Lithuanian EU Presidency conference
On 10–11 October, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union held the conference ‘Mental Health: Challenges and Possibilities’ in Vilnius, Lithuania (read here about the first part of the event). The discussions continued with an interesting mix of speakers and topics of debate.
Promoting mental health for Europe’s children and adolescents
Dainius Puras from the Vilnius University opened the session on mental health of children and adolescents. He highlighted “that in order to ensure the effectiveness of children and adolescent mental health services it is essential to strengthen the link with child protection and early childcare.” Dinesh Sethi from the WHO explained the different types of violence that children may suffer, including abuse, maltreatment and neglect, whilst Robertas Povilaitis from the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations presented the outcomes of various initiatives that have been implemented in Lithuania to reduce bullying in schools. Participants concluded that the prevention of maltreatment and other adverse experiences in childhood requires improved multisectoral working, better surveillance and data sharing, capacity building across discipline and investment in evidence-based measures, such as anti-bullying programmes.
Policy actions: turning the crisis into an opportunity
The second day of the conference featured a country debate between representatives from four countries. Speakers and delegates had a chance to review the initiatives undertaken by the Finnish government to reduce mental illness, with a focus on the elderly; the suicide rates in Hungary and Greece and the initiatives implemented for their reduction, including the role of the family and other protective factors; and the role of alcohol abuse in mental health problems in different age groups and public health perspectives in Lithuania.
EU policies in focus
The role of EU policies in promoting mental health was also discussed on day two. Malgorzata Milczarek from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work presented the campaign ‘Healthy workplaces manage stress’, whilst Teje Peetso from the DG for Communications Networks, Content and Technology presented various initiatives supported by the European Commission to develop or assess the use of technology for mental health, such as tele-medicine for depression or improvement of data sharing between services.
Andor Urmos from the Directorate General Regional and Urban Policy at the European Commission discussed how EU funds are being invested in ensuring the transition from institutional to community-based services, particularly the on-going informal dialogue put in place by the Commission with Member States in Central and Eastern Europe who are beneficiaries of 80% of European Structural and Investment funds.
ESN’s Senior Research and Policy Officer Alfonso Lara Montero reviewed local mental health services across the EU and focused on planning, funding and delivery. In his presentation, he remarked that “Several institutions are responsible for funding social care including national, regional and local government, as well as private insurance. The regions’ role is very important in several decentralised countries, whilst local government play an essential role in running and coordinating services provision.”
The final session drew attention to some important points and the need to work together in order to:
- Improve the responsiveness of health systems to address the needs of disadvantaged children, including children with mental health problems, as well as prevention and promotion for the elderly;
- Ensure that community-based services have a supportive policy and legal framework, and sufficient and sustainable funding to provide effective services;
- Integrate mental health and wellbeing into on-going health policy work between Member States and the European Commission;
- Give due attention to mental health and wellbeing in the context of the European Semester on economic and social policy coordination.