<< Objectives >>The project focuses on three major objectives. First, creating awareness for the importance of mental health for the VET sector and education in general. Second objective is the development of learning opportunities so that the VET sector can build competences necessary to face the mental health pandemic. Third, the project aims at creating change by further reaching out to interested learners, but even more importantly to VET executives and principals, as well as policy makers.<< Implementation >>The activities are contextualized in the phases creating awareness, creating learning opportunities and creating impact. Activities foreseen in the project are a social media campaign, a podcast series, a self-evaluation tool to identify learning needs; regarding learning opportunities a blended learning program MENTAL HEALTH AMBASSADORs is developed, that is adoptable from educational organizations. Finally a strategy paper for VET and a policy paper seek impact along a huge conference.<< Results >>The project has achieved to create substantial impact in the VET and educational sector in general by raising the awareness for mental health issues as relevant context factor of future relevance. Throughout the project various diverse learning opportunities rose the knowledge and competence level of a remarkable number of people. And finally a relevant community came into being, that is sustained far beyond the project end and manages to develop long-term network structures.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been deep and wide. In spite of unprecedented efforts to understand the COVID-19 disease and its causative virus SARS-CoV-2, months after the emergence of the first local case in Europe (San Matteo hospital, Pavia, 21st February 2020) significant knowledge gaps persist. While social and natural scientists managed to develop new research and shed light on the dynamics of the outbreak and the most effective possible containment measures, governments have been increasingly faced with the need to adopt urgent decisions. Against this background, PERISCOPE plans to contribute to a dramatically deeper understanding of the dynamics of the outbreak, by means of an intense multi-disciplinary research, both theoretical and experimental, and the consideration of different viewpoints: clinic and epidemiologic; humanistic and psychologic; socio-economic and political; statistical and technological. The overarching objectives of PERISCOPE are to map and analyse the unintended impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak; develop solutions and guidance for policymakers and health authorities on how to mitigate the impact of the outbreak; enhance Europe’s preparedness for future similar events; and reflect on the future multi-level governance in the health as well as other domains affected by the outbreak. In pursuing this objective, PERISCOPE sheds new light on the unintended and indirect consequences of the outbreak and the related government responses, with the intention to preserve evidence-based policymaking by collecting an unprecedented amount of data and information on the social, economic and behavioural consequences of the current pandemic. At the same time, PERISCOPE will produce new information on the conditions that led to the impact of the pandemic, the differences in “policy mix” adopted at the national level in EU and associated countries, and the behavioural impacts of both the outbreak and the policies adopted.

Cancer and mental ill-health constitute leading public health problems in Europe, with more than 80 million people reporting mental health issues in Europe and around 4 million new cases of cancer diagnosed per year. People with mental ill-health, have higher cancer incidence and reported mortality, an excess linked to risky health behaviours as well as significant barriers experienced when accessing the often highly fragmented health care systems. Timely and evidence-based preventive strategies including optimizing health care pathways provide a solution to the high cancer morbidity and could improve overall health outcomes in this disadvantaged population. The aim of the Co-CAPTAIN project is to deliver an innovative solution based on the Patient Navigation Model. The Patient Navigation Model is an evidence-based patient-centred intervention which supports patient empowerment through removal of systemic barriers, providing social support and promoting timely access to primary prevention services. Co-CAPTAIN includes partner organizations with long-standing experience in the field of health and social care for people with mental ill-health in the south, east, northwest and central Europe, as well as academic institutions and local governments. Based on implementation science know-how and using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation as well as the Research and the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance frameworks, the Co-CAPTAIN project aims to reduce the gap in health inequalities for people with mental ill-health by reducing cancer burden and improving overall health, which will, in turn, reduce associated costs across health and social care systems in Europe. Moreover, the Co-CAPTAIN project aims to harness the transformative potential of the integrated care pathways in cancer as well as provide health and social care policy recommendations for the adoption and implementation of the Patient Navigation Model across Europe. This action is part of the Cancer Mission cluster of projects on ‘Prevention and early detection’.

The RURAL MENTAL HEALTH (RMH) project will aim to redress the imbalance and inequality between mental health care provision in rural areas compared to urban ones. Considering that those suffering from mental health disorders in rural areas are substantially more likely to commit suicide than their urban counterparts, it is crucial that awareness of mental health issues is raised across rural communities; increased and improved mental health care provision is made available; and stigmatization around these issues is reduced. In this context, the project will develop informational, contextual and background information on mental health issues in rural areas and the need for basic care provision via a number of different community-led avenues. It will also develop training modules on basic care provision, in a bid to help rural educators, volunteers, employers and other actors to at least understand the incidence of mental health disorders better and be able to identify them, and reach out to those involved. The target users of these materials will therefore be those involved in working with vulnerable teenagers, farming advisors and agricultural educators, employers, and job counsellors to name but a few. Other open educational resources developed by the project will include a checklist to identify concerns; a promotion video attempting to reduce stigmatization; and an information pack aimed directly at end-users and vulnerable groups in rural areas to help them seek help for themselves or others. The combination of these elements should help a two-pronged approach to a sensitive issue, by addressing the target group directly but also via trusted community leaders. Ultimately, this project aims to improve the quality of life for those suffering from mental health issues in rural areas, improve awareness and prevention of serious mental health issue occurrences, and, fundamentally, reduce the suicide rate in rural areas across Europe, particularly of disadvantaged youth and rural workers including farmers.

The WELL CARE project aims to strengthen supports available to long-term care (LTC) workers and informal carers for improving their resilience and mental well-being through care partnerships. The WELL CARE project has four specific objectives for these target groups: 1) To review, organise and make available evidence and data (with a focus on gender, inclusion, occupation and non-occupation specific factors) on how to best support resilience and mental well-being: we will identify and analyse 40 good practices and perform 10 in-depth case studies; 2) To identify, evaluate and promote the adoption of innovative solutions and prototypes: we will develop 5-8 general solution prototypes, which will be implemented and tested with interested stakeholders (e.g., LTC providers and employers) in five European Union countries (Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden). We will provide resources, guidance and a helpdesk to sustain implementation and the creation of favourable local, regional and national ecosystems; 3) To develop and foster evidence-based and action-oriented recommendations for policy makers and stakeholders: we will analyse the policy, legislative, service and financing frameworks, also elaborating recommendations on the basis of data and evidence generated by the project; 4) To develop, implement and sustain a continuous process of research and co-design activities with end-users and stakeholders at national level: we will set up and implement Blended Learning Networks, establishing a participatory research design and addressing real needs and perspectives from the target groups. The WELL CARE project will positively impact LTC workers’ and informal carers’ mental health and productivity (micro-level), as well as providing LTC providers with new solutions and tools for effective, efficient and sustainable support and retainment of the care workforce (meso-level) and new data and recommendations for policy makers and stakeholders (macro-level).