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Mental Health and Well-Being
The European Union has launched a comprehensive approach to mental health to address the growing challenges in this area. Announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her 2022 State of the Union speech, the initiative aims to put mental health on par with physical health across various policy sectors.
On June 7, 2023, the European Commission adopted a Communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health
outlining this approach.
Developed after extensive consultations with Member States, stakeholders, and citizens, the strategy is prevention-oriented and involves multiple stakeholders. It recognizes that mental health is intertwined with numerous policy areas, including employment, education, research, digitalization, urban planning, culture, environment, and climate.
Key features of the initiative include:
The implementation focuses on concrete actions that benefit citizens and health systems at the country level. By integrating mental health considerations into various policy areas, the EU aims to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for mental well-being across its Member States.
outlining this approach.
Developed after extensive consultations with Member States, stakeholders, and citizens, the strategy is prevention-oriented and involves multiple stakeholders. It recognizes that mental health is intertwined with numerous policy areas, including employment, education, research, digitalization, urban planning, culture, environment, and climate.
Key features of the initiative include:
- 20 Flagship Actions: These actions come with financing opportunities worth €1.23 billion to support Member States directly and indirectly in implementing comprehensive mental health strategies.
- Cross-Sectoral Collaboration: The approach involves coordination between national authorities, stakeholders, and international partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, and UNICEF.
- Tracking Framework: Published during the 2024 European Mental Health Week and updated on World Mental Health Day 2024, the tracking framework allows for regular updates on the implementation of actions stemming from the Communication.
The implementation focuses on concrete actions that benefit citizens and health systems at the country level. By integrating mental health considerations into various policy areas, the EU aims to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for mental well-being across its Member States.
Mental health situation in Europe
The mental health situation in the European Union has become increasingly concerning due to a combination of factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, climate change, unemployment, rising living costs, and the pressures of digitalization and social media.
These challenges have exacerbated existing mental health issues, particularly among children and young people.
Key Findings:
Need for Action:
By prioritizing mental health on par with physical health and implementing comprehensive, cross-sectoral strategies, the EU aims to address the mental health crisis effectively and sustainably.
These challenges have exacerbated existing mental health issues, particularly among children and young people.
Key Findings:
- Prevalence of Mental Health Issues: Even before the pandemic, 1 in 6 people in the EU were affected by mental health problems, costing approximately 4% of GDP. The total costs are estimated at over €600 billion across the 27 EU countries and the United Kingdom.
- Recent Increases: According to the 2023 Country Health Profiles report by the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, mental health issues have surged in all EU Member States, Norway, and Iceland.
- Unequal Distribution: Mental health problems are not evenly spread across populations. Depression is more prevalent among women and those with lower income and education levels.
- Lack of Professional Support: A Eurobarometer survey in October 2023 revealed that 46% of Europeans experienced emotional or psychosocial issues in the past year. Alarmingly, one out of every two individuals dealing with mental health problems did not seek professional assistance.
- Youth at Risk: The 2022 Health at a Glance report highlighted that almost one in two young Europeans have unmet needs for mental health care. The proportion of young people reporting symptoms of depression more than doubled during the pandemic.
Need for Action:
- Investment in Mental Healthcare: There is an urgent need for continued investment in mental health services and reforms within health systems, including bolstering the mental health workforce.
- Breaking Stigma: Efforts must be made to eliminate the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health to encourage more individuals to seek help.
- Preventative Measures: A shift towards prevention is crucial. This includes addressing behavioral risk factors and the social, environmental, and commercial determinants of mental health.
- Protecting Younger Generations: Immediate action is necessary to prevent lasting negative effects on younger populations, who are particularly vulnerable to current mental health challenges.
- Global Goals Alignment: These efforts will contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and meeting the World Health Organization's targets on non-communicable diseases.
By prioritizing mental health on par with physical health and implementing comprehensive, cross-sectoral strategies, the EU aims to address the mental health crisis effectively and sustainably.
Best and promising practices
The European Commission's Best Practice Portal facilitates the collection, exchange, and implementation of best and promising practices among EU Member States. In 2018, mental health was prioritized by Member States for best practice implementation.
In 2019, a pre-selection of best practices was presented to Member States, who then ranked them according to their national priorities. From the top three practices, two initiatives are currently being implemented with financial support via the Third Health Programme’s Annual Work Plan for 2020:
The WHO Regional Office for Europe supports ImpleMENTAL's training and capacity-building efforts under a contribution agreement aimed at a mental health across policies approach, valued at €11 million under the EU4Health 2022 work programme.
