Strategic Priorities
A human rights-based approach to mental health
- Increase the commitment and capacity of policy and decision makers, and other relevant actors to understand and apply a human rights-based approach to mental health.
- Strengthen compliance with international human rights standards at national and European level.
- Improve awareness and knowledge of human-rights compliance practices in mental health.
- Foster the elimination of coercive measures in mental health services.
The psychosocial model to mental health
- Foster and facilitate the implementation of inter-sectoral long term cooperation, strategies and policies – ‘mental health in all policies’.
- Strengthen evidence on promising approaches and practices of the application of the psychosocial model.
- Advance policies and practices to reduce social and economic inequalities impacting mental health.
- Better policies on mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, as well as improve knowledge of effective models among stakeholders.
- Foster awareness and uptake of effective policies and practices linking environmental issues and mental health and wellbeing.
Accessible, high-quality, recovery-oriented mental health services in the community
- Improve parity of esteem and integration of physical and mental health across European education and healthcare systems
- Expand provision of holistic, recovery-oriented, community-based services
- Foster uptake of effective digital approaches and tools for mental health
- Further the decrease of the biomedicalization of mental health and the uptake of recovery approaches
Co-creation with experts by experience, their supporters, service providers and other actors
- Increase co-creation in policy and services development, implementation and evaluation across the European region
- Ensure peer support and expertise by experience in mental health services are acknowledged and valued, including through funding and employment
- Expand co-creation with European and national networks of experts by experience
- Improve representation of experts by experience and their supporters within MHE membership and other relevant organisations.
- Strengthen the establishment and capacity of national organisations representing experts by experience and their supporters.
Mental health-related stigma and discrimination
- Strengthen understanding of impact of mental health stigma and discrimination in educational, employment, health and social care settingsand law enforcement.
- Increase responsible and non-stigmatising media coverage of mental health.
- Improve public attitude towards mental health and the reality of people with lived experience.
Sustainability and impact
- Increase diversification of funding streams and reinforce governance, management and evaluation systems.
- Expand engagement with experts by experience, their supporters and peer networks within mental health.
- Increase and diversify membership at national level and support alliances under MHE umbrella.
- Increase capacity of MHE members in advocacy, service provision and communication.
MHE’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025: ‘Bridging Policy Making and Human Experience’
MHE launched a new strategy on 14 October 2021 outlining some of the most urgent mental health priorities including tackling discrimination and securing equal access to services. MHE has led the mental health movement across Europe for over 35 years taking a human rights, recovery based approach. MHE’s new strategy reinforces a psychosocial and recovery approach to counterbalance the over-reliance on a medical model of mental health. There is a need to move beyond urgency-driven medical solutions and instead adopt a public health, human rights, recovery oriented psychosocial approach to mental health. This is why we have renovated our commitment to work in a holistic way that puts human rights and people with lived experience at the centre of our actions.
HE has consistently positioned itself as a key actor working towards the implementation of human rights principles and obligations in mental health. MHE will intensify it’s work in:
- Human rights
- Co-creation
- Intersectionality
- Focus on categories more at risk
- Education and digitalisation
