EVALUATION OF THE MENTAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER COUNTRIES

Abstract

Good mental health is a prerequisite for economic prosperity, competitiveness andsustainable economic development of any developed country. This is the reason whythis subject is currently being highly emphasized. Mental health affects millions ofcitizens in all member countries of the European Union and is an increasingly urgenttopic for European Union policy. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbatedthe widespread of mental health crisis, with the economic and social consequences ofthe pandemic leading to significant increase in mental health problems. The countries ofthe European Union are trying to face this challenge and are reforming their mentalhealth care systems in order to meet the contemporary demands of the population asmuch as possible and to reduce the undesirable aspects of this growing negative trend.The paper is focused on the evaluation of mental health care systems in the EuropeanUnion member countries. The evaluation is based on the selected mental health careindicators and application of selected multi-criteria decision-making method TOPSIS.As a part of the research, the results of the former Eastern and Western Bloc countriesof the Europe are compared, due to different approaches to psychiatric care in the past.The importance of international evaluation of mental health care systems lies inparticular in the possibility of developing more responsible mental health policies andmental health care systems, improving the quality of mental health care and increasingthe resilience of the health care systems in European Union member countries. Theresult of the research is a ranking of mental health care systems of the European Unionmember countries, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of implemented mentalhealth care systems and identifying appropriate procedures and good practice for futureapplication.