Projects | ENMHP

Psychosocial RIsk MAnagement – Excellence Framework

Tilia Bousios — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:08:51 GMT

Work-related psychosocial risks have been identified as one of the major contemporary challenges for occupational health and safety; and are linked to such workplace problems as work-related stress, violence, harassment and bullying. PRIMA-EF aims at providing policy makers, employers, trade unions, experts and employees with a comprehensive best practice framework for psychosocial risk management at the workplace. PRIMA-EF is part of the World Health Organization’s Healthy Workplaces Framework.

Maximising Employee Performance by Minimising the Impact of Substances in the Workplace

Tilia Bousios — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:53:00 GMT

This is a two-year project, started in 2009, with partners in 7 countries. The aim of the MEPMIS Project is to develop a training resource (web based, & face to face for trainers and managers in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that will equip them with the appropriate skills and sufficient knowledge and understanding to enable them to deal both proactively and reactively with the issue of substances and their impact on work / employment.

Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing

Argyro Kazaki — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:01:43 GMT

The Foresight Project “Mental Capital and Well-Being” was implemented between July 2006 and October 2008 under the supervision of the UK Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills for the UK Cabinet Office.

The Foresight Project “Mental Capital and Well-Being” was implemented between July 2006 and October 2008 under the supervision of the UK Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills for the UK Cabinet Office.

The project’s aim was to advise the UK Government on ways to achieve the best possible mental development and mental well-being in the population. To deliver this, the project undertook a scientific effort of unprecedented scale to identify risks to mental health, which can be expected for the next 20 years, and to identify possible interventions together with their costs and returns.

The project develops suggestions, which focus on the role of the UK Government, business and individuals. The project's major conclusions are:

Together with material resources, mental resources are vital but vulnerable resources to learn, prosper and thrive in a changing society and in an increasingly interconnected and competitive world;
Action to improve mental capital and wellbeing could have very high economic and social returns.

Although the project was designed for the UK-context, its findings are also relevance for other Member States and the EU as a whole. More information together with the project reports at the projects website.

European Alliance Against Depression

Argyro Kazaki — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:46:24 GMT

The EAAD is a multilevel, community-based awareness programme to improve the care of depressed patients and prevent suicidality in Europe. Action programmes fostering partnerships and bringing together regional and national authorities to promote the care of depressed patients are urgently needed. In 2001 the “Nuremberg Alliance Against Depression” was initiated as a community-based model project within the large-scaled “German Research Network on Depression and Suicidality” (Kompetenznetz “Depression, Suizidalität”). The “Nuremberg Alliance Against Depression” was a 4-level action programme, conducted in the city of Nuremberg (500,000 inhabitants) in 2001/2002, addressing 4 parallel intervention levels (Hegerl et al. 2006). Based on the positive results of the Nuremberg project (a significant reduction of suicidal behaviour by more than 20%) 18 international partners representing 16 different European countries established the “European Alliance Against Depression” in 2004. All regional partners initiated respective regional intervention programmes addressing depression and suicidality. Evaluation of the activities takes place on regional and international level. The manual is available in German and English. The European Commission presented the EAAD project as one of the most promising strategies in the area of mental health at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health in Helsinki and listed EAAD in its Green Paper (European Commission 2005). The EAAD project and its objectives
National action programmes targeting to improve the situation of persons suffering from depression and being at risk to die by suicide are urgently needed. The “European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD)” is committed to the care of depressed patients and prevention of suicidality in Europe. This aim is being realised by implementing community-based intervention programmes on four different levels. The basic concept of the 4-level approach is based on the experiences made within the “Nuremberg Alliance Against Depression”, a study that has recently been conducted in the framework of the “German Research Network on Depression and Suicidality” (funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; for further information see Hegerl et al. 2006).

