Title: Letter of petition + Mental Health Outdoor
Country: PORTUGAL
Form(s) of actions:
Open letter of petition; The Outdoor for Mental Health campaign consists of community walks using the event’s official t-shirt on the World Mental Health Day.
Type(s) of actions
Lobbying/change of law (open letter of petition); Infomation/education (outdoor)
Summary:
The Mental Health Outdoor, an annual activity organized by the National Federation of Mental Health Rehabilitation Entities (FNERDM) to celebrate the World Mental Health Day, is a citizens’ inititative aiming to raise awareness and affirm the rights of people with mental illness, to combat stigma, discrimination and social exclusion. In its tenth edition, in 2023, an open letter of petition addressed to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security was organized.
Aim:
Letter of Petition: Request the scheduling of a meeting with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, in which FNERDM can present a set of concerns of mental health NGOs, shared by users and their families, correlated with community integration paths and deinstitutionalization processes in Portugal (open letter of petition). Mental Health Outdoor: Generate a national movement to raise awareness and affirm the rights of people with mental illness, to combat stigma, discrimination and social exclusion (Mental Health Outdoor).
Main stakeholders:
National Federation of Mental Health Rehabilitation Entities (FNERDM); Mental Health NGOs; Mental health services users/patients; Families of mental health services users/patients; Community; Public in General; Minister of Health; Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security.
Issues addressed:
In open letter of petition: Creation of the needed support/responses to enable the active promotion of Human Rights of people with mental illness through the deinstitutionalization and through their social and community inclusion; Clear and unequivocal recognition of the role of the network of mental health NGOs; Lack of involvement of mental health NGOs in the process of applying the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) funds earmarked for deinstitutionalisation, and information on how they will be used; Need to increase and diversify the number of responses aimed at supporting people with mental illness in the community (solving the limitations related to the implementation of the National Network of Integrated Continuing Mental Health Care; and innovating the functional program of responses).
Outcome:
Open letter of petittion: In july of 2024 FNERDM had a meeting with Minister of Health and the Secretary of State for Health Management To discuss concerns regarding the implementation of responses for the psychosocial rehabilitation of young people and adults with mental illness, with a focus on community integration pathways and deinstitutionalization processes in Portugal and present proposals for adapting the services provided to the support needs of people with severe mental illness and their families. No public information of meeting with the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security was found (by July 2024). Mental health outdoor: 765 persons representing 16 national organizations from 8 different districts. Partipipants in the mental health outdoor expressed high levels of satisfaction (FNERDM activity report).
Sustainability:
Keeping an open path for dialogue with the relevant government members and public services coordination services. The mental health outdoor is an annual activity organized by the federation to celebrate the World Mental Health Day, raise awareness among the community regarding mental illness and try to make people more open to talking about the topic.
Link(s):
https://www.fnerdm.pt/; https://www.fnerdm.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rac-2024_signed.pdf
Data source: FNERDM Webpage and its activity report (available on-line); RESPONSIVE Task 3.1: Review media coverage of protests and campaigns