Regarding the specific needs of children and young people, initiatives like Icehearts Europe and Let’s Talk About Children target the improvement of mental health and well-being among youth.
In July 2023, a call for best and promising practices on mental health was launched. 29 practices were identified as best or promising and are available on the EU Repository of Mental Health Best and Promising Practices on the European Commission’s Best Practice Portal.
An online marketplace event took place on 11-13 March 2024, during which the owners of these 29 practices presented them in detail to EU Member State representatives interested in potentially transferring them to their respective countries.
In 2019, a pre-selection of best practices was presented to Member States, who then ranked them according to their national priorities. From the top three practices, two initiatives are currently being implemented with financial support via the Third Health Programme’s Annual Work Plan for 2020:
- Joint Action ImpleMENTAL: This initiative is rolling out the Belgian mental health system reform, focusing on strengthening client-centered, community-based services, along with the Austrian multi-level suicide prevention programme. The action brings together 21 Member States and is supported by a financial contribution of €5.4 million.
- More information: ImpleMENTAL Project
- European Alliance Against Depression-Best project: This programme involves implementing the iFightDepression tool for self-management of mild to moderate depression. It currently includes 10 Member States and is supported by an EC financial contribution of €1.6 million.
- More information: European Alliance Against Depression
The WHO Regional Office for Europe supports ImpleMENTAL's training and capacity-building efforts under a contribution agreement aimed at a mental health across policies approach, valued at €11 million under the EU4Health 2022 work programme.
Regarding the specific needs of children and young people, initiatives like Icehearts Europe and Let’s Talk About Children target the improvement of mental health and well-being among youth.
In July 2023, a call for best and promising practices on mental health was launched. 29 practices were identified as best or promising and are available on the EU Repository of Mental Health Best and Promising Practices on the European Commission’s Best Practice Portal.
- Best Practice Portal: EU Best Practice Portal
An online marketplace event took place on 11-13 March 2024, during which the owners of these 29 practices presented them in detail to EU Member State representatives interested in potentially transferring them to their respective countries.
‘Healthier Together’ initiative
Such a comprehensive approach to mental health is informed and supported by Healthier Together - the Commission’s EU Non-Communicable Diseases Initiative presented in June 2022. This initiative supports EU countries in identifying and implementing effective policies and actions to reduce the burden of major NCDs and improve citizens’ health and well-being, while also reducing health inequalities.
'Mental health and neurological disorders' constitute one of the five key strands addressed by this initiative. In agreement with member countries and stakeholders, the initiative supports the implementation of high-impact actions across the spectrum, from promoting well-being and proactive prevention to social inclusion of people with long-term conditions . The work of the Mental Health Initiative will focus on four priority areas:
Actions on these areas are already ongoing and will continue until 2027. |
The Steering Group on Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases (SGPP - an expert group with representatives from EU countries’ health ministries) was formally established in 2018 to support Member States in reaching the health targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2018, the SGPP prioritized mental health as the area for best practice implementation. In May 2019, a pre-selection of best practices was presented to EU countries who then ranked them according to the relevance to their national priorities.
In 2018, the SGPP prioritized mental health as the area for best practice implementation. In May 2019, a pre-selection of best practices was presented to EU countries who then ranked them according to the relevance to their national priorities.
The three practices that received the highest ranking are implemented with financial support via the Third Health Programme’s 2020 Annual Work Plan.
These are:
Work on this started in 2021, with the Joint Action ImpleMENTAL rolling out (elements of) the Belgian mental health system reform as well as the Austrian suicide prevention programme. This action brings a total of 21 countries together (supported by financial contribution of €5.4 million). The depression intervention is being implemented via the European Alliance Against Depression-Best project, in which 10 countries participate, supported by an EC financial contribution of €1.6 million.
These are:
- a mental health system reform focusing on strengthening client-centered community-based services, as developed in Belgium
- a multi-level national suicide prevention programme developed in Austria
- a step-wise intervention programme to tackle depression, developed through European collaboration
Work on this started in 2021, with the Joint Action ImpleMENTAL rolling out (elements of) the Belgian mental health system reform as well as the Austrian suicide prevention programme. This action brings a total of 21 countries together (supported by financial contribution of €5.4 million). The depression intervention is being implemented via the European Alliance Against Depression-Best project, in which 10 countries participate, supported by an EC financial contribution of €1.6 million.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe supports the Joint Action ImpleMENTAL’s efforts as regards training and capacity building, via a contribution agreement with a value of €1 million under the EU4Health 2022 work plan.
