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NEWSLETTER — JAMHWB
August 2015/2
In this issue:
Joint Action on Mental Health and Well-being
Greetings from the coordinator, José Miguel Caldas de Almeida,
MD, PhD. We are pleased to bring you updated information on the
work developed by the EU Joint Action on Mental Health and
Well-being.
In the last two years working groups, integrating
representatives of governments, universi-ties, professionals,
users, families and other stakeholders, analysed the situation in
Europe in each of the five main areas of the Joint Action: a)
prevention of depression and suicide; b) developing community-based
and socially inclusive mental health care for people with severe
mental disorders; c) mental health at the workplace; d) mental
health in schools; and e) integration of mental health in all
policies.
With the collaboration of experts, they collected and analysed
new data, gathered infor-mation using different methodologies, and
reviewed the available knowledge that may contribute to improve the
effectiveness and sustainability of future initiatives.
Based on this information, each Work Package drafted
recommendations for action that were extensively discussed and
improved with the participation of all relevant stakehold-ers. This
Newsletter includes information about some of the most
representative activities and initiatives developed to attain those
objectives in the last few months; many others were also held
across EU.
The reports with the situation analysis and the policy
recommendations are now available for a large dissemination and
discussion until the final conference to be held in January
2016.
Lets work together to put these recommendations into action.
José Miguel Caldas de Almeida (Coordinator, JA on Mental Health
and Well-being)
Greetings
Stakeholders Meeting in Brussels
MH in All Policies Conference in Helsinki
Community-based Approaches Meeting
in Madrid
The Increasing Burden of Depression
Links / Upcoming Events and Projects
Editorial team:
Dora Gudmundsdottir and Ellen Sif Saevarsdottir
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Stakeholders Meeting in Brussels
On the 25th of February 2015 a Stakeholders Meeting of the Joint
Action on Mental Health and Well-Being (JAMHWB) was held at the
Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels. The meeting aimed at sharing,
with relevant stakeholders of Europe, the work developed thus far
in each thematic Work Package (WP) and discuss the collaboration of
stakeholders in the next steps of the JAMHWB. Around 46
participants attended the meeting including representatives from 40
institutions of European organizations, NGO's interested in mental
health and well-being, professional, users and families
associations, and of other EU projects related with mental health
issues.
JM Caldas de Almeida, coordinator of the JAMHWB, opened the
meeting presenting a brief overview of the JAMHWB. Jürgen
Scheftlein, from DG Sante, presented the current situation of
mental health in Europe, discussed the challenges for the future,
and summarised the main activities developed by the European
Commission to promote mental health policies in Europe. The
situation analysis and recommendations for action from the five
thematic WPs were then presented by György Purebl and Ionela Petrea
(WP 4), JM Caldas de Almeida (WP 5), Gregor Breucker (WP 6),
Lorenzo Rampazzo (WP 7), and Kristian Wahlbeck and Johannes
Parkkonen (WP 8), followed by participants’ comments and discussion
on the issues. In the last part of the meeting several participants
stressed the high level of the discussion that had taken place and
the importance of promoting a wide participation of all
stakeholders in the dissemination and implementation of the JA
recommendations. All organisations offered to actively participate
in the future work of the JA. The importance of feedback given by
the stakeholders on the situation analysis and recommendations
presented was underlined, and an important “take home” message was
to make clear how to go from a framework for action to the
implementation of the recommendations.
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Successful Mental Health in All Policies conference held in
Helsinki
Mental Health in All Policies (MHiAP) conference brought
together a broad range of experts, decision makers and other
stakeholders in Helsinki 11-12 May, 2015. Conference theme was
Supporting sustainability and growth in Europe, which vividly
highlighted the importance of mental health and wellbeing as one of
the success factors for flourishing societies and a prerequisite
for economic growth. The conference participants reached a
consensus that social, economic and physical environments have a
great impact on mental health. Thus, mental health is promoted most
effectively by efforts of different policy sectors at all levels of
decision making, with the lead coordinating role usually resting
with the health sector. However, due to differences between
countries, there is no single model to follow, making ongoing
information sharing and dialogue between countries important in
ensuring efficient implementation of good practices.
On numerous occasions during the conference it was also
emphasised that many important social determinants of mental health
are not only social, but also structural that can lead to social
exclusion or being shut out from employment. Therefore, the MHiAP
approach should also champion policy interventions addressing
structural determinants that operate within and increasingly across
all countries. These interventions will produce downstream
beneficial effects on people’s mental health.