The 4-level approach
Within EAAD community-based intervention programmes are being implemented in 17 European regions. The intervention will take place on different levels of the health care system at the same time in order to establish synergy effects. The following measures are to be taken:
Co-operation with general practitioners and paediatricians
GPs and paediatricians are invited to educational workshops on how to recognise and treat depression and explore suicidality in the primary care setting. Information material (e.g. video tapes) are distributed that can be handed out to patients. Via a hotline GPs and paediatricians can consult a specialist concerning the treatment of individual cases of depression in their practice. The famous “Gotland Study” (Rutz et al. 1989, 1992) suggests that education of GPs may contribute to a reduction of suicidality.
Public Awareness Campaign and co-operation with local media
The broad public will be addressed by large-scaled public awareness campaigns including posters, cinema spots, information leaflets, brochures, public events and internet homepages. The aim is to improve the knowledge about adequate treatments of depression and to reduce the stigmatisation of the topic “depression” and the affected individuals. A close co-operation with the media takes place to strengthen the public discussion. Special guidelines on media coverage of suicidality are distributed to prevent imitative suicides.
Training sessions for multipliers
Educational workshops are provided to various target groups ( e.g. health care professionals, priests, counsellors, police) playing an important role in disseminating knowledge about depressive disorders. Particular emphasis is put on special offers for parents, youth workers and teachers in order to reach children and adolescents suffering from depression, deliberate self harm and suicidal behaviour (e.g. information sessions and prevention programmes in schools).
Offers for high risk groups and self-help activities
”Emergency Cards” are handed out to high risk groups, first of all young people in adolescent crisis and persons after suicide attempt) guaranteeing direct access to professional help in a suicidal crisis. Initiatives are started to found regional self-help groups and support them with expert advice. Partnerships with patient associations are being established and intensified.

Materials
The manual is available in German and English. A variety of “best practice” materials for the EAAD 4-level intervention programme are available. The material has been translated in different European languages and adapted to regional requirements. The material catalogue contains posters, placards, leaflets, videotapes and a cinema spot for the broad public, training packages addressing general practitioners and community facilitators, and special information material offering concrete advice and help for people who are bereaved or survivors of suicidal persons. Materials and support will be provided by the EAAD project office for all members of the EAAD.

Evaluation and scientific evidence
The community-based intervention programme conducted in Nuremberg was clearly effective in reducing suicidality and in improving the care of depressed patients. A careful evaluation both with respect to a 1-year-baseline and a control region showed a significant reduction of suicidality by about 20%. To combine the experiences and the tested materials obtained within the “Nuremberg Alliance against Depression” with concepts from other countries in a Europe-wide initiative will be an efficient and economic way to fight depression and suicidality.

Acknowledgements
EAAD serves as an example of how European community based “best practice” models for improving the care of depressed patients and suicidal persons can be implemented using a bottom-up approach. The European Commission presented the EAAD project as one of the most promising strategies in the area of mental health at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health in Helsinki and listed EAAD in its Green Paper “Improving the mental health of the population: Towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union“ (European Commission 2005). In 2007 the EAAD was named the winner of the European Health Forum Award at the European Health Forum Gastein, Austria (EHFG).

Move Europe - A Campaign for the Improvement of Lifestyle-Related Workplace Health Promotion in Europe

Argyro Kazaki — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:12:00 GMT

In the face of global competition the health of the workforce has become the key resource for sustainable companies. Workplace health promotion has also become increasingly important in view of the ageing workforces. Individual interventions such as maintaining workability and performance in the future are not sufficient to secure long-term success. On the contrary, a holistic concept is needed which aims its sights on both the physical and mental well-being of employees. Good conditions at the workplace itself are just as important as the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as a whole.

The "Move Europe" campaign is geared to creating a Europe where healthy workers create healthy companies. Strengthening the importance of workplace health promotion throughout Europe is the aim of "Move Europe", an initiative of the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP). The Network was founded in 1996 by organisations in public health care and occupational safety and health and aims to persuade European companies and other organisations to invest in programmes which help to improve life-style oriented behaviour in Europe, with a special focus on the following 4 areas of intervention: physical exercise, smoking prevention, nutrition and mental health. The campaign started in 2006 and is planned to run for 3 years.
For many years workplace health promotion has been common practice in many companies. Health management has found its way into corporate strategies and values in line with the increasing significance of health. "Move Europe" is an initiative designed to boost publicity and to disseminate existing examples of good practice to a wider audience. It is still possible for your company to become a "Move Europe Company".

Getting Evidence into Practice

Argyro Kazaki — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:29:00 GMT

This project represents collaboration among key national agencies and international networks for health promotion in the form of a European Evidence Consortium. The project Getting Evidence into Practice (running period February 2004-July 2005) has been focusing on health promotion, public health and prevention interventions.

The project Getting Evidence into practice (GEP) ran from February 2004-July 2005 and was funded by the European Commission (DG Sanco).

Aims
The overall aim of the project was to broaden the evidence base and strengthen collaboration among the key stakeholders (agencies, practitioners and researchers) in the form of a European consortium for evidence based health promotion.

