The EU-funded Joint Action ImpleMENTAL: an overview

Abstract

Abstract The Joint Action (JA) on Implementation of Best Practices in the Area of Mental Health -JA ImpleMENTAL prioritizes cooperation across EU and other European countries in order to improve citizens' mental health, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it aims to: Support participating countries to improve mental health via innovative and sustainable (mental) health system change and the establishment of networks for knowledge sharing and peer learning; Reinforce capacity to address system transformation to support citizen-centered and integrated approaches; Improve the mental health of children, adolescents and adults, by facilitating their access to care, as well as promoting and improving the continuity, quality and coherence of preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative mental health services adapted to their individual needs and provided in their local and social environment; Work across disciplines and increase integration of mental health in primary care thus contributing towards developing health-care services providing more person-centred, coordinated care to people with (often comorbid) mental and physical health conditions; Through transfer of best practices with the highest priority ranking, which also require a strong involvement of governmental actors to enable such practices to be embedded in health systems. Work Package 1 provides technical, scientific, financial and administrative coordination and management in order to ensure the overall effective implementation of the JA. The wide coverage of the Action brings to the fore the challenging task of addressing the diversity across member states. In the presentation, the context, objectives, the strengths and challenges, the methods used to facilitate the implementation process and ensure the effective monitoring as well as the anticipated impact, will be delineated.