On February 2nd, the booklet “Mental Health and Intellectual Disability” by Granés Fundació and the Catalan Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health was presented during a conference at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Lleida. At the same event, Dincat’s brochure “Mental Health is Everyone’s Business“ was also presented.
The event, attended by nearly 100 people in the auditorium and 153 more via video conference, was aimed at healthcare professionals within the non-specialized mental health network. The materials aim to raise awareness among the healthcare sector about the specific mental health needs of people with intellectual disabilities who are typically served by this network and other non-specialized healthcare facilities, as well as other healthcare and social sector professionals.
The event featured presentations by representatives from ALLEM, Sant Joan de Déu, the Catalan Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Aspros, Granés Fundació, and Dincat. “Granés Fundació’s aim is to influence areas and realities where an effort is needed to advance towards the full realization of rights for individuals, and where there is still a long way to go in terms of professional training, changing the service portfolio model to adapt to the DPD convention regarding the support to be offered to individuals, and giving a voice to people with disabilities so that all of society can hear them,” stated Laura Masferrer, director-manager of Granés Fundació. “At Granés Fundació, we believe it is crucial for knowledge transfer to occur from the field of mental health specialized in intellectual disability to the rest of the healthcare sector: primary care, specialized care, emergency services, hospital care… And also to the social sector. In this regard, we have done and will do our best to act as a bridge between these two areas, health and social, and to promote communication and mutual learning, for the improvement of care and support for individuals,” she concluded.
The event also featured a first-person experience panel with the participation of a professional and a person with intellectual disability from Aspros and Sant Joan de Déu.
