Promoting Social Inclusion and Combating Stigma for Mental Health Lisbon, 8-9 November 2010 The WHO-EC Partnership Project on Empowerment in Mental Health Dr Anja Esther Baumann WHO Regional Office for Europe David Crepaz-Keay Mental Health Foundation London WHO-EC Partnership Project Support Member States to improve their strategies and actions to empower mental health service users and their families Co-funded by WHO and the EC Duration: 2008 – 2011 Partners: User and carer associations, other experts from policy, human rights, NGOs, mental health services, research Project outcomes Conference “Mental Health and Wellbeing at the Workplace”, Berlin 2009 Statement on empowerment in MNH Identification of indicators 100 examples of practice Supporting governments and local actors – WHO Leadership Meeting 27-28 October 2010 Mainstreaming of good practice Mental Health and Wellbeing at the Workplace Protection and Inclusion in Challenging Times WHO & German Alliance for Mental Health, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Health and the EC 17-18 March 2009 in Berlin WHO Report 2010 World Mental Health Day 10 October 2010 www.euro.who.int With support of the EC Health and Consumers DG WHO Statement on empowerment in mental health Meaning of empowerment User and carer perspectives Recommendations for action With support of the EC Health and Consumers DG Recommendations for action: Policy / societal level Ensure that service users´ rights are respected, protected and fulfilled Ensure government activities to reduce stigma and discrimination and to conduct promotion/prevention programmes Conduct programmes which promote mental health in the workplace and work to reduce stigma, discrimination and bullying Recommendations for action: Health services People with mental health problems and their families have access to appropriate mental health services Make sure that users and carers are equal partners at all stages of running, planning, delivering and evaluating services Ensure that independent review bodies with users and carers on board are in place to review treatment and services Recommendations for action: Education and training Accessible and appropriate information and education about services and treatment is available for people with mental health problems Leadership trainings for service users and families Design and deliver mental health professionals´ training in systematic partnership with users and families Include the stigma of mental illness as a topic in the curricula of primary care and mental health professionals Offer anti-stigma trainings for community actors such as employers and police officers Empowerment in Mental Health – Working together towards Leadership 27-28 October 2010, Leuven User and carer leadership Indicators for empowerment WHO Meeting in partnership with the EC, hosted by EUFAMI An empowering process Understanding different perspectives and cultures Providing meaningful indicators across diverse cultures Applying objectivity to a traditionally subjective area Different roots Civil rights based v Consumerist Collective v Individual Separatist v Collaborative Valid across diverse cultures Using a rights-based framework Relative not absolute indicators Within services and beyond Empowerment, discrimination and stigma Who discriminates, and why? Indicators responding to discrimination Diagnosis and stigma Empowerment Means different things to different people • Access to services • Choice of services • Rights to decline services Does not happen in isolation • Sometimes it means redistributing power • Sometimes it means compromise • Sometimes everyone wins Why indicators matter Empowerment needs to make an impact: •on individuals •on organisations •on communities and countries and we need to be able to see the impact Final thoughts • It’s not just about resources • It often requires more thought than money • Changes of behaviour, leading to changes of attitude This paper was produced for a meeting organized by Health & Consumers DG and represents the views of its author on the subject. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the Commission's or Health & Consumers DG's views. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.
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