Capacity-building on mental health: Multidisciplinary training and exchange program for health professionals

The ultimate goal of the project "EU-PROMENS" is to improve and standardize the capacity of health professionals across Europe in the field of mental health. This will be achieved through a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach that includes both training and exchange programs. The program is one of the flagship mental health initiatives in Europe. The target groups for this project are mental health professionals working in the following settings:

1. Health professionals working in the mental health sector
2. Teachers and educators working in educational settings
3. Social workers working in different community settings
4. Professionals working in prisons and juvenile detention centers

The project has two tasks:

1. To develop a multidisciplinary mental health training program for health and other professionals working in community settings:

• Establish a contact group for broad stakeholder involvement across different mental health subgroups.
• Conduct a study to identify the training audience(s) and training needs in mental health. This will include a literature review and data collection with a focus on identifying competencies, knowledge gaps and training needs of professionals.
• Mapping existing training and stakeholders and identifying potential participants for the training program.
• Designing a European multidisciplinary mental health training program to promote a comprehensive, prevention-oriented approach to mental health.
• Pilot testing of the training program, including evaluation of the trainings in six European countries
• Preparation and implementation of a final multidisciplinary training program in 24 European countries.
• Develop a toolkit (i.e. a European blueprint) for a comprehensive approach to mental health capacity building.

2. Development of an exchange program for mental health professionals:

• Identifying the needs of exchange participants, the capacities of host institutions and matching both.
• Design the exchange program, taking into account specific needs and objectives.
• Implement the exchange program, ensuring that it is consistent with the overall goals of mental health capacity building.
• Conducting a reporting exercise to evaluate and document the results of the exchange program.

SHARE PROJECT ON