Contributing to the European Year of Youth, two new projects aim to improve the mental health of children, young people and their families through the implementation of best practice. The practices concerned are:
The EC financial contribution to this work will be €8 million in total, under the EU4Health 2022 work plan.
Contributing to the European Year of Youth, two new projects aim to improve the mental health of children, young people and their families through the implementation of best practice. The practices concerned are:
- a sport-based support programme to improve life skills and social, psychological and emotional resources among socially vulnerable children and adolescents, and
- a two-step intervention to support mental health and wellbeing of young people and their families in vulnerable situations.
The EC financial contribution to this work will be €8 million in total, under the EU4Health 2022 work plan.
Mental health and COVID-19
Already prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of mental health of the population in Europe was a cause for concern. A dedicated chapter in the Health at a Glance Europe 2018 report highlighted that mental health problems affected about 84 million people across the EU. The total costs of mental ill health were estimated at more than 4% of GDP (more than EUR 600 billion) across the 28 EU countries at that time.
The new 2020 Report (check on the side) highlights how, in 2020, the pandemic had already affected many people, both on physical health and on the state of general well-being and mental health. All the institutions have mobilized to try to reduce the social and health consequences, by implementing measures on several levels. A few months after the onset of the pandemic, the department for Health and Food Safety set up a dedicated network space on its Health Policy Platform for health and social stakeholder organisations to exchange specific mental health practice and knowledge related to COVID-19. Co-ordinated by Mental Health Europe, this virtual network includes a focus on the needs of vulnerable groups such as the homeless, people with pre-existing conditions, and older people. The web space also holds a virtual library. |
Action grants are set up to support the implementation of best practices on the ground with direct impact on the effort to tackle mental health challenges during COVID-19.
The EU4Health 2023 annual work programme, totaling €735 790, supports the implementation of best practices on the ground with direct impact on the effort to tackle mental health challenges during COVID-19.
The Commission rewarded community-based initiatives alleviating the mental health impact of COVID-19 already via its 2021 EU Health award. The award ceremony took place in 4 May 2022: prize winning and shortlisted initiatives are presented in a booklet awarded initiatives on mental health impact of COVID-19.
The EU4Health 2023 annual work programme, totaling €735 790, supports the implementation of best practices on the ground with direct impact on the effort to tackle mental health challenges during COVID-19.
The Commission rewarded community-based initiatives alleviating the mental health impact of COVID-19 already via its 2021 EU Health award. The award ceremony took place in 4 May 2022: prize winning and shortlisted initiatives are presented in a booklet awarded initiatives on mental health impact of COVID-19.
Mental health and war in Ukraine
The Commission has mobilised €9 million from the EU4Health programme to help people fleeing Ukraine in urgent need of mental health and trauma support.
More specifically, a €7 million contribution agreement has been signed with the International Federation of Red Cross to directly help people who have fled Ukraine to deal with the trauma they have suffered and offer them mental health support. The EU countries where the Red Cross is working are Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechia and Slovakia.
Ukraine’s displaced people are also the focus of a €2 million call for proposals from non-governmental organisations for best practices to improve mental health and psychological wellbeing in the migrant and refugee populations. This work started in autumn 2022.
In addition, the Commission offers a range of online courses and other training material on migrant health via the websites of the ECDC’s Virtual Academy and the network Migration and health: training for professionals on the Health Policy Platform.
These courses were developed with the support from the Third Health Programme.
The network Supporting Ukraine, neighbouring EU Member States and Moldova on the Health Policy Platform has been established to combine the efforts of civil society, patient groups and health professionals to meet the medical needs of Ukraine society and of displaced people.
EU financed projects:
More specifically, a €7 million contribution agreement has been signed with the International Federation of Red Cross to directly help people who have fled Ukraine to deal with the trauma they have suffered and offer them mental health support. The EU countries where the Red Cross is working are Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechia and Slovakia.
Ukraine’s displaced people are also the focus of a €2 million call for proposals from non-governmental organisations for best practices to improve mental health and psychological wellbeing in the migrant and refugee populations. This work started in autumn 2022.
In addition, the Commission offers a range of online courses and other training material on migrant health via the websites of the ECDC’s Virtual Academy and the network Migration and health: training for professionals on the Health Policy Platform.
These courses were developed with the support from the Third Health Programme.
The network Supporting Ukraine, neighbouring EU Member States and Moldova on the Health Policy Platform has been established to combine the efforts of civil society, patient groups and health professionals to meet the medical needs of Ukraine society and of displaced people.
EU financed projects: