People experiencing poverty are particularly vulnerable towards developing mental health problems. At the same time, people who already suffer from mental health problems are more likely to fall into the poverty trap. Against this background and in the frame of the European Year 2010 for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion Mental Health Europe, in collaboration with the Institut Wallon pour la Santé Mentale and the Vlaamse Vereniging voor Geestelijke Gezondheid, organized a conference on “Challenging Poverty – Creating Hope. Breaking the cycle of poverty and mental health problems” which took place in Brussels from 22-23 October 2010. In parallel sessions several aspects of the interrelation between poverty and mental health problems were addressed:
- Intergenerational poverty and mental health problems
- The impact of poverty on the mental health of the children
- Mental health problems, poverty and discrimination: a human rights issue
- (Un)employment and mental health : the working poor and the unemployed
- Vulnerable groups, mental health and poverty
- Empowerment: a tool for combating poverty and social exclusion
- Social support systems
More details on Mental Health Europe’s conference with all related documents can be found at: http://www.mhe-sme.org/conference2010.html
In the frame of the European Year 2010 for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, Mental Health Europe and its members have been conducting a survey on the link between poverty and mental health problems. The survey laid its emphasis on four particularly vulnerable groups in society: children and young people, older people, women and migrants.
The results of the survey confirmed that where there is poverty, there is a greater risk that people living in poverty who are suffering from mental health problems do not find or cannot access appropriate help. Not the low income itself causes mental health problems, but the factors connected to low income; it affects which opportunities people or families with low incomes dispose of in case mental health problems occur. Policy-makers should be aware of this challenge and in its conclusion of the survey report, Mental Health Europe conveys targeted policy recommendations to decision-makers.
The full survey report including recommendations for policy-makers can be downloaded here in PFD.
RSS 2.0