Public mental health research in Europe: a systematic mapping for the ROAMER project

Abstract

In Europe, public mental health research is currently a matter of the affluent northern and western European countries, and major efforts will be needed to promote public mental health research in south and east Europe. In spite of a smaller public mental health research output, some Mediterranean countries produce highly cited public mental health research.

A blind spot on the global mental health map: a scoping review of 25 years' development of mental health care for people with severe mental illnesses in central and eastern Europe

“…The allocation of financial resources for mental health care is reported to be far below the EU average of European Union (EU) 24 and the vast majority of resources are still spent on outdated institutional systems 25 . The lack of nonbiological or non-clinical research in general has been considered widespread, with CEE countries having the lowest publication rate per capita in Europe in both public mental health 26 and stigmarelated 27 research. However, the abovementioned evidence is fragmented, and no systematic mapping of development of mental health practices with relation to people with severe mental illnesses has been conducted in the region as a whole.…”

Public mental health: the time is ripe for translation of evidence into practice

“…A recent expert consensus statement on research needs in public mental health stressed that positive mental health and protective factors should be prioritized when planning future research actions and strategies. Furthermore, the need for using interdisciplinary perspectives in order to better understand the complexity of mental health has emerged, as well as the fact that the theory base of public mental health research, including conceptual definitions and frameworks, should be strengthened across all research initiatives in the field.…”

European Union investment and countries’ involvement in mental health research between 2007 and 2013

“…In eastern European Member States, the relatively low funding from EU research programmes of mental health research is similar to the situation of health research in general , and is to be related to the lower number of mental health publications for this region . Reasons include the lack of national funding and research infrastructures, administrative cultural barriers and scientific brain drain.…”

“…In that context, the Roamer (A ROAdmap for MEntal Health Research in Europe) project was funded in 2011 under the 7th framework programme (FP7) with the aim of establishing recommendations for mental health research based on a complete description of the current development of mental health research in Europe. This study was part of the work package dedicated to mental health research infrastructures, capacity‐building and funding strategies .…”