Objectives
Haven taken these strategic aims as a starting points, a number of operational objectives were derived for the different stages of the project.

Strand One:

to develop a consensus-based protocol on how to select and analyse documents, literature and expertise from research, practice and policies and on how to assess and summarize evidence
to carry out a feasibility test for the protocol

Strand Two:

an inventory of existing assessment protocols to increase quality of planning and implementation of health promotion projects
reaching a consensus on an assessment protocol and a set of guidelines to increase quality of planning and implementation of health promotion projects to be used by health promotion professionals in the EU members states
pilot testing the consensus-based assessment tool (EQUIHP) and quality guidelines adn develop a user manual.

Strand Three stimulated a process of peer input on a newly accessible body of knowledge being published to improve the effectiveness of health promotion and practice. This strand of the project examined four subject areas:

tobacco
mental health
health promotion infrastructures
getting evidence into practice (including capacity building aspects).

Results and findings of the project have been presented at the 6th IUHPE European Conference on the Effectiveness and Quality of Health Promotion: Evidence for practice, 1-4 June 2005.

A European Platform for Mental Health Promotion and Mental Disorder Prevention: Indicators, Interventions And Strategies

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:40:00 GMT

This is a two-year project, started in 2004, with partners in 28 countries. It builds on the work of the previous EC funded IMPHA project (Implementing Mental Health Promotion Action). The Platform will provide a comprehensive strategy for Mental Health Promotion and Mental Disorder Prevention. It also aims to develop indicators and strategies for mental health and disseminate and implement information and action across Europe.

This project builds on the work of the previous EC funded IMPHA project which aimed to improve information on mental health (MH) and develop mental health promotion (MHP) and mental disorder prevention (MDP). The 2 year project, with partners in 28 countries aims to: 1) create a European Platform for MHP and MDP; 2) develop indicators and strategies for MH; and 3) disseminate and implement information and action across Europe. The Platform will provide a comprehensive strategy for MHP-MDP. Work packages (WP) will deliver:

An information system on infrastructures for MHP-MDP. Database with indicators will provide information to develop country profile reports to support the development of strategies and policy proposals

An information system describing best practices for suicide, depression and eating disorders prevention, outcomes and implementation strategies, complements the IMPHA database with 3 new topics

An information system on training and the development of advocacy skills to build capacity

Country reports describing the situation of MHP and MDP using the data collected in WP 1 and the IMPHA Policy for Europe structure

Development of indicators for MH - health impact assessment (HIA) and assessment of the impact of a social policy in one member state, in the context of WP 1 & 4, and building on the methodology developed by the European Policy Health Impact Assessment (EPHIA).

Development of an economic model for MHP-MDP to complement WP 2,4 & 5. In synergy with the Project Mental Health Economics supported under the Public Health Programme.

Dissemination and implementation of WP 1-6 by: 1) Creation of European Platform for MHP and MDP; 2) Creation of country based coalitions and synergies with European networks for implementation at country and European levels; 3) A European Conference on MHP-MDP dissemination, strategy and implementation.

Under the Health Information strand it supports Health Determinants with WP2. It complements EC funded MH projects and expands information and action for MHP-MDP in Europe. In coordination with the Working Party of Mental Health (WPMH), will work with the WPMH secretariat and the Injury prevention Working Party.

Measuring Health and Disability in Europe: Supporting Policy Development

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 13:20:00 GMT

The MHADIE project (Measuring Health and Disability in Europe), lead by the WHO and involving 16 partner organisations across ten EU countries, aims to demonstrate the application of the ICF model in the collection of health and disability data. It will show that data currently being collected, nationally and internationally, embody conceptual confusions, inconsistencies and ambiguities about disability and the relationship between health conditions, impairments and environmental factors. In addition, the project will produce specific policy recommendations and guidelines designed for use in health disability policy planning and development across the European Union.

MHADIE will demonstrate the feasibility and utility of the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a cross-cutting, universal framework and international standard to influence and support new European policy guidelines on health and disability by means of statistical, clinical and experimental research. ICF's universal approach constitutes a paradigm shift in our understanding of disability, one that underscores the need to integrate individual functioning with the complete physical and social environment in order to capture the full lived experience of disability that links health and social policy to promote social integration and increase participation, thereby enhancing opportunities for persons with disabilities.

