CAMHI's pilot training in mental health has started

In line with World Mental Health Day 2023 theme, "Mental health is a universal human right," the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) affirms the rights of children and adolescents to effective, evidence-based mental health care with the launch of pilot training programs across Greece

All children have the right to a happy, healthy life and deserve access to effective care to prevent and treat mental health problems. Every year on October 10, though, World Mental Health Day reminds us of the huge unmet needs and inequalities children face around the globe, particularly those living in low-income communities and those marginalized because of their ethnic heritage, gender identity, sexual orientation, migration status, chronic medical condition, and physical, developmental, or mental disabilities.

Based on the results of a comprehensive landscape analysis surveying the state of mental health of children and adolescents in Greece, this fall CAMHI is taking yet another important step in fulfilling its vision for strengthening the country's child mental health sector through evidence-based interventions, including trainings and psychoeducation tools for parents, caregivers, educators and mental health clinicians.

The "Child and Adolescent Mental Health Literacy” Basic Training Program aims to empower school educational staff, special education staff, and special support staff by providing training and practical tools for identifying and addressing mental health difficulties and child protection concerns that may arise in school settings. The program is based on scientific evidence and is tailored to the needs and priorities of teachers as indicated through CAMHI’s research. Pilot implementation of CAMHI’s Basic Training Program is expected to start immediately in primary and secondary schools in the areas where CAMHI’s hub centers are located, namely Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Ioannina, and Alexandroupolis. In Athens, the pilot will be carried out in cooperation with the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Piraeus.

The Advanced Training Program aims to help support child and adolescent mental health professionals working in the public health system in Greece. The program’s main objective is to ensure that every child, adolescent, and family member has access to evidence-based treatments. In addition, it offers every professional the opportunity to strengthen their psychotherapy skills to help them effectively support children and adolescents deal with the most common mental health problems and thrive in life. The program is based on best practices in line with international guidelines and includes short-term and measurable psychotherapeutic interventions across multiple methods and schools. It starts with three protocols based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)—a method with scientifically proven effectiveness—targeting the three most common mental disorders appearing in childhood and adolescence in Greece. CAMHI’s Advanced Training Program will start within the next few months, initially in the cities where the five CAMHI hub centers are located—Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Ioannina, and Alexandroupolis—with the goal of subsequently expanding to the clinical staff at public institutions in other cities and areas of the country.

With these two training interventions as well as with several other programs—among which stands out the Youth Engagement Scheme(YES), which gives young people themselves the opportunity to make their voices heard on mental health issues that affect them—CAMHI is doing its own small part to help fulfil the promise of World Mental Health Day in Greece.

The Basic and Advanced Training Programs are implemented in collaboration with the Child Mind Institute and a network of mental health professionals and agencies in Greece, with the support of the Hellenic Ministry of Health.

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative is exclusively supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI).