Edi o ial
Po J Public Heal h 2017;35:67–68
Wo kplace Men al Heal h as a Majo
Issue o Public Heal h Agenda and he
Role o Eu opean Ne wo ks
Luís G aça
Na ional School o Public Heal h, NOVA Uni e si y o Lisbon, Lisbon, Po ugal
Published online: Ma ch 28, 2018
Luís G aça
Na ional School o Public Heal h, NOVA Uni e si y o Lisbon
A enida Pad e C uz
PT–1600-560 Lisbon (Po ugal)
E-Mail luis.g aca @ ensp.unl.p
© 2018 The Au ho (s). Published by S. Ka ge AG, Basel
on behal o NOVA Na ional School o Public Heal h
E-Mail ka ge @ka ge .com
www.ka ge .com/pjp
DOI: 10.1159/000487878
A saúde men al no local de abalho como uma
ques ão impo an e na agenda da saúde pública e o
papel das edes eu opeias
The Eu opean Ne wo k o Wo kplace Heal h P omo-
ion (ENWHP) and he Eu opean Ne wo k o Men al
Heal h P omo ion (ENMHP) a e wo majo e e ences
o hose in e es ed in building up heal hy and sus ain-
able wo k en i onmen s in Eu ope and beyond: policy
make s, p ac i ione s, p o essionals, esea che s, educa-
o s, employe s, employees, and o he s akeholde s.
ENWHP is an in o mal ne wo k o na ional occupa-
ional heal h and sa e y ins i u es, public heal h, heal h
p omo ion, and s a u o y social insu ance ins i u ions,
wi h BKK ( he Ge man ENWHP membe ) playing he
ole o sec e a ia un il 2015.
These wo Eu opean Ne wo ks also o e impo an
websi e ools and esou ces.
Wi h he suppo o he Eu opean Commission, DG
Heal h and Consume P o ec ion, he ENWHP, es ab-
lished in 1996, has ca ied ou a numbe o inno a i e and
seminal Eu opean ini ia i es, om 1997 un il now, con-
solida ing wo kplace heal h p omo ion (WHP) as a
s ong ield o esea ch and ac ion o public heal h a he
Eu opean and na ional le el.
Some o hose ini ia i es a e also ele an o men al
heal h p omo ion (e.g., Mo e Eu ope: Heal hy Li es yles in
he Wo king En i onmen [2007/09]; Wo k in Tune wi h
Li e [2009/10]; PH Wo k: P omo ing Heal hy Wo k o
People wi h Ch onic Illness [2011/13]).
A his o ical concep ual documen on WHP was he
Luxembou g Decla a ion (adop ed in 1997, upda ed in
2005 and 2007). The membe s o he ne wo k ag eed on
a common unde s anding o he WHP concep : “Wo k-
place Heal h P omo ion (WHP) is he combined e o s
o employe s, employees and socie y o imp o e he
heal h and well-being o people a wo k” wi h his expec -
ed ou come o be achie ed h ough a iple combina ion
o ac ions: (i) imp o ing wo k o ganiza ion and o he
wo king condi ions, (ii) p omo ing ac i e pa icipa ion,
and (iii) encou aging pe sonal de elopmen .
“Hea hy employees in heal hy o ganiza ions” in a
knowledge-d i en economy is now an economic, social,
and poli ical goal o achie e, no a u opian pos - aylo is ic
d eam o an ideological slogan. WHP is pa o o e all
co po a e heal h managemen , including manda o y oc-
cupa ional and sa e y se ices. Some o he key p io i ies
de ined 20 yea s ago a e ongoing: (i) inc eased awa eness
o WHP and p omo ion o he esponsibili y o heal h
wi h ega d o all ins i u ional and nonins i u ional s ake-
holde s, (ii) iden i ica ion and dissemina ion o models o
This a icle is licensed unde he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion-
NonComme cial-NoDe i a i es 4.0 In e na ional License (CC BY-
NC-ND) (h p://www.ka ge .com/Se ices/OpenAccessLicense).
Usage and dis ibu ion o comme cial pu poses as well as any dis-
ibu ion o modi ied ma e ial equi es w i en pe mission.
G aça
Po J Public Heal h 2017;35:67–68
68
DOI: 10.1159/000487878
good p ac ice, and (iii) de elopmen o guidelines o e -
ec i e WHP.
On he ENWHP websi e, a ich oolbox is a ailable,
con aining mo e han 400 e ec i e WHP p og ams,
me hods (e.g., case s udies, models o good p ac ice), and
ins umen s (e.g., ques ionnai es, guidelines, in o ma-
ional and educa ional ma e ial) ha ha e been used in
p ac ical con ex s in all Eu opean coun ies.
Men al heal h, wellbeing, s ess p e en ion and cop-
ing, psychosocial de e minan s o heal h a wo k, absen-
eeism, young people, women, ageing, ea ly e i emen ,
and heal h a e now majo issues o he public heal h
agenda.
Ano he ne wo k in his ield, mo e ecen bu also
e y ac i e, is he Eu opean Ne wo k o Men al Heal h
P omo ion (ENMHP) es ablished in 2013, as a esul o
he P oMenPol p ojec (2007/09), also unded by he Eu-
opean Commission.
ENMHP aims a e (i) o in luence p ac i ione s, policy
make s, p o essionals, and adminis a o s and (ii) o be-
come he p emie ne wo k o men al heal h p omo ion
(MHP). Membe ship is ee.
Acco ding o he ENMHP websi e, P oMenPol goals
a e o suppo he p ac ices and policies o men al heal h
p omo ion in h ee se ings: schools, wo kplaces, and
olde people’s esidences. I o e s impo an esou ces,
a ailable online (e.g., MindHeal h, an eLea ning p o-
g amme on MHP in h ee se ings: schools, wo kplaces,
and olde people’s esidences).
P oMenPol p oduced he ollowing se ices and ou -
pu s: (i) a Tools Da abase, (ii) Field T ials, and (iii) he
P oMenPol Toolki .
Richa d Wynne, p ojec manage (Wo k Resea ch
Cen e, Dublin, I eland, pa ne o ENMHP), p esen ed
a he Lisbon con e ence he Wo kplace MHP Handbook
(168 pp.), di ided in o 3 sec ions: Basics in Men al Heal h
P omo ion; Topics, Me hods and Tools o MHP in he
Wo kplace; P ac ical Exe cises.
A sho e sion o he Wo kplace MHP Handbook is
now a ailable in English, in Ge man, and in Finnish. The
MHP-Hands a e in ended o ha e ei he a “sel -di ec ed
usage” (s akeholde s om wi hin o ou side o he se ing
access he handbooks and sel -educa e hemsel es using
he esou ces a ailable on he websi e) o a “di ec ed us-
age”: Men al heal h p o essionals wi h a ela ionship o
he se ings p omo e and ain people in he usage o he
manuals.
The e is a g owing in e es in and conce n abou he
bu den o ill-heal h men al heal h, especially in he wo k-
place bu also in schools and o he se ings. Fo example,
“Heal hy wo k en i onmen s, ac i e heal h and disease
p e en ion a wo kplace” was he i le o he con e ence
held a he Gulbenkian Founda ion, Lisbon, Po ugal,
June 8–9, 2017, o ganized by he Eu opean Commission.
Addi ionally, on May 27, 2013, he Wo ld Heal h As-
sembly adop ed he Comp ehensi e Men al Heal h Ac-
ion Plan 2013–2020. And on Oc obe 10, Men al Heal h
in he Wo kplace was he heme o Wo ld Men al Heal h
Day 2017.
Good o bad men al heal h is mo e and mo e a unc-
ion o he se ings in which we li e, s udy, and wo k. The
p oblem o knowledge ans e and access o alida e
ools and me hods o p omo e men al heal h in wo k-
places (bu also in schools and ins i u ional esidences) is
now be e add essed by ou public heal h agenda, and we
ha e mo e and mo e online esou ces o cope wi h he
p oblems, challenges, and oppo uni ies in his ield. Fi-
nally, hough equally impo an ly, we know now ha
men al heal h is also mo e han he me e absence o men-
al illness.
Luís G aça, Lisbon, Po ugal