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“Improving Mental Health of Older People” in Dataprev - Conference - The Hague on February 14th-15th 2011

Tilia Bousios — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:14:00 GMT

During the parallel session “Improving Mental Health of Older People” at the Dataprev Conference in The Hague which took place on February 14th-15th, 2011 three interesting presentations were given relating to older people's mental health.

The parallel session “Improving Mental Health of Older People” at the Dataprev Conference - The Hague on February 14th-15th, 2011

Several interesting lectures and speeches were heard during the European debate on Evidence Based Mental Health Promotion and Prevention of Mental Disorders Conference.

Three presentations were given in the parallel session “Improving Mental Health of Older People”.

Researcher Anna Forsman from the University of Helsinki started the session by presenting the results of the Dataprev Project. Forsman had collected data from 68 evaluated psychosocial interventions which focused on prevention of depression and promotion of mental health in older people. These interventions were grouped into:

Physical training;
Coping skills;
Peer support;
Reminiscence;
Social activities; and
Multi-component interventions.

The most promising interventions were the ones which focused on social activities and in general it was observed that the duration of the intervention affected the result

Dr Jeannet Kramer from Trimbos Institute gave a presentation about Colour your Life – Intervention, an online self-help programme for older people. The aim of the programme is to prevent depressive symptoms and requires.participants to perform weekly exercises on the internet. Participants and are not able to proceed to the next exercise before the previous exercises have been completed. Elderly Dutch people are very skilled internet users and this may, in part, explain the success of this type of intervention in The Netherlands.

The last speaker of the session was Project Co-ordinator Pia Solin, who gave a presentation of MindHealth Project. This project designs and provides training for mental health promotion in three settings: schools, workplaces and older people residences. The aim of the training is to provide knowledge as well as practical tools about mental health promotion in these settings. The training material is mainly internet based but also includes three face-to-face sessions. The focus of the face-to-face sessions is to support the participants in applying the new information in their daily activities in their settings. Solin also introduced the first draft of the e-learning material for older people setting.

The aims of the conference were to share information on evidence-based programmes, stimulate debate on their value and use across Europe among stakeholders from European countries and networks. The conference also aimed at enabling large-scale implementation as well as improving evidence to support policy and practice. Furthermore, the conference launched a new European database on evidence-based programmes to promote mental health and to prevent mental disorders (DataPrev).

Closing Conference of DATAPREV Project

Tilia Bousios — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:35:00 GMT

The DATAPREV project has jus held its closing conference in the Hague on the 14th and 15th of February. This project has produced reviews of the literature on mental health promotion in relation to a range of settings and issues, including the schools, workplace and older people’s residences settings. These reviews are available on the DATPREV website, which also contains information on the conference.

The conference, which was entitled a European Debate on Evidence-based Mental Health Promotion and Prevention of Mental Disorders, provided a stimulating and participative discussion on the many strands of mental health promotion in Europe today.

The MindHealth project made a presentation on the training that is available for older people, which was very well received by more than 50 of the participants at the conference.

Article “Mental Health Promotion in workplace” in Estonian Mental Health Promotion Newsletter

Tilia Bousios — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:33:00 GMT

The article titled “Mental Health Promotion in workplace” written by Sisask M. was published in Estonian Health Promotion Newsletter in December 2010 (No. 9) in Estonian language. This article describes policy “The European mental health and wellbeing pact”, an importance of mental health at workplace, and how to promote mental health at workplace setting.

The article titled “Mental Health Promotion in Workplace” written by Sisask M. was published in Estonian Health Promotion Newsletter in December 2010 (No. 9) in Estonian language. This article describes policy “The European Mental Health and Wellbeing Pact”, an importance of mental health at workplace, and how to promote mental health at workplace setting. It also reports mental health promotion projects in which ERSI took part or participates (ProMenPol, T-MHP, MHP-Hands). The recommendations for maintaining positive mental health are additional important part of this article

The Sixth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental Health and Behavioral Disorders

Tilia Bousios — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:15:00 GMT

The Sixth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental Health and behavioral Disorders News from the conference

Over 500 experts from 40 countries worldwide gathered to Washington on November 2010 to discuss promotion of equity in mental health. Poverty and social exclusion have a significant influence on mental health, affecting most seriously those in low and middle income countries. Even in wealthier nations, there is an increasing gap in the number of people living in poverty, creating conditions that result in negative health and mental health consequences for those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Without education, social support and health care, and other policies that protect the most vulnerable, these disparities continue to grow. The Conference addressed ways to promote equity in mental health, such as: balancing the emphasis on promotion as well as treatment; achieving parity in reimbursement for care; redressing generations of trauma for indigenous peoples; and recognizing and responding to the interrelationship of physical and mental health. The programme was divided into five topics according to the main strategies in promoting equity in mental health • advocacy and influencing policy • research on promotion and prevention • developing stakeholder partnerships • implementing effective programs • developing an effective workforce for promotion and prevention. The conference opened up a possibility to learn from people across the globe about their research findings and programs that promote mental health and prevent disorders in all kinds of settings. Dr. Eija Stengård from THL, Finland presented a poster describing the results of a quantitative study on organization's knowledge and options for mental health promotion. The presentations of the conference will be made available online: http://wmhconf2010.hhd.org.

MindHealth Brochure

Tilia Bousios — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:30:14 GMT

Download the MindHealth Brochure and find out more about the Mind Health Project