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Successful Mental Health in All Policies conference held in
Helsinki (continued)
Participants at the conference came mainly from the Nordic and
Baltic countries and represented civil servants and other
influencers from a variety of sectors and national, regional and
local levels of government. There were also representatives from
international and local NGOs as well as academic researchers. The
plenaries and breakout sessions covered, for example, costs and
benefits of addressing mental health issues, mental health
promotion across the lifespan, workforce mental health and
productivity, and cities as platforms for mental health. Good
practices for partnerships across sectors and for mental health
impact assessment and implementation were also discussed. The
delegates also worked together to start shaping conference
conclusions, which were finalised by end of June 2015 and the full
version can be viewed at:
http://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/assets/docs/publications/MHiAP%20Conference%20Conclusions%2011-12%20May%202015%20Helsinki.pdf.
The conference was organised jointly by The Finnish Association
for Mental Health, The Finnish Ministry for Social Affairs and
Health, and The Health Unit of the Consumers, Health, Agriculture
and Food Executive Agency (Chafea). The conference presentation
documents are available from:
http://chafea-mental-health-event.eu/documentation.jsp and the
sessions can be viewed in web stream at:
http://ec.europa.eu/chafea/health/mental-health-webstreaming_en.html.
http://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/assets/docs/publications/MHiAP%20Conference%20Conclusions%2011-12%20May%202015%20Helsinki.pdfhttp://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/assets/docs/publications/MHiAP%20Conference%20Conclusions%2011-12%20May%202015%20Helsinki.pdfhttp://chafea-mental-health-event.eu/documentation.jsphttp://chafea-mental-health-event.eu/documentation.jsphttp://ec.europa.eu/chafea/health/mental-health-webstreaming_en.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/chafea/health/mental-health-webstreaming_en.html
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Third Community-Based and Socially Inclusive Mental Health Care
Work-package meeting held in Madrid
The third Joint Action Work-Package 5 (WP5) meeting, dedicated
to Community-Based and Socially Inclusive Mental Health Care, took
place in Madrid, in February 2015, with the participation of the
following partners: Countries: Italy, Portugal, Spain, Austria,
Hungary, Bulgaria, Ireland and Estonia; NGO’s - EUFAMI, ESN,
GAMIAN, ENUSP and MHE. The main topics addressed at the meeting
were the overview of the Joint Action last developments, the
planning for the third year and the conclusion of the WP5 Report.
The report, to be published in the middle of 2015, will include the
survey results on the transition to community care, a literature
review, examples of good practices across Europe and a SWOT
analysis in participating countries. These data, which allowed the
development of Policy Recommendations on transition to community
care, is completed with a set of actions per implementation area
that build on the conclusions of the final report. The last year of
the WP5 activities will be dedicated to the dissemination and
implementation of policy recommendations. Capacity building
activities will be at the core of this final stage of the Joint
Action utilising several strategies, including barriers to policy
implementation assessments and shared capacity building between EU
countries, benefiting from different strategies and experiences
across Europe in mental health policy implementation.
Successful actions can be further replicated in other EU
Countries, supporting the need to have a European network dedicated
to mental health services improvement, which lasts beyond the end
of the project.
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The increasing burden of depression
According to the recent update of the Global Burden of Disease
Study, between 1990 and 2013, major unipolar
depression (MDD) had a 53.4% increase in prevalence and a 53.4%
in percentage change in YLDs, and
consequently became the second most frequent cause of years
lived with disability YLDs globally. Recently
depression became one of the six leading causes of YLDs in
almost all European countries, and became a major
public health challenge.
The cost of depression corresponds to 1% of the total economy of
Europe (GDP). A majority of costs (between
65-85%, estimated at € 76 billion) arise indirectly from loss of
productivity, increased morbidity, sickness
absence, early retirement and from increased mortality.
Depression becomes an emerging economic challenge
as well. There are about 58,000 suicides in the EU every year.
There are eight Member States that are amongst
the 15 countries with the highest male suicide rate in the
world. Every 9 minutes an EU citizen commits
suicide. These dramatic figures invocate aligned actions on an
international, national and local community
level. Tackling depression and suicide became an important
policy level imperative in Europe.
The status report
The status report of WP4 revealed that despite the previous
efforts of tackling depression and suicide, and
despite the existing best practises in Europe, under-recognition
of depression is frequent; it is estimated that
around 50% of the cases remain undetected. Despite the existing
best practises in Europe, several unmet
needs can be identified and may lead to the limited outcome of
treatment. Although there are numerous
available evidence-based suicide prevention tools also, these
are not fully exploited in Europe.
Nevertheless, best practices have been invested in Europe thus
far and provide good examples for
implementation.
