorani participated in the Services of General Interest Working Party, organised by the Social Platform in Brussels (Belgium).
On 6 and 26 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel met with Elisabeth Muschik, Vice-President, to further discuss the MHE conference in Vienna.
On 9 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Sogol Noorani met with Mrs. Marie-Anne Paraskevas from the Social Inclusion Unit, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, to discuss about her involvement in the MHE capacity-building seminar, the MHE conference in Vienna and the final seminar for the EU project on "Good practices for combating social exclusion of people with mental health problems".
On 15 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Josée Van Remoortel, Senior Policy Advisor participated in a celebration at the Flemish Federation for community mental health centres in Gent.
On 17-18 March, Elisabeth Muschik attended the meeting of the European Disability Forum’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee in Brussels.
On 20 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Mari Fresu had a meeting with Dr Albert Jan Schutte from Organon and representatives from Weber Shandwick to exchange information on mental health policies and schizophrenia.
On 21 March 2007, Mari Fresu represented MHE at the launch event of the Bulgarian HIT Health System Review, which took place in the European Parliament in Brussels.
On 22 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel participated in a meeting with Eufami, Astra Zeneca and Hill&Knowlton on the follow up of the EC Green Paper on Mental Health.
From 22 to 23 March 2007, Sogol Noorani, Malgorzata Kmita, President, and Josée Van Remoortel participated in the field visits organised in Belgium in the framework of the project "Good practices for combating the social exclusion of people with mental health problems". Mary Van Dievel, Elisabeth Muschik and John Henderson, Senior Policy Advisor, took part in the first part of the partners meeting.
On 24 March 2007, they attended the project's partners meeting in Brussels.
On 23 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel, Mari Fresu and John Henderson had a teleconference call with the London School of Economics to discuss further activities of the Mental Health Economics Network and further collaboration opportunities.
On 24 March 2007, a meeting of the MHE Executive Committee took place in Brussels.
On 27 March 2007, Mary Van Dievel and Elisabeth Muschik, Vice-President, participated in the Social Platform General Assembly in Brussels.
On 28 March 2007 in the morning, Sogol Noorani attended the preparatory meeting of the 4th Round Table on Poverty, organised in Brussels.
In the afternoon Sogol Noorani participated in the Thematic Review Seminar "Modernising and activating benefit and social protection systems to promote employment".
On 29 March 2007, Fanny Muller, Information Officer, represented MHE at the European Patients' Rights Day, held in the European Parliament in Brussels.