This Co-ordination Action brings together institutions and researchers from 11 countries to demonstrate the application of the ICF model in the collection of health and disability data, and will show that data currently being collected, nationally and internationally, embody conceptual confusions, inconsistencies and ambiguities about disability and the relationship between health conditions, impairments and environmental factors. The project will network and coordinate European partners that are involved at regional, national and international level with the implementation of ICF, ICF children version and ICF related instruments in clinical samples of selected conditions.

Specifically, objectives of the this Co-ordination Action are,

to employ the ICF model of functioning and disability to analyse existing general population health surveys and education statistics data;
to demonstrate that the ICF model is adequate for describing and measuring patterns of disability in clinical samples of selected conditions, cross-sectionally and over time;
to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of the ICF for collecting and managing data in educational sectors.

These results will produce specific policy recommendations and guidelines designed for use in health disability policy planning and development across the European Union. They will be presented and discussed at an international conference and at country-level meetings.

EU for Health and Wealth - Impact Assessments in Improving Population Health and Contributing to the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:55:00 GMT

Population health is directly and implicitly included in the social objectives of the EU. Equal distribution of health and wellbeing, among population groups constitute a central pillar for the development of the EU. As a healthy population is also a productive population, health is also a cornerstone of the Lisbon Strategy, aiming at increasing the competitiveness of Europe. These perspectives and objectives underline the fact that health is to a great extent determined by broad social, environmental, economic and cultural determinants that are out of reach of health care services and beyond the mandate of health sector

Means to tackle the broader determinants of health require intersectorality, cooperation and understanding of the origin and the nature of health. Health is determined by continuous interaction between the individual characteristics of a person, the behaviour of that person and the environment (culture, physical and social environment). The environment either control, set limits or create possibilities to behaviour – by changing the environment, the behaviour is changed.

Environmental interventions have had a crucial role in many of public health’s successes, such as sewage legislation, food and water quality requirements, and the wearing of seat belts. Environmental interventions are often referred to as ‘passive’ interventions since they are not developed in a way that requires people to take any action on an individual basis or to make active behavioural changes (e.g. safe pedestrian and bike paths, smokefree restaurants and injury resistant design). Actions that lead to changes in the environment are generally decided and taken at a societal level that in turn needs political influencing. In general, environmental interventions have a greater chance of having equal effect on all people regardless of gender, income group or other socio-economic status. Environmental and policy interventions, especially those outside the health sector are considered to be an important form of public health action, complementary to more individual forms of intervention such as health education. However, they and other relevant measures and the role of the broader socio-economic, environmental and cultural determinants of health are not fully understood in health or other sectors.

The goal of this project is to show the broad benefits of using all available measures across policies for the improvement and protection of Europeans’ health, and to stimulate the parallel development and implementation of such measures in the EU and its Member States. The purpose is to clarify and concretise the links between policy decisions, impacts on health determinants, health outcomes and their distribution, and demonstrate that in-depth health impact assessment may contribute to the broad social and economic objectives of the EU. The project underlines the links between improved population health and effectively contained future health care costs. The strategic objectives of the project are to raise awareness among decision makers about the added value available from a whole government approach, including improved emphasis on Impact Assessment and in particular Health Impact Assessment; to improve the in-depth Health Impact Assessment process by identifying and addressing existing barriers; and to advocate the political uptake and consideration of impact assessments.

To achieve its goal and objectives the project will build up a network between decision makers and experts, stimulate intersectoral information and experiences exchange, lobby for the greater use of health impact assessment, consult the civil servants from the Member States, EEA, accession and applicant countries (policy dialogues), stimulate the development of practical tools in particular in terms of indicators and surveillance of non-health-sector determinants of health, and collaborate with the WHO. The main principle thorough the project is practical application and implementation.

The full report for this project, alongside other documents including the mental health workshop papers from the Kuopio event and the Council Recommendations on Health In all Policies is available from: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_projects/2005/action1/

Monitoring Suicidal Behaviour in Europe

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:10:00 GMT

MONSUE is a three-year project, which started in 2005. The project aims to reduce the frequency of suicide, suicide attempts and the repetition rate of suicide attempts in various European countries, by assessing the magnitude of the problem (monitoring of suicides and suicide attempts), the identification of groups at risk, risk factors, and specific variables (methods, “hot spots”, time variables etc.) which can be influenced to prevent this behaviour. In addition, the project will develop guidelines for suicide prevention.

