Challenges for psychiatry: delivering the Mental Health Declaration for Europe

Mental health care is in the process of transformation across the European Region, due to a combination of recognition of disease burden, poor treatment conditions and demand from clinicians and the public. This transformation affects the scope of mental health, increasingly including promotion and prevention, and the structure and process of care, shifting to community based delivery. Many psychiatrists are in leadership positions, able to influence policies and strategies. But their work is also seriously affected by the consequences of these policies. New roles and responsibilities of all members of a multi-disciplinary team need to be planned, and education and training have to be designed to prepare professionals to deal with expectations and demands. Psychiatrists face major challenges, since their complex roles are affected in multiple ways by the psychiatric and general health system. Some of these challenges can be addressed by the psychiatric profession and their partners, including patient and family organizations; others require wide ranging changes in attitude and system design.