Mental health for the whole local community beyond formal service settings

Our member AISME is organizing an event in Italy on May 25th from 15:30 to 18:00 CEST. This will be a hybrid event conducted in Italian with no interpretation or translation available. To register for the event, kindly send an email to: aisme.sh@gmail.com

This event will focus on the initiative “Centro Esperienze Compartecipate tra Associazioni Servizi ed Enti Locali”. It will address the development of co-created activities within the local community beyond formal services settings, through democratic, peer like relationships between all stakeholders.

“Centro Esperienze Compartecipate tra Associazioni Servizi ed Enti Locali” has its roots in the Italian deinstitutionalisation of mental health process (closure of psychiatric hospitals -law 180/1978-). Over time, close exchanges with self-help user movements, mental health associations from other countries, and international organisations such as MHE and ENUSP have been established. This initiative takes a recovery, co-production and co-creation approach. Currently, it comprises 5 groups in Tuscany (Centro Esperienze Compartecipate tra Associazioni Servizi ed Enti Locali: Firenze, Massa, Pistoia, Prato, Valle del Serchio) and two groups in London area (Enfield and Watford).

The initiative explores new ways of understanding mental health problems and contributes to a transition from clinical to community contexts and to local community development. It is assumed this will benefit all participants individually and allow more appropriate interchanges between the services and the community and vice versa. This will be beneficial also for those who have difficulty attending services.

The initiative involves all key stakeholders. The involvement of the local government usually is easy at the beginning but in the long term can be difficult, because of political changes. A clear agreement between all stakeholders involving local governments and services is necessary. A permanent link between the service and the community should be established in the medium/long term to guarantee democratic peer like relationships between stakeholders.  A multi-perspective evaluation is needed with the involvement of all participants.