Advancing mental health in all policies: methods to evaluate and deliver at national & regional levels
Summary
As requested by DG SANTE, MENTOR is to deliver on the ‘development, piloting and possible implementation of a methodology to ensure that mental health is integrated in relevant policies. The purpose of this task, therefore, is to support policy makers at national and regional government levels in the design, implementation, and improvement of mental health in all policies approaches. Such policy makers can include civil servants within the health sector (i.e. responsible for health policy development or implementation at a Ministry of Health or municipal health directorate), but can also extend to their counterparts working in other policy sectors such as social affairs or education. More specifically, the current knowledge and experiences as regards Mental Health in All Policies (MHIAP) methodology will be mapped and a flexible methodology will be developed to guide the implementation of MHIAP approaches. This methodology is designed to support policy makers (at national and regional/local levels) to see the value of a MHIAP approach in their context and have the best available information and tools at hand to implement a MHIAP approach to take a comprehensive approach to addressing mental health (and its determinants) across domains within and beyond the health sector. The methodology will contain answers to questions such as include ‘how does integrated policy making actually work’, ‘how can it be organized’, ‘how can it be sustained and developed further’? As of yet, the existing body of knowledge as regards MHIAP (and its implementation) is not as well-developed as its ‘general’ counterpart (HIAP); a well-developed MHIAP approach is needed, that also takes into account specificities related to (public) mental health policymaking. This task thus aims to deliver on MHIAP methodology and implementation guidance that builds on practical and theoretical insights, also as regards mental health equity and sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable groups, and supports the implementation of best available interventions (across policy levels) The task also aims to maximise opportunities for cross-national learning, incorporating the specific needs of participating countries into account through piloting the implementation (as developed in the initial phase) in four select Member States. This will also be done through setting up a learning lab for partner countries piloting the methodology, to come together several times a year to share experiences in implementing the methodology, also with task partners that do not implement, The learning lab will also be instrumental in refining the methodology guidance further and improving its utility.
The task will build on learnings presented in the Commission’s ‘Healthier Together’ guidance document, the 2023 Joint Statement for Mental Health in All Policies developed via the Health Policy Platform, and on the 2017 recommendations for action on Mental Health in All Policies developed following the 20132016 Joint Action on Mental Health and Well-being. Furthermore, synergies will be explored with new work, such as early outcomes of MENTOR work on health promotion, the WHO Capacity Building Initiative (flagship 1 of the EU Communication) that will also address mental health across policies, and efforts as regards mental health promotion (notably on mapping) that is proposed within the context of the Joint Action PREVENT, Several partners that will work on this specific PREVENT task will also contribute to task 5.1.
As such, the task will deliver on one of four key areas of action proposed in ‘Healthier Together’: supporting favourable conditions for mental health and increasing resilience, implementing Mental Health in All Policies, also the area that Member States’ health ministries identified as most relevant to them. This task concludes with a final methodology ready for Member States to use either nationally or regionally, and a final ‘policy and practice’ event to showcase experiences of Member States in piloting the methodology.
The task will be delivered in three steps: