Under the slogan ‘In AP mental health matters to US‘, close to 500 professionals from different specialties, such as Family and Community Medicine, Maternity, Social Work, Clinical Psychology, and Psychiatry, have gathered at the first conference held in Granada to analyze and support the foundations of integrated mental health care from the field of Primary and Community Care in Andalusia.
The first conference, organized by the Ministry of Health and Consumption and the Andalusian Health Service (SAS), with the collaboration of the Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), was inaugurated, virtually, by the councilor, Rocío Hernández, and, in person, by the Director General of Care and Sociosanitary Care, Ana María Reales, and the director of the EASP, Diego Vargas.
The Director General of Care and Sociosanitary Care, Ana María Real, during the in-person opening of the conference ‘In AP mental health matters to US’.
The sessions of work, which have been broadcasted via ‘streaming’ and can be viewed on demand on the website, have addressed the interaction between the different healthcare actors involved and the integration lines allowing mental health care to be accessible and of quality, under a shared conceptual and strategic framework. This integrative framework aims to achieve universal prevention, taking into account the needs of each stage of the life cycle from a community approach.
In recent years, and especially after the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in demand for emotional distress. The Annual Report of the National Health System 2023 from the Ministry of Health, which analyzes the Clinical Database of Primary Care (BDCAP), shows a prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders (anxiety, sleep disorders, depression, hyperkinetic or learning disorders), which has been increasing, going from less than 250 cases per thousand inhabitants in 2016 to almost 350 cases per thousand inhabitants in 2023. In Andalusia, from the Primary and Community Care services, responses are being provided to this growing demand, with the support of Mental Health, Public Health, and Pharmacy services.
Good practices in districts and healthcare centers
Another objective of this meeting is to highlight that mental health and emotional well-being are an indispensable part of health, and that Primary and Community Care centers are the ones that address most of the issues through initiatives that have gradually been consolidated and can progressively expand to the rest of the system.
These good practices developed in different centers, districts, and units of the public health system of Andalusia, which have been presented during this conference, include, among others, a collaborative model between Primary Care and Mental Health, positive parenting workshops, non-pharmacological treatment recommendations for emotional distress cases, suicidal behavior prevention, care for informal caregivers and unwanted loneliness, or tools such as Open Window to the Family, BenzostopTogether, or Self-help Guides for depression and anxiety disorders.
