Investigating the sociocultural dynamics of well being and mental health
The lacking contextualisation of the science and applications of mental health and psychosocial interventions is the source of a large part of people’s criticism. The EU-funded PSYCHOCONTEXT project set out to offer a bottom-up, source embedded appreciation of the need to always seek to contextualise mental health interventions and the professional and institutional barriers to this process at the European level. Researchers used participatory action research methods with mental health service users and their relatives, practitioners of psychosocial services and civil society groups. Undertaken with the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme, the project’s first milestone was to elaborate different reviews e.g. ‘A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Recovery Educational Interventions for Mental Health Professionals’ and an experimental study on the impact of social dynamics and citizenship on well being, as well as the possibilities of embedding these ideas in mental health practice. The second was to gather information on approaches already used in mental healthcare. “The results of both milestones were used to organise workshops with mental health service users and professionals. The former were qualitatively enquired and the latter were evaluated within a cluster-randomised trial and using a psychometric measure elaborated based on the focus groups analyses,” explained Francisco José Eiroa-Orosa, PSYCHOCONTEXT coordinator.
Interviews, focus groups and experimental studies
The project conducted interviews and focus groups as well as an online experiment on the impact of sociocultural variables on psychosocial wellbeing and distress. This involved intense information-gathering work through participatory research techniques. The online experiment was a randomised enquiry of the interaction between well being and citizenship. It aimed to identify the strength of their relationship. The study also investigated the capability of changing well being and citizenship levels over time, after exposure to a short intervention involving social justice beliefs, assertiveness and values. According to Eiroa-Orosa, the results suggested a strong positive relationship between well being and citizenship. “The study helped to increase the awareness of the injustices that disadvantaged groups experience, while simultaneously promoting ways for individuals to empower themselves,” he explained. “Professionals could use the findings to provide a platform for vulnerable groups, by offering them the resources to be more assertive and involved in community projects. This can help to increase their responsibilities, roles and meaningful relationships which subsequently could improve their overall well being and sense of citizenship.”
Trialogues further facilitated information exchange
Overall, the project improved the relationships between key actors of the mental health field. It also defended the service users’ rights from a person-centred model and fostered mental health activism as a way to fight self-stigma. It offered training to mental health service users and practitioners focussed on alternatives to diagnosis, recovery with service users as protagonists, as well as specific tools to respect the rights of mental health service users. “We also carried trialogues between service users, their relatives and practitioners in some of the institutions where the workshops had been carried out. This facilitated that the exchange of information between professionals and people with lived experience was bi-directional,” notes Eiroa-Orosa. All activities were carried out in an environment of mutual respect and facilitating the participation of everyone. Each person had the opportunity to contribute their personal experience and make proposals in relation to the situations experienced in the mental health care field.
Keywords
PSYCHOCONTEXT, mental health, well being, citizenship, psychosocial, practitioners
