Lived experiences: a focus group pilot study within the MentALLY project of mental healthcare among European users.

Background: Mental healthcare is an important component in societies' response to mental health problems. Although the World Health Organization highlights availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of healthcare as important cornerstones, many Europeans lack access to mental healthcare of high quality. Qualitative studies exploring mental healthcare from the perspective of people with lived experiences would add to previous research and knowledge by enabling in-depth understanding of mental healthcare users, which may be of significance for the development of mental healthcare.

A Critical Perspective on Mental Health News in Six European Countries: How Are "Mental Health/Illness" and "Mental Health Literacy" Rhetorically Constructed?

In this study, we aim to contribute to the field of critical health communication research by examining how notions of mental health and illness are discursively constructed in newspapers and magazines in six European countries and how these constructions relate to specific understandings of mental health literacy. Using the method of cluster-agon analysis, we identified four terminological clusters in our data, in which mental health/illness is conceptualized as "dangerous," "a matter of lifestyle," "a unique story and experience," and "socially situated." We furthermore found that we cannot unambiguously assume that biopsychiatric discourses or discourses aimed at empathy and understanding are either exclusively stigmatizing or exclusively empowering and normalizing.

Healthcare professionals' perspectives on mental health service provision: a pilot focus group study in six European countries.

Background: The mental healthcare treatment gap (mhcGAP) in adult populations has been substantiated across Europe. This study formed part of MentALLY, a research project funded by the European Commission, which aimed to gather qualitative empirical evidence to support the provision of European mental healthcare that provides effective treatment to all adults who need it.

Methods: Seven focus groups were conducted with 49 health professionals (HPs), including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, general practitioners, and psychiatric nurses who worked in health services in Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

The decision to have an abortion from both partners' perspectives: a dyadic analysis.

Objectives: Male partners are often involved in induced abortion although they have no legal rights. It is, however, unknown how women's thoughts and feelings regarding the decision for abortion are associated with the decisional experiences of the involved male partners and vice versa.

Methods: Flemish women and their involved male partners (IMP) filled out a questionnaire on abortion motives and feelings of decisiveness in the abortion centre waiting room (N = 106 couples).

Contraceptive use in Flanders (Belgium): A comparison between a general population sample and a Turkish ethnic minority sample.

Objectives: To identify contraceptive profiles, and factors affecting these, among women of childbearing age, living in Flanders.

Methods: The prevalence of knowledge and use of the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) and contraceptive use is assessed in two samples from the SEXPERT-survey 'Sexual health in Flanders': (i) a population-based sample (n = 724); and (ii) a probability sample of respondents of Turkish descent (n = 216).

Results: Knowledge, but not use, of the ECP is significantly lower among women from the ethnic minority sample, even after correction for income and educational background.

Pre-abortion counselling from women's point of view.

Objective: The value of mandatory pre-abortion counselling for women seeking abortions has been repeatedly questioned. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives and feelings of almost 1000 women regarding pre-abortion counselling in Flanders.

Methods: Participating women (N = 971) - all requesting an abortion at one of the five Flemish abortion centres - were offered a questionnaire prior to the counselling session and immediately afterwards.