4858 Mental Health Report - National University of Ireland, Galway

Conclusions and Recommendations
evidence base on the effectiveness of mental health promotion activities. This
evidence needs to be made accessible to practitioners and policy makers in
order to inform best practice and policy.
With regard to cross-border collaborative practice, to some extent the evidence
lags behind the practice. Detailed information on implementation and
collaborative forms of practice is critical if programme evaluators and
implementers are to maximise learning on programme delivery through
effective cross-border working. Evaluation needs to be incorporated into
programme activity from the outset. This needs to include not only evaluation
of programme inputs, impact and outcomes, but also more detailed focus on
documenting the process of implementation and styles of working. Improving
the capacity of evaluators and practitioners to gather evidence on the process
of co-operative working is needed in order to inform the knowledge base in
this area. Pluralistic methods of evaluation are recommended in order to
capture the complexities and dynamics of co-operative working from the
perspectives of the different stakeholders. The building up of case studies in
good cross-border collaborative practice on the ground is identified as an area
for further development.
Data Collaboration
• With regard to data collaboration, there is a need for greater co-ordination at
a policy level to ensure that core sets of data are recorded North and South in
order to avoid overlap and ensure a certain level of compatibility. Comparable
data is required in order to inform ongoing programme planning and policy
development. A joint North-South advisory group to examine existing data
sources and to plan and co-ordinate future studies in this area should be
established.
• The collection of data on population level mental health status needs to be
harmonised, both in terms of the measures employed and methods of
administration. The key recommendations from the STAKES report (2001b), as
outlined in Chapter 6, need to be implemented, thereby ensuring compatibility,
not only on an all-island basis, but also with UK and European counterparts. In
particular, the recommendations regarding the collection of data on positive
indicators of mental health need to be considered.
• Both existing and future data sources on population mental health should be
effectively disseminated in an accessible format in order to guide mental health
promotion policy, planning and practice at all levels.
Final Conclusions
Effective collaboration and a sound knowledge and evidence base are essential
elements for the development of a comprehensive mental health promotion
strategy. To reduce barriers and create effective cross-border collaboration in this
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