People with mental health problems face barriers and prejudices to full integration in society. They may also experience poverty, unemployment, insecure housing, drug and alcohol abuse, and poor family and social support networks. With one in four people experiencing a mental health problem during their lives, it is estimated that the economic costs are ?2000 per annum for each European household.

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In agreement with the Commission's DG for Health and Consumers we present the fourth edition of the newsletter on the implementation of the European Pact for Mental Health and Well-being. In the link bellow, you will find a summary of recent progress, including highlights of the recent Thematic Conference on Older People’s Mental Health and Well-being, in Madrid 29th-30th June, and an outline of the ongoing implementation phase of the Mental Health Pact, as well as updates on current activities, relevant initiatives and events being held in connection with the Pact.

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The mhGAP-IG has been developed for use in non-specialized health-care settings. It is aimed at health-care providers working at first- and second-level facilities. These health-care providers may be working in a health centre or as part of the clinical team at a district-level hospital or clinic. They include general physicians, family physicians, nurses and clinical officers. Other non-specialist health-care providers can use the mhGAP-IG with necessary adaptation. The first-level facilities include the health-care centres that serve as first point of contact with a health professional and provide outpatient medical and nursing care. Services are provided by general practitioners or physicians, dentists, clinical officers, community nurses, pharmacists and midwives, among others. Second-level facilities include the hospital at the first referral level responsible for a district or a defined geographical area containing a defined population and governed by a politico-administrative organization, such as a district health management team. The district clinician or mental health specialist supports the firstlevel health-care team for mentoring and referral.
The mhGAP-IG is brief so as to facilitate interventions by busy non-specialists in low- and middle-income countries. It describes in detail what to do but does not go into descriptions of how to do. It is important that the non-specialist health-care providers are trained and then supervised and supported in using the mhGAP-IG in assessing and managing people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders.

More: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2010/9789241548069_eng.pdf