EFPA at the Workshop on leadership and service transformation in mental health

 Creating synergies between JA ImpleMENTAL and the WHO pan-European Mental Health Coalition

On 22 and 23 May, EFPA representatives attended the “Workshop on leadership and service transformation in mental health: creating synergies between JA ImpleMENTAL and the WHO pan-European Mental Health Coalition”. During the sessions, several initiatives related with the protection and promotion of mental health were presented. EFPA is playing an active role on some of them:

• WHO MOSAIC Toolkit to Reduce Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health:  EFPA Standing Committee on Psychology in Health had the privilege of previewing the WHO Toolkit to Reduce Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health and helping in its' final stages of development with additional suggestions. The Toolkit to be a powerful resource for individuals and communities, offering a myriad of general principles as well as specific approaches to tackling stigma in mental health. The way these can be flexibly applied and the ways in which they make the inclusion of individuals with lived experience a core part of interventions is illustrated by numerous case studies, ranging from a nation-wide suicide prevention project in Iceland to interventions targeting stigma associated with specific common mental health conditions in Kenya. Publication is expected by the end of 2024.
• WHO Mental Health Leadership Course: the course is being designed by Global Leadership Exchange. EFPA representatives will also be present in the next 2024 Leadership Exchange meeting, to be celebrated in Utrecht at the end of June. This forum provides a platform for leaders in mental health to share knowledge, experience and space to make our world and the behaviours and roles of leaders more inclusive. EFPA Standing Committee on Psychology in Health is also contributing to the Mental Health Leadership group of WHO Pan-European Mental Health Coalition.

The event also gave the opportunity for EFPA to liaise with other European associations working in the area of public health, so that common projects and synergies can be identified for future initiatives.