On 25th February 2015, the Joint Action on Metal Health and Wellbeing (JAMHW) held a meeting in Brussels to present and discuss its provisional findings and policy recommendations on the following thematic areas: depression, suicide and e-health; community-based approaches in mental health; mental health at work places; mental health in all policies.
The main concerns raised on this occasion were the lack of implementation of policies and the need to take into consideration the different levels of resources – and thus the different needs – from one country to another.
Jürgen Scheftlein, policy officer in charge of the Mental Health Unit at the European Commission, expressed the Commission’s perspective on the JAMHW by stressing how important the investment on mental health is necessary at the EU level.
The JAMHW then open the discussions and asked the participants to share their thoughts on how to develop new partnerships, as this constitutes a crucial point for the JAMHW to gain visibility on the European stage and generate more commitment form the stakeholders. In this respect, it was suggested to first map the relevant stakeholders at national and European level, and then to have the Work Packages leaders develop strategies in their own countries.
Finally, Jürgen Scheftlein concluded the debate by mentioning the work done by the ROAMER project, in which the EBC is involved. The goal of this project is to create a coordinated roadmap for the promotion and integration of research in mental health and wellbeing across Europe.