9th EPA Forum
The 9th EPA Forum preceded the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry on Saturday 25 March 2023. The Forum took place as an in-person event in Paris and it was also broadcasted on the EPA congress website to allow everyone access to the event. More than 500 participants joined the event on-site and many others attended the event virtually.
Under the title “Mental Health in the context of challenging ecosystems”, the 2023 EPA Forum was focused on the effects that contemporary ecosystems have on mental health and mental health care, tackling some of the main societal challenges in terms of Emergencies, Climate Change, and Migration.
The EPA Forum 2023 was opened by Prof. Peter Falkai, who introduced the two Chairs, Dr. Julian Beezhold and Prof. Geert Dom. The EPA Forum was divided into two sessions, which saw the participation of an exceptional panel of speakers from international and EU organisations (the full agenda can be found below). During the first part of the event, experts delivered a series of presentations on the mental health effects of Emergencies, Climate Change and Migration, whereas the second part of the event was dedicated to the interaction with policy-makers and stakeholders on the way forward and on implementing policies and programmes to tackle these effects.
During the 2023 EPA Forum, the fourth edition of the EPA Ambassadors Survey was officially launched by Prof. Gorwood and Prof. Rojnic Kuzman.
Watch the 9th EPA Forum Programme and video-recording below.
PROGRAMME
9:00 – 9:10: Welcome and introductions – Peter Falkai, President, EPA
9:10 – 10:10: PART 1 – Presenting the main challenges of contemporary ecosystems and their effect on Mental health and Mental healthcare – moderated by Julian Beezhold, Secretary General, EPA
9:10 – 9:30: Mental Health in times of Emergencies
- (9:10 – 9:15) Presentation on the mental health effects of the War in Ukraine, Nataliya Maruta, President, Association of Neurologists, Psychiatrists and Narcologists of Ukraine
- (9:15 – 9:20) Presentation on the mental health effects of the earthquake in Türkiye, Koray Başar, Official Representative, Psychiatric Association of Türkiye
- (9:20 – 9:30) Presentation on the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Falkai, President, EPA
9:30 – 9:50: Mental Health and Climate Change
- (9:30 – 9:40) Jessica Newberry Le Vay, Policy Fellow in Climate & Health, Institute of Global Health Innovation
- (9:40 – 9:50) Geert Dom, President Elect, EPA
9:50 – 10:10: Mental Health and Migration
- (9:50 – 10:00) Apostolos Veizis, Advisory Board Member, Lancet Migration
- (10:00 – 10:10) Meryam Schouler-Ocak, Member of EPA Board, Chair of the EPA Committee on Ethical Issues
10:10 – 10:20: EPA Ambassadors Survey 2023 –Martina Rojnic Kuzman, Secretary for Sections, EPA & Philip Gorwood, Past President, EPA
10:20 – 10:40: Coffee Break
10:40 – 10:45: Video keynote speech – Maria Walsh, Member of the EU Parliament and Co-Chair of the MEP Alliance for Mental Health
10:45 – 11:35: PART 2 – Roundtable and Open discussion on the lessons learned and the way forward to cope with the mental health effects of challenging ecosystems – moderated by Geert Dom, President Elect, EPA
Participants:
- Julian Beezhold, Secretary General, EPA
- Péter Kéri, President, GAMIAN-Europe
- André Decraene, Vice-President, EUFAMI
- Ledia Lazeri, Regional Adviser for Mental Health Flagship, WHO Europe
- John Ryan, Acting Deputy Director General for Health, DG SANTE, EU Commission
- Doron Wijker, Health Policy Analyst, OECD
11:35 – 11:55: Q&A Session
11:55 – 12:00: Closing remarks – Geert Dom, President Elect, EPA