Select program area OR country

Select program area OR language

The lead organization, holding the contract with the donor, is King's College London; there are 18 regional partners, GIP-Sofia being among them This is a three-year project, linking 19 sites in Europe. The scope of the project will focus on the impact of stigma and discrimination upon the everyday lives of people with depression, and identify proven strategies to reverse such forms of social exclusion. The strategic objective is to contribute to reducing stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness across Europe and to communicate this knowledge to all relevant stakeholders. Therefore, ASPEN will be established to assess and understand the extent of stigma and discrimination against people with depression (both adolescent and adults) and to gather and to disseminate information on best practice (at policy and at operational levels) to achieve the strategic objective.

• To produce scales to assess stigma and discrimination of people with depression;
• To interview 500 people with depression in 19 sites;
• To collate best-practice to reduce stigma and discrimination;
• To assess if anti-discrimination policies are applied in practice;
• To recommend how to include people with mental illness for policy formation;
• For generic disability discrimination laws.

The results of assessing stigma and discrimination in Europe have produced generally consistent findings. First, there are few countries, societies or cultures in which people with mental illness are considered to have the same value as people who do not have mental illness, as shown for example in lower rates of financial investment in mental health services. Second, the quality of information that we have is relatively poor, with few comparative studies between countries or over time. Third, there are clear links between popular understandings of mental illness and whether people in mental distress seek help or feel able to disclose their problems.

• Availability of better knowledge for policy makers on practical measures for improving social inclusion of people with depression - from the toolkit for policy makers on how to involve civil society in mental health policies;
• Transfer of practical and usable information to policy makers on increasing work opportunities for people with depression – from report on legal and social barriers to employment;
• Improved information availability throughout the EU (and for policy makers and key stakeholders in particular) of information on best practice in stigma and discrimination reduction, service user and caregivers' involvement in policy formation, and required policy initiatives to promote the social and work inclusion of people with depression via the ASPEN webpage and the summary reports.

For more information about European Commission projects see:
ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm

The information given above is the sole responsibility of Global Initiative on Psychiatry and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.