The project aims to reduce the frequency of suicide, suicide attempts and the repetition rate of suicide attempts in various European countries, by assessing the magnitude of the problem (monitoring of suicides and suicide attempts), the identification of groups at risk, risk factors, and specific variables (methods, “hot spots”, time variables etc.) which can be influenced to prevent this behaviour. Based on these findings guidelines for prevention of suicides and suicides attempts should be developed, e. g. regulations for access to suicide means, prevention of suicide imitation recommendations for the selling of pharmaceuticals used for suicide attempts, guidelines for secondary and tertiary suicide prevention (treatment of suicide attempters). Through a common assessment, studies of preventive measures in various centres, and the evaluation of such measures in a large number of EU and candidate countries it will be possible to develop such guidelines for suicide prevention.

Specific objectives:

Development of guidelines for the use of a common definition for the assessment of deliberate self-harm and suicidal behaviour in various countries, especially also in those not having suicide attempt data. Development and testing of a common monitoring form for the assessment of this behaviour, methods, relevant risk variables, “hot spots” and treatment variables.
Identification of groups at risk, especially with regard to specific variables (like age, social changes – e. g. migrants (especially second immigration generation). Assessment of gender-specific aspects.
Development of guidelines for primary and secondary suicide prevention through identification of methods for primary prevention (recommendation of reduction of access to specific methods, avoiding of “hot spots”, reduction of the access to “hot spots”, reduction of development of new “hot spots”, development of guidelines for primary and secondary suicide prevention, e. g. guidelines for transfer and treatment procedures after a suicide attempt. Testing of the proposed procedures taking into account gender- age- and ethnic specific preferences with comparisons of different centres.
Producing of information material about suicidal behaviour and guidelines for clinicians and decision makers.

In many European countries suicidal behaviour constitutes a major public and mental health problem and a considerable drain on resources in both primary and secondary health care settings. In numerous countries, the number of suicides is significantly higher than the number of deaths due to traffic accidents. In some countries suicides among youngsters are among the top three causes of death. Due to the changing age pyramids in some countries (increasing percentage of older persons) the problem of suicidal behaviour among the elderly is also increasing. In many countries also self-aggressive and suicidal behaviour of migrants constitutes a major problem. Despite the fact that the majority of suicides and suicidal behaviour are caused through psychiatric diseases many studies on a low scale level show that primary and secondary prevention of suicidal behaviour may be possible. However, there exists no large scale evidence based study, taking into account gender ethnic and nation specific variables, studying the possibility to reduce this behaviour.

The study tries to take into account covariates based on sex-, age-, nation specific groups at risk, risk factors, methods, and other variables (like access to specific locations) and to assess and test various prevention measures. One main aim is to develop strategies how to prevent on the primary and secondary level suicidal behaviour through different methods (e. g. reducing the accessibility of methods, locations etc, changing of attitudes, improvement of treatment). The project will raise political awareness in EU and the candidate countries. The basis of the project is the WHO/EURO Network on Suicide Research and Prevention with its 18 collaborating centres. Collaboration exists with the European Association against Depression, the World Psychiatric Association, Mental Health Europe, various organisations responsible for National Prevention Programmes, WHO SUPREMISS and the EURO Case Project), which can help to disseminate the results obtained in this project.).

The project will cover a 3 year work plan.

Methods

Monitoring with uniform definition of suicidal behaviour, uniform measurement of individual and social variables (risk variables) in 37 European catchment areas with each approximately 200.000 – 30000 inhabitants) all suicides and suicide attempts with contacts to the health system.
Measurement of the use of the health system and the repetition rate.
Assessment of groups at risk and changes (e. g. working place, special occupational groups, second immigration generation, elderly).
Assessment of “hot spots” and “timespots” (e. g. special places at risk: locations, bridges, railway lines etc, time clustering).
Assessment of methods and changes in methods (e. g. herbicides and pesticides, firearms, car accidents electricity, pharmaceuticals (size of packages etc).
Development of strategies and actions for special groups and methods (e. g. prevention of access to specific methods and “hot spots”, surveillance of hot spots, proposal of construction rules for bridges (barriers on bridges), reducing of package sizes, proposal of fences on “hot spots” (e. g. railway lines).

Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Enlarged European Union: Development of Effective Policies and Practices

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:07:00 GMT

The Camhee project started in 2006 and is funded by DG Sanco. The aim of the project is to analyse the situation (context, resources, services, outcomes) in the field of child and adolescent mental health in new EE countries, in comparison with EU-15 countries, with a view to developing guidelines for evidence-based child mental health policies.

A new project, funded by EU Public Health program – “ Child and adolescent mental health in enlarged EU - development of effective policies and practices” (CAMHEE) has started from January 2007.

The project aims to provide a set of recommendations and guidelines for the effective child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) policies and practices in European Union, with the special emphasis on new EU countries and in the light of Declaration and Action Plan endorsed by WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health. To achieve this, the project aims to develop four main objectives:

To create the network of partners within European Union for the adopting and implementing modern effective public health approaches in the new and applicant EU countries.
To develop guidelines and recommendations for the country national and municipal (regional) policies in participating countries in the field of CAMH based on the evidence obtained through the independent analysis of country situations, including the analysis of context, resources, processes and outcomes.
To initiate and support activities in new and applicant member states in the field of CAMH, with special focus on implementation of effective and evidence-based policies and practices based on involvement and participations of children , families and communities.
On the basis of information, share experience by networking and knowledge received by joint activities of all the project partners, to advise the European Union and member states on mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention among children and adolescents, with special focus on management of changes needed in new member states to move from inherited patterns of institutionalization and medicalization to modern public health approaches based on involvement of children, youth, parents and communities.

The idea to apply with this project proposal to EU Public Health program is a very good example of positive effects of EU enlargement and European mental health agenda. Immediately after the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health “Facing the Challenges, Building Solutions”, a decision was made by all main stakeholders and interest groups in the field of CAMH in Lithuania, that with support of Lithuanian Ministry of Health, a group of interested partners, representing governmental agencies, universities, NGOs and professional groups, will use this unique momentum and invite other EU and applicant countries to join their efforts in attempts to contribute to better mental health of children and adolescents in Europe, with special emphasis on the process of enlargement and CAMH situation in the new EU countries. Many partners in EU and applicant countries reacted with enthusiasm and agreed to join this initiative. It is important to mention that self- confidence of Lithuanian network of partners greatly increased after commitment of Ministry of Health of Lithuania to contribute with co-financing of the project. Later this commitment was shared by Vilnius municipality. It means emerging understanding of national and municipal authorities of their responsibility to recognise new public health priorities, such as child mental health, and to facilitate modern public health approaches in this field.

Lithuania is a new EU member state which has made remarkable improvements in economic development and establishment of democracy and rule of law during 15 years of changes. However, in the field of CAMH many indicators (like prevalence of suicides, bullying, or rates of children living in state institutions) are among the highest in Europe. There is an increasing awareness of the fact that child mental health has become a public health priority and that EU accession has to be used for effective decisions and changes in this field. The project aims to develop and implement new approaches in policies and practices to give a chance for new (like Lithuania) and applicant EU countries to implement in a systematic and evidence based way modern public health approaches in the field of CAMH, based on principles of health promotion, social inclusion, tolerance for vulnerable groups, deinstitutionalisation, support for protective factors, resilience, autonomy and civic participation. Only with the financial support for joint European activities and exchange of experience and knowledge between “new” and “old” member states, basic changes will take place in child mental health systems leading to its liberation from political and professional isolation and integration in general public health, social and education policies and practices.

With the help of modern methods of systems’ analysis developed in EU, obstacles and opportunities for implementation of modern policies and practices in the field of CAMH could be identified. After having made scientifically based “diagnosis” of the CAMH systems in participating countries, by joint activities in different work packages the recommendations for effective policies and practices for the CAMH systems could be developed. Work in the networks created by partners within concrete work packages and within the project in general will facilitate better quality of CAMH policies and practices in all EU.

Besides main theme of the project – analysis of child mental health policies in EU countries, three specific topics were selected for more in-depth analysis:

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 economic evaluation of this process.

It is expected that partners fro both “old” and “new” EU countries will form effective networks in these important field of CAMH policies and practices and will develop recommendations which will be useful for politicians, professionals, parents and children in European Union.

CAMHEE project involves 35 associate partners from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom. We are very happy that Mental Health Europe agreed to join CAMHEE as an associate partner, and we hope that MHE will help us with their huge experience in the field of mental health promotion in Europe. Soon we will have a website of CAMHEE, and everybody who is interested in issues of child mental health in EU, will be invited to share their views, concerns and suggestions.

The Support Project

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:58:00 GMT

SUPPORT - www.supportproject.eu - is a collaborative project co-funded by the European Commission under Priority Action Area Three (Health Determinants) of the Community Action Plan on Public Health.

