European Health Parliament releases recommendations on mental health

A few weeks ago, MHE was invited to participate in the 4th Edition of the European Health Parliament. MHE Director Claudia Marinetti contributed to a panel on mental health promotion and management, where she presented MHE’s work and insisted on the importance of tackling mental health stigma and discrimination to improve mental health promotion.

The 4th edition of the European Health Parliament (EHP) has now came to an end, and the group just released its policy recommendations in the area of mental health and well-being. These recommendations were also debated at the EHP’s Fourth Plenary Session – a dialogue between young health leaders, EU and national legislators, media influencers and leading advocates.

MHE is in line with the general approach adopted in the final document and is pleased to see that important elements from the psychosocial model of mental health have been included in the recommendations, such as societal and structural environments we live in. The report highlights that tackling mental health problems requires a holistic and psychosocial approach (including nature and non-pharmaceutical therapies). It calls on the European Commission to encourage the development of national mental health promotion and prevention plans. Finally, it also underlines the importance of public awareness of positive mental health.

However, MHE remains skeptical about the suggested solutions for e-mental health tools and EU public-private partnerships as a sustainable funding model for long-term investment in mental health care across Europe.

If you are interested, you can read more and find the recommendations here: https://www.healthparliament.eu/dpm/