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The Policy (click image below) presents a framework of actions to improve the European population’s mental health. The Policy aims to support the development of action plans for promotion and prevention in mental health at the country level.

Background information on the Policy document – read more > >

Goals of the Policy work strand – read more > >

Participants of the taskforce – read more > >

Translations  – read more >>

  Background information on the Policy document

Summary
In spite of the proven effectiveness of mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention interventions, in general, countries and regions did not have prevention and promotion programmes in place. Nor had they developed policy action plans to sustain available programmes. It was imperative that if we were to improve peoples' mental health and to prevent the onset of new cases of mental disorders, countries, their governments and the European Commission would have to develop a policy action plan to tackle this growing public health problem.

The full-length background document to this product from the first phase of Imhpa can be found here:
Background_Policy.pdf

  Goals 
The taskforce involved in the European policy strand of Imhpa aimed to provide an overview of the situation of mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention programmes and structures across European Member States and accession countries; and to provide a European Policy Action Plan on mental health promotion and the prevention of mental disorders.
The European Policy Action Plan addressed both the impact of public policies on mental health and provided specific mental health policies for promotion and prevention in mental health. The Action Plan was composed of a 40 page Policy Action Plan document targeted at policy makers, politicians and European parliamentarians, and outlining:
1) the case for action,
2) what works,
3) targets, and
4) the action points with strategies for implementation for each aspect of the policy for mental health promotion and the prevention of mental disorders.

The European Policy Action Plan was to be accompanied by a report with mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention country profiles of European Union Member States and countries in accession. The country profiles of the 20 European countries partners of the IMHPA network outline the available infrastructures and policy related situations of prevention and promotion in mental health. The data for each country profile will be gathered at each country level by a country coalition created for this purpose.

  Participants of the taskforce:

1. Peter Anderson - chair task force
2. John Kenneth Davies - rapporteur
3. John Henderson - dissemination-implementation phase
4. Lars Jacobsson - dissemination-implementation phase
5. Maurice Mittelmark - dissemination-implementation phase
6. Maria Heitor dos Santos - foreseen challenges-problems
7. Athanassios Constantopoulos - foreseen challenges-problems
8. Czeslaw Czabala - adoption in countries with special needs
9. Dainius Puras - adoption in countries with special needs
10. Helen Herrman - content special invitation
11. David McDaid - content special invitation