Islands in the stream: a qualitative study on the accessibility of mental health care for persons with substance use disorders in Belgium.

Introduction: Persons with substance use disorders (SUD) make up a considerable proportion of mental health care service users worldwide. Since 2010, Belgian mental health care has undergone a nationwide reform ('Title 107') aiming to realize a mental health care system that fosters more intensive collaboration, strengthens the cohesion and integration across and between different services, and is more responsive to the support needs of all service users. Although persons with SUD were named as a prioritized target group, how this reform impacted the lives and recovery journeys of persons with SUD remains understudied.

Recovery-supportive interventions for people with substance use disorders: a scoping review.

Background: Recovery-supportive interventions and strategies for people with substance use disorders are a cornerstone of the emergent recovery paradigm. As compared to other services, such approaches have been shown to be holistically focused and improve outcomes (e.g.

Addressing mental health problems among persons without stable housing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: study protocol for a randomised trial. RESPOND - France.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on population-wide mental health and well-being. Although people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage may be especially vulnerable, they experience barriers in accessing mental health care. To overcome these barriers, the World Health Organization (WHO) designed two scalable psychosocial interventions, namely the web-based Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (DWM) and the face-to-face Problem Management Plus (PM+), to help people manage stressful situations.

COVID-19 contact tracing at work in Belgium - how tracers tweak guidelines for the better.

Background: When conducting COVID-19 contact tracing, pre-defined criteria allow differentiating high-risk contacts (HRC) from low-risk contacts (LRC). Our study aimed to evaluate whether contact tracers in Belgium followed these criteria in practice and whether their deviations improved the infection risk assessment.

Method: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Belgium, through an anonymous online survey, sent to 111,763 workers by email.

Effectiveness of a scalable, remotely delivered stepped-care intervention to reduce symptoms of psychological distress among Polish migrant workers in the Netherlands: study protocol for the RESPOND randomised controlled trial.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of international migrant workers (IMWs). IMWs experience multiple barriers to accessing mental health care. Two scalable interventions developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) were adapted to address some of these barriers: Doing What Matters in times of stress (DWM), a guided self-help web application, and Problem Management Plus (PM +), a brief facilitator-led program to enhance coping skills.

Effectiveness of a mental health stepped-care programme for healthcare workers with psychological distress in crisis settings: a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Background: Evidence-based mental health interventions to support healthcare workers (HCWs) in crisis settings are scarce.

Objective: To evaluate the capacity of a mental health intervention in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms in HCWs, relative to enhanced care as usual (eCAU), amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted an analyst-blind, parallel, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

Views and experiences of migrants and stakeholders involved in social and health care for migrants in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had major and potentially long-lasting effects on mental health and wellbeing across populations worldwide. However, these impacts were not felt equally, leading to an exacerbation of health inequalities, especially affecting vulnerable populations such as migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Aiming to inform the adaptation and implementation of psychological intervention programmes, the present study investigated priority mental health needs in this population group.

Effectiveness of a stepped-care programme of WHO psychological interventions in migrant populations resettled in Italy: Study protocol for the RESPOND randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Migrant populations, including workers, undocumented migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, internationally displaced persons, and other populations on the move, are exposed to a variety of stressors and potentially traumatic events before, during, and after the migration process. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has represented an additional stressor, especially for migrants on the move. As a consequence, migration may increase vulnerability of individuals toward a worsening of subjective wellbeing, quality of life, and mental health, which, in turn, may increase the risk of developing mental health conditions.

Voices to be heard: Understanding family perspectives in forensic care trajectories.

Introduction: De-institutionalization of psychiatric care has greatly increased the role of family members in the recovery pathways of Persons labeled as Not Criminally Responsible (PNCR). However, the role of family members in supporting PNCR in forensic psychiatric care remains understudied. Scarce evidence indicates that PNCR have to deal with stigma and endure specific burdens (i.

Effectiveness of a stepped-care programme of internet-based psychological interventions for healthcare workers with psychological distress: Study protocol for the RESPOND healthcare workers randomised controlled trial.

Background And Aims: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has challenged health services worldwide, with a worsening of healthcare workers' mental health within initial pandemic hotspots. In early 2022, the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly around the world. This study explores the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a stepped-care programme of scalable, internet-based psychological interventions for distressed health workers on self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms.

Mental health problems and needs of frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: A qualitative analysis.

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) from COVID-19 hotspots worldwide have reported poor mental health outcomes since the pandemic's beginning. The virulence of the initial COVID-19 surge in Spain and the urgency for rapid evidence constrained early studies in their capacity to inform mental health programs accurately. Here, we used a qualitative research design to describe relevant mental health problems among frontline HCWs and explore their association with determinants and consequences and their implications for the design and implementation of mental health programs.

Social integration of people with non-psychotic mental illness over the last 2 decades: the widening gap in the adult population in Belgium.

Purpose: Social integration is poor among people with mental illness (MI). In recent decades, many countries have developed policies to address this issue. It remains unclear, however, whether their social integration has improved over time.

Implementation of a computer-assisted face-to-face intervention for mapping the social support networks of patients with severe mental illness in routine clinical practice: Analysis of the appropriateness and acceptability of the intervention.

Background: Social support is a key dimension of personal recovery for patients with severe mental disorders. Although clinicians and health professionals should monitor the social support resources of patients in order to provide effective treatment, no specific tool or intervention exist for that purpose. Egonet is a computer-assisted intervention for health and social services that enables the mapping, assessment and fostering of patients' social support networks.

Use of generic social services and social integration of patients with a severe mental illness in Belgium: Individual and services network determinants.

Background: Patients with severe mental illnesses (SMI) have low levels of social integration, which could be improved if they used social services. To our knowledge, however, the extent to which they use generic social services remains unknown.

Aims: We assessed the extent to which patients with SMI use generic social services and the factors that may drive that usage.

Do outcomes of psychiatric hospital treatment differ for migrants and non-migrants?

Purpose: Providing effective treatment for immigrants is an increasing challenge for mental health services across Europe. Yet, little is known as to whether current practice is associated with different outcomes in migrant and non-migrant patients. We compared outcomes of inpatient psychiatric treatment for migrants and non-migrants in a sample from five European countries.

Mental Distress and Its Contributing Factors Among Young People During the First Wave of COVID-19: A Belgian Survey Study.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and its associated measures led to high levels of mental distress in the general population. Previous research indicated that young people are especially vulnerable for a wide range of mental health problems during the pandemic, but little is known about the mechanisms. This study examined mental distress and its contributing factors among young Belgian people.

Stakeholder Coalitions and Priorities Around the Policy Goals of a Nation-Wide Mental Health Care Reform.

The difficulty of implementing mental healthcare reforms owes much to the influence of stakeholders. So far, the endorsement of mental health policy reforms by stakeholder coalitions has received little attention. This study describes stakeholder coalitions formed around common mental health policy goals and highlights their central goals and oppositions.

Comparing discrimination among people with schizophrenia, affective and anxiety disorders. A multilevel study in five European countries.

Background: Most research on mental illness stigma has involved people with psychosis; less information is available for people with affective and anxiety disorders. We aimed to compare experienced and anticipated discrimination among people with schizophrenia, and affective and anxiety disorders.

Methods: People with schizophrenia (n=773), affective (n=1010) and anxiety disorders (n=372) were recruited during psychiatric admission across 5 EU countries.

Use of psychiatric hospitals and social integration of patients with psychiatric disorders: a prospective cohort study in five European countries.

Purpose: Long lengths of stay (LoS) in psychiatric hospitals or repeated admission may affect the social integration of patients with psychiatric disorders. So far, however, studies have been inconclusive. This study aimed to analyse whether long LoS or repeated admissions in psychiatric wards were associated in different ways with changes in the social integration of patients.

Crushed by the Belgian system: Lived experiences of forensic care trajectories by persons labelled as not criminally responsible.

Background: Care trajectories of Persons labelled Not Criminally Responsible (PNCR) are often characterized by multiple transitions from one (forensic) mental health service to another and by long periods of admission. So far, little research has been conducted on forensic care trajectories, in particular on how PNCR perceive the trajectories they are subjected to.

Method: Data were obtained via semi-structured interviews (N = 23) with PNCR in various (forensic) mental health services in Belgium.

Key dimensions of collaboration quality in mental health care service networks.

Appropriate care delivery for patients with severe mental illness (SMI) requires a high level of collaboration quality between primary, mental health, and social care services. Few studies have addressed the interpersonal and inter-organizational components of collaboration within one unique study setting and it is unclear how these components contribute to overall collaboration quality. Using a comprehensive model that includes ten key indicators of collaboration in relation to both components, we evaluated how interpersonal and inter-organizational collaboration quality were associated in 19 networks that included 994 services across Belgium.