Work
27.May 2008 - 00:00
EU mental health strategy
The Commission’s Green Paper ‘Towards a Strategy on Mental health for the European Union’ highlighted the need for a preventive approach in mental health work, and Parliament’s motion for a resolution on improving the mental health of the population (2006/2058(INI)) stressed among other things the importance of promoting a healthy childhood. Research shows that where parents suffer from depression, their children have an increased risk of suffering depression themselves. Depression is often associated with serious physical illness, and it is thought likely that the risk becomes even greater when two serious illnesses are involved. Studies have shown that children of parents with cancer displayed symptoms including sleep disturbance and changes in speech intensity; they showed more pronounced risk-taking behaviour, as well as anxiety and depression caused by their parents’ physical limitations. Work to help the children of cancer sufferers has been carried out principally in the USA. In Europe, the Netherlands is practically the only country where a variety of preventive mental health work is being done.
In recent years in Finland a determined effort has resulted in the development of preventive procedures. In the Oulu teaching hospital, research was carried out into adapting preventive procedures developed to help the children of mentally ill parents for the benefit of the children with parents suffering from physical illnesses. These structured treatments, which can be used by almost any social or healthcare professional, are based on reinforcing the factors which protect the child when their parents become ill: the idea is to support families as a matter of course so that the child’s schooling, hobbies, and relationships with their siblings and friends still function even when there is a difficult situation in the family. Clearly the use of these new preventive procedures should be supported at EU level.
1. What preventive methods to promote the mental health of children does the Commission intend to put forward in the mental health strategy it is preparing?
2. Does the Commission have any plans to include in its strategy the structured child mental health treatments described above, which should be adopted throughout the whole healthcare sector?
3. How does the Commission propose to promote the spread among the EU’s health services of new healthcare support structures of the kind described above?
Answer given by Ms Vassiliou on behalf of the Commission
The Commission is aware of the fact that studies suggest an increased risk of children from parents with depression to experience depression themselves. This is an aspect, which is also being considered by the project ‘CAMHEE — child and adolescent mental health in an enlarged Europe’, which is supported from the Programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003 08) and will deliver results in mid 2009.
As regards the questions of the Honourable Member, the Commission wishes to mention that, to follow up the Green Paper on Improving the Mental Health of the Population, it decided to organise a high-level conference on mental health to be held on 13 June 2008 in Brussels. The objective will be to launch a European Pact for Mental Health. This shall be implemented as a process of exchange and cooperation to identify best solutions for addressing mental health challenges through evidence-based action across relevant sectors. Through work between government, stakeholders and research experts, a set of commonly recommended actions will be identified. The inclusive approach of the Pact will ensure broad ownership of the recommendations and their wide dissemination.
One of the priorities of the Pact will be ‘Mental health in youth and education’. Here, indeed evidence suggests a range of actions, including measures of promotion and prevention, across health, youth and educational sectors.
As regards aspects of mental health treatment and care aspects, the Commission wishes to clarify that these fall under the responsibility of authorities in Member States. The European Pact for Mental Health will respect this distribution of competences.
Leipäteksti
The Commission’s Green Paper ‘Towards a Strategy on Mental health for the European Union’ highlighted the need for a preventive approach in mental health work, and Parliament’s motion for a resolution on improving the mental health of the population (2006/2058(INI)) stressed among other things the importance of promoting a healthy childhood. Research shows that where parents suffer from depression, their children have an increased risk of suffering depression themselves. Depression is often associated with serious physical illness, and it is thought likely that the risk becomes even greater when two serious illnesses are involved. Studies have shown that children of parents with cancer displayed symptoms including sleep disturbance and changes in speech intensity; they showed more pronounced risk-taking behaviour, as well as anxiety and depression caused by their parents’ physical limitations. Work to help the children of cancer sufferers has been carried out principally in the USA. In Europe, the Netherlands is practically the only country where a variety of preventive mental health work is being done.
In recent years in Finland a determined effort has resulted in the development of preventive procedures. In the Oulu teaching hospital, research was carried out into adapting preventive procedures developed to help the children of mentally ill parents for the benefit of the children with parents suffering from physical illnesses. These structured treatments, which can be used by almost any social or healthcare professional, are based on reinforcing the factors which protect the child when their parents become ill: the idea is to support families as a matter of course so that the child’s schooling, hobbies, and relationships with their siblings and friends still function even when there is a difficult situation in the family. Clearly the use of these new preventive procedures should be supported at EU level.
1. What preventive methods to promote the mental health of children does the Commission intend to put forward in the mental health strategy it is preparing?
2. Does the Commission have any plans to include in its strategy the structured child mental health treatments described above, which should be adopted throughout the whole healthcare sector?
3. How does the Commission propose to promote the spread among the EU’s health services of new healthcare support structures of the kind described above?
Answer given by Ms Vassiliou on behalf of the Commission
The Commission is aware of the fact that studies suggest an increased risk of children from parents with depression to experience depression themselves. This is an aspect, which is also being considered by the project ‘CAMHEE — child and adolescent mental health in an enlarged Europe’, which is supported from the Programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003 08) and will deliver results in mid 2009.
As regards the questions of the Honourable Member, the Commission wishes to mention that, to follow up the Green Paper on Improving the Mental Health of the Population, it decided to organise a high-level conference on mental health to be held on 13 June 2008 in Brussels. The objective will be to launch a European Pact for Mental Health. This shall be implemented as a process of exchange and cooperation to identify best solutions for addressing mental health challenges through evidence-based action across relevant sectors. Through work between government, stakeholders and research experts, a set of commonly recommended actions will be identified. The inclusive approach of the Pact will ensure broad ownership of the recommendations and their wide dissemination.
One of the priorities of the Pact will be ‘Mental health in youth and education’. Here, indeed evidence suggests a range of actions, including measures of promotion and prevention, across health, youth and educational sectors.
As regards aspects of mental health treatment and care aspects, the Commission wishes to clarify that these fall under the responsibility of authorities in Member States. The European Pact for Mental Health will respect this distribution of competences.
Leipäteksti