Exploring a regional‐level international public mental health partnership between Lanarkshire (Scotland) and South Ostrobothnia (Finland)

Abstract

Partnerships for public mental health are common. At a national and regional level, partnerships are frequently developed in order to co‐ordinate programmes to deliver public health outcomes, such as tackling stigma (see me, 2010) or promoting recovery (Elament, 2010; Scottish Recovery Network, 2010). At a European level, public mental health partnerships commonly exist to enhance learning and knowledge exchanges commonly between countries. While these partnerships are valuable, there is an increasing recognition that public mental health programmes must be embedded, shaped and realised at a regional level. Thus regions are not ‘implementers’ of national public mental health policy, but instead should be recognised and empowered to inform policy and practice. This approach was taken in Scotland when the national programme for mental health was renewed through a highly devolved and participatory consultation process and publication of Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland (Scottish Government, 2009). Against this backdrop, we examine a different model of partnership working; regional‐level international collaborations. This case study explores 'FINLAN': a collaboration between Lanarkshire Mental Health Improvement Group in Scotland and The South Ostrobothnia Project in Finland.

Citation

O'Neill, K., Thomson, A., Laitila, M., Stengård, E., Logan, J. and Lassila, A. (2010), "Exploring a regional‐level international public mental health partnership between Lanarkshire (Scotland) and South Ostrobothnia (Finland)", Journal of Public Mental Health, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 42-45. https://doi.org/10.5042/jpmh.2010.0702