Mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders or schizophrenia affect about one third of Europe’s population. These pathologies can considerably hinder professional insertion. To help patients with mental disorders to reach social and professional stability, a training course for professionals supporting reintegration of people with mental disorders was organised in Luxembourg. It was developed in the frame of the LIH-coordinated European project “Santé Publique Santé Mentale (SPSM) - Employabilité en Europe” (Public Health Mental Health - Employability in Europe").

The project SPSM, co-financed by the European program “Erasmus + Strategic Projects”, is a cooperation between five countries: Luxembourg, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Romania. It aims to increase the quality of the practices of psycho-social professionals accompanying people who suffer from mental disorders to facilitate reintegration into the labour market. The project partners developed an appropriate training for such professionals.

A pilot course was organised from 23^rd to 27^th January 2017 in Luxembourg for 15 participants, enabling them to improve the support to be given for the professional reintegration of people suffering from mental health problems. The training combined theory, practice and exchanges with counterparts from the countries involved in the project. The course had already been given in Switzerland and will be offered soon in the other partner countries. In total, 75 professionals shall benefit from this specific training.

‘The project is innovative in Europe where very little research exists in the field’, says Dr Laurence Fond-Harmant, researcher at LIH’s Department of Population Health and coordinator of the SPSM project. ‘It addresses a highly important topic in public mental health: that of improving the qualification of the professionals who accompany patients with mental disorders to get back to employment.’