SUPPORT - www.supportproject.eu - is a collaborative project co-funded by the European Commission under Priority Action Area Three (Health Determinants) of the Community Action Plan on Public Health. It carries news and information on current projects on mental health promotion and prevention as well the Goals of the SUPPORT project are:

Supporting the EU Mental Health Strategy
Engaging and Collaborating With Stakeholders=
Promoting the Exchange of Knowledge and Practice
Making Policy Contributions in Relevant Forums
Facilitating the Use of Mental Health Information

Implementation of Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Policies and Strategies in EU Member States and Applicant Countries

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:19:00 GMT

The EMIP Project, an ongoing project which started in 2004, aims to support implementation of policies for mental health promotion and mental disorders prevention in Europe, in addition to sharing experiences on what works in promotion activities and on how to reduce risks and prevent mental ill-health. It also aims to start national multidisciplinary coalitions that would develop this work further in each of the twelve participating countries.

The overall objective of this project is to build and support good practice in the development and effective implementation of mental health promotion and prevention policy and strategy in the Member States of the European Union and in applicant countries.

The specific goals of the project are to:

support the creation of national networks and assist National Partners in the organisation, implementation and evaluation of the national workshops;
identify opportunities in the participating countries for promotion and prevention in key settings and target populations
share with Member States and applicant countries information and expertise on effective practice developed from previous EC projects on Mental Health Promotion and Prevention of mental illness
develop a European framework on the determinants of effective development and implementation of mental health promotion and prevention, based on the information acquired from the participating countries
produce a National Report for Mental Health Promotion and Prevention
develop and carry out an integrated strategy for communication and dissemination of the aims, process and outcomes of the project, using all appropriate media most likely to:
raise awareness among relevant professionals, policy makers and the general public
encourage effective policy development and implementation within Member States and applicant countries.

Mental Health Information and Determinants for the European Level

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:03:00 GMT

MINDFUL is a two-year project, started in 2004. It is funded under the Programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2008) and aims to significantly raise the level of mental health information within the EU. It is focused on setting up a comprehensive system for European mental health monitoring purposes and promotes the use of the resulting information and knowledge within the EU member states. Its work is firmly based on previous projects such as the Key Concepts project (1996-1998) and Establishment of a set of mental health indicators for European Project (1999-2001) .

The overall aim of the MINDFUL project is to improve the status of mental health information within the European Union. Based on previous work conducted in this field, the project aims at widening the scope of the mental health monitoring systems to cover - not only mental ill-health - but also positive mental health and mental health promotion and prevention, which have been rather neglected until now. In view of this goal, the outcome of this work is a comprehensive forward-looking system which endorses sound and sensible policy-making based on reliable and comparable information. In order to achieve the objectives in full, the project will co-operate closely with relevant organisations (for example Eurostat, OECD, WHO, and national institutions).

The specific objectives of MINDFUL, which encompasses the co-ordinating project and 6 partnership projects, are to fine-tune the readily available indicators with the goal of harmonising their utilisation throughout the Member States. An analysis of the determinants of mental health and mental ill-health will be performed; an investigation into the mental health monitoring systems in the new Member States will be carried out; a system for monitoring the impact of policies and programmes promoting mental health will be developed. MINDFUL includes training and monitoring for effective mental health promotion and a system for monitoring service utilisation data.

Furthermore, it entails development of the current survey and reporting methods with regard to mental health. Taken together, the independent partnership projects of MINDFUL are intended to support each other with the specific aim of building up a truly comprehensive system that takes into account various aspects of the mental health field feasible within the European Union context. A proposal for such a system will be the principal goal of MINDFUL. Consequently, the project will promote the usage of a feasible and coherent set of mental health indicators in the Member States.

Methods

MINDFUL widens remarkably the scope of contemporary mental health monitoring. While the work is firmly based on previous projects (funded from the Health Monitoring Programme of the EC), the project's modular structure allows effective parallel development in a multitude of different areas.

MINDFUL will

analyse determinants of mental health and mental ill-health from existing sources,
explore and develop the relevant information systems in the new Member States, (3) establish a system for monitoring the impact of policies and programmes promoting mental health,
offer a training programme for the implementation of mental health promotion and prevention interventions
establish a system to monitor service utilisation data, and
develop the contemporary survey and reporting methods.

As a result of this, MINDFUL encompasses the whole range of mental health monitoring and mental health information activities and is able to carry out each of the independent partnership projects in parallel.

Collaboration between the projects will be ensured by developing effective co-ordination methods. Regular and intensive information exchange provides one feasible means towards this goal. The organisation and implementation of such procedures is the responsibility of the main beneficiary.