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The increasing burden of depression (continued)
Priority recommendations
Engage stakeholders at the government level to update health
legislation to include depression and suicide
as a priority public health imperative.
Take measures against economic exclusion; promote social
participation of individuals with mental health
problems during times of economic crisis. Support protective
social networks.
Promote the systematic data collection about depression and
suicide, about the responsible media
communication of suicidal events, and the restriction of lethal
means and alcohol.
Stimulate investment in programmes targeted at families and high
risk groups as well as targeting school
pupils, adolescents and teachers.
Stimulate investment in programmes increasing the recognition of
depression in the health sector, in
general health care especially among patients with chronic
conditions.
Increase the accessibility of treatment for depression through
the increased accessibility of evidence-based
psychotherapies, E-mental health tools, psychiatric care and the
availability of low threshold support in
crisis.
Strengthen the community response to mental health problems and
reduce stigma.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND PROJECTS
21 -24 September. Capacity building workshop from WP5 -
Budapest/Hungary. 16 - 17 November. Meeting of the Group of
Governmental Experts on Mental health and Well-being - Luxembourg.
21 - 22 January. Concluding Conference of the Joint Action on
Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Health in All Policies Task Force. Report to
the Strategic Growth Council (2010)
Intersectoral Governance for Health in All Pol-
icies – Structures, actions and experiences
(2012)
The Helsinki Statement on Health in All Poli-
cies (2013)
Health in All Policies – Seizing opportunities,
implementing policies (2013)
Mental health Systems in the European Union
Member States, Status of Mental Health in
Populations and Benefits to be Expected from
Investments into Mental Health (EuroPoPP-
MH) (2013)
Lithuanian Presidency conference “Mental
Health: Challenges and possibilities”
(presentations) in Vilnius of 10-11 October
(2013)
LINKS
Conclusions Lithuanian Presidency confer-
ence in Vilnius of 10-11 October (2013)
Social Determinants of Mental Health (2014)
EU-Compass for Action on Mental Health and
Well being (2015)
WHO MiND bank (2015)
MHiAP conference conclusion, Helsinki 11-12
May (2015)
http://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/events/concluding-conference-of-the-joint-action-on-mental-health-and-wellbeinghttp://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/events/concluding-conference-of-the-joint-action-on-mental-health-and-wellbeinghttp://sgc.ca.gov/docs/HiAP_Task_Force_Report-_Dec_2010.pdfhttp://sgc.ca.gov/docs/HiAP_Task_Force_Report-_Dec_2010.pdfhttp://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/171707/Intersectoral-governance-for-health-in-all-policies.pdfhttp://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/171707/Intersectoral-governance-for-health-in-all-policies.pdfhttp://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/171707/Intersectoral-governance-for-health-in-all-policies.pdfhttp://www.healthpromotion2013.org/images/8GCHP_Helsinki_Statement.pdfhttp://www.healthpromotion2013.org/images/8GCHP_Helsinki_Statement.pdfhttp://www.stm.fi/julkaisut/nayta/-/_julkaisu/1856359http://www.stm.fi/julkaisut/nayta/-/_julkaisu/1856359http://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/europopp-mh_full_report_merged2_7.pdfhttp://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/europopp-mh_full_report_merged2_7.pdfhttp://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/europopp-mh_full_report_merged2_7.pdfhttp://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/europopp-mh_full_report_merged2_7.pdfhttp://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/europopp-mh_full_report_merged2_7.pdfhttp://vpsc.lt/index.php?option=com_filecabinet&view=files&id=1&Itemid=69&lang=enhttp://vpsc.lt/index.php?option=com_filecabinet&view=files&id=1&Itemid=69&lang=enhttp://vpsc.lt/index.php?option=com_filecabinet&view=files&id=1&Itemid=69&lang=enhttp://vpsc.lt/index.php?option=com_filecabinet&view=files&id=1&Itemid=69&lang=enhttp://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/vilnius_conference_conclusions_final_10_11_10_13.pdfhttp://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/sites/default/files/inline/Yhteiskunta/JointAction/vilnius_conference_conclusions_final_10_11_10_13.pdfhttp://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/gulbenkian_paper_social_determinants_of_mental_health/en/http://ec.europa.eu/health/mental_health/eu_compass/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/health/mental_health/eu_compass/index_en.htmhttp://www.mindbank.info/http://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/assets/docs/publications/MHiAP%20Conference%20Conclusions%2011-12%20May%202015%20Helsinki.pdfhttp://www.mentalhealthandwellbeing.eu/assets/docs/publications/MHiAP%20Conference%20Conclusions%2011-12%20May%202015%20Helsinki.pdf