Key areas for action
Professional training > issues
Multi-sectoral approaches to mental health are needed owing to the complex needs of patients and their families at different points during the illness.1
Joint training of the public, professionals and people affected by severe mental illness has proven successful to break down barriers and raise awareness.
- Training of psychiatrists is often lacking to address the complexity of issues facing people with mental ill-health, particularly severe mental illness.
- Regular training for primary care staff in mental health issues does not take place in Denmark, Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Spain or Sweden.2
- One needed area for training is to have physicians recognize and address the physical as well as the mental aspects of mental ill-health.
- Training of all members of society who interact with people with mental ill-health --- the justice system, police force, community services, social care --- is needed to ensure that everyone is at the same level of awareness and stigma is fully addressed.