4858 Mental Health Report - National University of Ireland, Galway

Summary
This project reviews current cross-border co-operation in the development of
mental health promotion in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The
project is comprised of two main strands of work:
i) an investigation of cross-border collaborative mental health promotion
practices.
ii) an examination of the compatibility and comparability of mental health and
related health data sources.
In order to inform the strategic development of collaborative practice, data
collection and policy in this growing area, this project entails:
• Systematically documenting the extent and nature of mental health
promotion strategies being implemented on a cross-border basis.
• Undertaking an in-depth case study investigation of five selected projects in
order to identify key barriers and challenges to conducting cross-border cooperation.
• Examining the comparability and harmonisation of current data sources on
population mental health, quality of life and related lifestyle patterns.
• Making recommendations with regard to the necessary research and practice
infrastructures for future effective North-South collaboration at a strategic
level.
This project was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 of the project involved the
collection, collation and analysis of primary and secondary data. Phase 2 focused
on the in-depth examination of the policy and practice implications arising from
the findings of Phase 1.
Chapter 1 gives the background and rationale to this project and explores the
setting for collaboration on an all-island basis. Chapter 2 deals with the project
aims and objectives, while Chapter 3 gives detail on the methodologies employed
for both phases of the study. Chapter 4 presents the findings from the Phase 1
investigation of cross-border collaborative mental health promotion practices,
including details of the five case study profiles. Chapter 5 details the findings
from the Phase 2 investigation of collaborative practice and mental health
promotion policy on an all-island and international basis. Also presented in this
chapter are the findings from the group discussions, roundtable meeting and
questionnaire survey. Chapter 6 presents findings from the Phase 1 investigation
of the compatibility and comparability of mental health and related data sources.
This chapter also presents Phase 2 findings in relation to data and a comparison
between both jurisdictions from existing data sets. Chapter 7 is the concluding
chapter, which draws together all the findings from the report and makes
recommendations for the future development of mental health promotion
and social well-being on an all-island basis.
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