In view of achieving the objectives, previous collaboration between the MINDFUL participants is a remarkable benefit. It needs to be noted that all partnership project leaders represent recognised and well-known organisations. Within a wider context, the involvement of a supporting network (European Network on Mental Health Policy, ENMHPO) ensures that national viewpoints and needs are taken into account as well as facilitates the dissemination of the results in the Member States.

The European Network for Workplace Health Promotion

Argyro Kazaki — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:57:00 GMT

The European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP) was established in 1996 and is currently supported by the European Commission within the Public Health Programme. The ENWHP comprises organisations such as national occupational health and safety institutes, public health institutions and Ministries of Health and Labour from all Member States of the European Community, the countries in the European Economic Area and the candidate countries.

The European Network for Workplace Health Promotion established in 1996 and funded by the European Commission, has national contact offices in 28 countries. It is an informal network of national occupational health and safety institutes, public health, health promotion and statutory social insurance institutions. It aims to contribute to improving workplace health and well being and reduce the impact of work related ill health on the European workforce. It is involved in a number of Workplace Health Promotion Initiatives on a range of subjects including disseminating good workplace health in Eastern European countries and healthy work in an ageing Europe.

Vision and Mission

The members of the ENWHP work together towards the vision “ healthy employees in healthy organisations” and are committed to developing and promoting good workplace health practice, which in turn contributes to a high level of health protection and sustainable economic and social development in Europe.

A basic consensus on the common goals, the vision and mission was developed and laid down in the Luxembourg Declaration on WHP in Europe in1997.
Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) is the combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work.
This can be achieved through a combination of:

improving work organisation and the working environment
promoting active participation
encouraging personal development.

(Luxembourg Declaration 1997)

Joint Initiatives

Between 1996 and the present, the ENWHP has successfully completed the following European joint initiatives:

European Project ”S uccess Factors and Quality of Workplace Health Promotion”
European Project ”W orkplace Health Promotion in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)”
European Project ”W orkplace Health Promotion in the Public Administration Sector”

Add the 4th and 5th initiatives

Achievements

Based on the common understanding of workplace health promotion the Europe-wide ENWHP initiatives have achieved the following:

The ENWHP has compiled a European Quality Criteria and Good Practice Documentation for private and public sector enterprises. 66 models of good practice have been identified among larger enterprises, 48 among SMEs, and 34 in the public administration sector.
The ENWHP carried out an analysis of successful strategies to enhance the further dissemination of good workplace health practice, which has formed the basis for a set of policy recommendation documents and technical reports on the current status of Work Health Promotion in SMEs and public administrations.
The ENWHP contributed to marketing and communicating good WHP practice and new strategies at national and European levels. By holding European conferences in Bonn (1999), Lisbon (2001), Barcelona (2002) and Dublin (2004) and with other activities, key stakeholders at European and national level have been successfully convinced to include WHP into their agenda and to support promoting strategies which facilitate the future dissemination of good WHP practice at enterprise level.
The ENWHP has supported the development of national supportive infrastructures for the dissemination of good workplace health promotion practices by organising national forums for WHP in a number of participating countries.
In order to strengthen a wider implementation of good practice the network developed a European toolbox for effective instruments and tools including a collection of key arguments for investments in WHP (business case).
The network has also addressed the impacts of demographic change in the world of work and identified numerous models of good WHP practice which can help to develop healthier workplaces for an ageing workforce.

Current Initiatives

The network is currently implementing a major initiative in order to support the integration of the new Member States into the operations of the network. Under the title "Dragon-fly", the Polish member organisation is leading a project which analyses the specific framework conditions for the new countries in the fields of workplace health promotion. In addition, the network has been hosting a series of stakeholder meetings in the new countries in an attempt to invite as many as stakeholders as possible to become actively involved in the process of joint learning and good practice dissemination.

Furthermore, ENWHP is also supporting the initiative organised by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health to address future challenges for policies and strategies in the world of work to encounter the impacts of global economies and demographic changes.

Future Initiative

MoveEurope – Campaigning for Improved Lifestyle-related Workplace Health

The next and 7th ENWHP initiative, titled "MoveEurope“ will begin this year, a project involving a campaign organised by the European Network to promote a healthy lifestyle at work. The project will focus on physical exercise, nutrition, mental health and smoking prevention.

The campaign is planned to last 3 years (2006 – 2008) and targets interested companies/organisations, external experts in the fields of Occupational Safety and Health and Public Health as well as other national and European Organisations and Stakeholders.