Project Activities

The virtual kick-off meeting marked the start of the MENTAL-CARE project. Partners from Finland, Spain, Greece, and Croatia discussed project goals, communication strategies, roles, and timeline. The session also included a workshop in honor of World Mental Health Day to raise awareness and engage the community. 

Three-day learning activity hosted at the University Hospital Vrapče in Zagreb. The event featured study visits to rehabilitation day centers, discussions on human rights in psychiatry, recovery-oriented interventions, and workshops on reducing stigma and promoting communication among mental health users, professionals, and family caregivers. 

Transnational project meeting held in Stockholm with representatives from all partner organizations. Participants reviewed progress on the Good Practices Guide, shared video materials, and planned dissemination and awareness events for European Mental Health Week 2026. 

Partners from Finland, Croatia, and Greece had the opportunity to meet in Zagreb and collaborate on the production of short videos for the project.

Organized by AMAFE on 7 May 2026, this national event celebrated European Mental Health Week by focusing on communication, employment, and recovery.

The session presented the final results of the Erasmus+ MENTAL-CARE project—developed alongside partners in Finland, Greece, Belgium, and Croatia—featuring a new Good Practice Guide designed to improve communication between service users, families, and professionals to support recovery and prevent carer burnout . Additionally, the event highlighted the ReConecta pilot programme (supported by the ONCE Foundation), which provides personalized support to people with disabilities on extended, mental health-related sick leave to facilitate their well-being and return to work .

Organised on 6 May 2026 and co-funded by the EU's Erasmus+ MENTAL-CARE project, this event brought together professionals, family associations, and people with lived experience to explore how better communication between all parties can build a shared path toward recovery.

Sessions featured FinFami introducing the project and its national caregiver network in Finland; a Japanese panel on social withdrawal and the "8050 problem"; WHO presenting its family-focused QualityRights intervention framework; and best practice showcases from EPIONI (Greece) and AMAFE (Spain).

The key takeaway: informal family caregivers are indispensable to mental health care — and supporting them is fundamental, not optional.

Held on 24 May 2026 at the Historical and Folklore Museum of Aegina to mark World Schizophrenia Day, this awareness event was co-funded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ MENTAL-CARE project, focusing on bridging communication gaps between patients, healthcare professionals, and informal family caregivers to build a shared path toward recovery and prevent carer burnout.

The day leveraged creative synergy to break down stigmas and promote social inclusion through expert-led presentations, the screening of Psychonauts — an award-winning 8-minute stop-motion animated short film co-created by patients at the University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče in Croatia — and hands-on art and dramatherapy workshops designed to foster expression and mental health support.