The programme »Literacy about mood disorders and personality disorders«
Duration:
1st March 2020–31st October 2022
The programme »Literacy about mood disorders and personality disorders« is a continuation and an upgrade of the innovative programme »With raised mental health literacy to better managing of mood disorders«. The programme is based on the concept of mental health literacy that includes cognitive and social skills of individuals' motivation to access information, to understand them and to use them critically in a way that strengthens and preserves mental health. Such an approach enables a wider outlook on mental health, since it includes knowledge to master risk factors, the strengthening of protective factors, faster recognition of difficulties, decreased (self) stigma and more realistic expectations about the effects of treatment of such difficulties. In order to convey knowledge that takes into account the wider social context of understanding of health and illness, the activities of the programme are designed in a multidisciplinary way.
Besides experts from the Sociomedical Institute ZRC SAZU also those from Research Center Character, Association Altra and Association Project Human are included in the implementation of the programme. A varied team of experts (psychiatrists, psychotherapists, anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, sociologists and philosophers) will join their long-standing experiences in the field of strengthening mental health and will strive to increase it to the level of knowledge of the general population about diabetes.
The main aim of the programme is the increase of literacy about mood disorders and personality disorders, since different data demonstrate that the population of Slovenia still recognise them poorly. However, in the estimates of experts their prevalence will increase rapidly in comparison with other categories of disease. Unfortunately, quality programmes of strengthening mental health, prevention, early detection and treatment of mood disorders and personality disorders, different interventions (psychotherapy, rehabilitation and social integration and destigmatization programmes) are still not equally accessible to individuals in different regions. In this respect, the programme is designed to increase access to different information, connected to early recognition of mental health difficulties and available forms of (self) help through direct educational programmes and a web-based platform. In this way, it will contribute to increased mental health literacy in Slovenia among different population groups.
The programme is innovative in various ways:
- it addresses the general public as well as vulnerable groups in Slovenia, especially in regions marked by distinctly unfavourable indicators of health inequalities and contributes to strengthening professional capacities in the field of mental health;
- its activities are focussed on direct education and training of professional workers as well as users of different services in local environments;
- the trainings will be carried out also through a freely available multidisciplinary web platform (www.omra.si), that overcomes geographical and time limitations and will also sustainably ensure the strengthening of professional capacities in addressing the issues of mental health and its improvement in target groups;
- it includes an innovative qualitative/quantitative approach in accessing short-term as well as long term effects of the programme
The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia
