A project led by researchers from the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH) at Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), in partnership with researchers from the Porto School of Nursing (ESEP) and CINTESIS@RISE, is assessing the level of mental health literacy among the adult Portuguese population.
Luísa Campos and Pedro Dias, researchers at CEDH and coordinators of the project, explain the importance of the study: "We know that one of the main barriers to preventing mental health problems is the lack of information that people/communities have about these issues. In order to define more effective public policies and appropriate interventions in this area, it is necessary to assess the level of mental health literacy of people/communities, and this is the aim of this project".
Inviting Portuguese adults to participate
Researchers from CEDH, ESEP and CINTESIS@RISE are inviting Portuguese adults living in Portugal to participate in this study by answering the questionnaires available at this link.
The questionnaires aim to collect socio-demographic information and data on Portuguese people's knowledge of mental health and risk factors for developing mental health problems.
Data collection has already started and aims to assess a large, nationwide sample that is as representative as possible in terms of age, gender, area of residence and occupational status.
Study part of multicultural Expanding Mental Health Literacy project
The research is part of a multicultural study - Expanding Mental Health Literacy- involving other countries that are also collecting information on the mental health literacy of their citizens through universities, hospitals, and laboratories.
These international partners are using and adapting the mental health literacy assessment tools developed by the FEP and CEDH team.
The aim is to compare data from different countries "in order to monitor the evolution of mental health literacy levels, especially in European societies", says Luísa Campos.
The professor stresses the innovative role of the research: "To our knowledge, there are no multicultural studies that compare mental health literacy levels between countries that are as culturally diverse as we are."
The results of the Expanding Mental Health Literacy project will be published on the FEP and CEDH websites, on the UCP social networks and in national and international scientific publications.