In February Horatio represented by Aisling Culhane General Secretary /Research & Development Advisor PNA attended The Third Annual EU Compass Forum on Mental Health in Luxembourg. The EU-Compass for Action on Mental Health and Wellbeing collects, exchanges and analyses information on policy and stakeholder activities in mental health and monitors the mental health and wellbeing policies and activities of the EU .The European Commission, in cooperation with a Group of Governmental Experts on Mental Health and Well-being, supervises the development and implementation of the EU-Compass.
Horatio is a key stakeholder in this process and the singular nursing representative voice at the EU forums. A key part of the discussion forums is communicating the case for, and examples of, public ownership and action on mental health and wellbeing through policy and the identification and dissemination of European good practices in mental health. Out of which the EU Compass develops principles and recommendations for action through scientific reports and consensus papers such as “ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN EUROPE” and “COMMUNITY-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES”. All of which Horatio contributes to through submissions and discussions always articulating from a psychiatric / mental health nursing perspective. Horatio’s ever-increasing networks and connections to people reinforce the importance of strong linkages with national, regional and international nursing and non-nursing organisations and ensure the presence of a respected psychiatric / mental health nursing profession to improve the quality of the services for those for whom we care.
This year’s Forum focused on the following themes: Providing community-based mental health care and Mental health in all policies. These two themes were explored through keynote presentations by leading experts, followed by breakout sessions for more in-depth discussions.
Strides towards furthering the development and implementation of community-based mental health care has been made by Member States and stakeholders. "Community-based mental health care" refer to a balanced care model which focuses on providing a blend of services within local settings. Examples of such services, entail home treatment, provision of crisis care by mobile teams located in the community, availability of acute inpatient services at local level and family’s involvement in the care. Actions taken include creation of a supportive policy framework for community-based mental health care and revising and aligning financial structures for community-based mental health care. Several actions in Member States involved services development and re-design, as well as actively involving service users in the design, provision, and evaluation of services. More data from Member States and key stakeholders as well as feedback and examples of good practices were also shared at the Forum.
Over the past year, a number of Member States and key stakeholders made progress on recognising mental health and wellbeing as a cross-sectoral policy issue. Often the determinants of mental health are structural, such as poverty, gender inequality and stigma-based discrimination which may lead to social exclusion. Thus, embedding mental health into labour market, environmental, educational and social welfare policies is important. Information and practices furthering this theme and strategies for other Member States and stakeholders were discussed at the Forum. The Position Paper on Providing Community-Based Mental Health Services can be found in the following link
https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/mental_health/docs/2018_compass_positionpaper_en.pdf
More information about EU Mental Health Compass
https://ec.europa.eu/health/mental_health/eu_compass_en
