Using European Union funds to improve access to community-based mental health care: lessons from Czechia

Overview

Czechia has recently used European Union European Structural and Investment Funds to build, staff and operate 29 community mental health centres (‎CMHCs)‎ that bring together health and social care professionals in multidisciplinary teams to provide a comprehensive range of services for people with severe mental health conditions. CMHCs have expanded access to more person-centred mental health care, improved people’s functioning and quality of life and reduced psychiatric hospitalizations. Challenges remain, however, and include insufficient domestic funding, fragmented financing, shortages of trained mental health professionals, persistent disparities in pay between health and social care staff, limited legislative and political support for CMHCs and shifting political leadership and priorities. This brief highlights the role of CMHCs in expanding access to mental health care and identifies lessons for Czechia and for other countries seeking to establish or strengthen community-based mental health care.