Access to mental healthcare is a fundamental right, but people in vulnerable situations across Europe still face many obstacles when trying to obtain the support they need.

EQUICARES, a four-year European project funded by Horizon Europe, is working to dismantle these barriers. Through in-depth research and direct engagement with mental healthcare professionals and people in vulnerable situations, the project aims to shed light on the difficulties and also discriminations these people face in accessing mental health support, and to design together solutions to improve access.

The project targets, among others, people with disabilities, the Roma community, LGBTQI+ individuals, asylum seeks and migrants.

On 09-10 December, EASPD was in Athens for a meeting with EQUICARES project partners.

The focus was on the milestones achieves in the first year of the project. In particular, the spotlight was on the literature review examining evidence on the prevalence of mental health conditions among vulnerable groups and identifying barriers and facilitators in accessing care. Results show that evidence-based studies on this topic vary significantly across groups, as does the type of mental health conditions these groups face.

To learn more, read the research here.

Discussions also centred on the upcoming launch of the activities in 8 pilot sites in Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The goal? To better understand the barriers, inequalities people in vulnerable situations face and to co-design innovative solutions to foster access to mental health care.

Want to learn more or get involved?
Subscribe to the newsletter: equicares-project.eu/newsletters
Explore the project: equicares-project.eu
Check out the pilot locations: equicares-project.eu/pilot-cases