Hello Mental Health and Community: The Value of Citizenship

Jose Fernandez i Barrier  i Anna Carrió Llach.
FCCSM Board Members

Barcelona, June 3-6, 2009.

This was the title chosen for the celebration of the Fourth Catalan Congress on Mental Health, responding to the desire to provide a forum for debate on the importance of the person/citizenship in general and especially the care of those who at some point suffer from some type of mental disorder, and who at the same time are situated within the framework of a community, since without individuals there is no community, and vice versa.  The desire to focus on the value of citizenship in mental health also rests on the fact that every person must be recognized as a citizen with full rights, regardless of their condition. To delve deeper into all the different perspectives that could be offered, four working groups were organized, each centering its discussions on the following topics: The healthy effects of citizenship linked to the concept of Health and Community, the importance of networks in mental health, the vulnerability of the individual, and new ways of organizing care for people to reduce that vulnerability.  Around these four central axes, there were rich contributions on the construction of health, the city as a public space where to exercise social citizenship as an adventure of freedom, the vision and actions for the promotion of mental health from a public health perspective, and finally analyzing the impact of globalization and the crisis on citizens' rights.  In close harmony with the topics addressed, the Congress paid tribute to Agustí de Semir, a lawyer and great humanist whose exquisite treatment of everyone was highlighted, a staunch democrat and a great fighter for the recognition of rights for all citizens. Likewise, the memorial focused on a social worker who had tirelessly dedicated her life to defending, especially, the rights of people vulnerable due to some type of mental disorder: Rosa Roca i Soriano. Another characteristic of her profile was that she had always advocated for a distinctly interdisciplinary approach. In preparing her eulogy to present the memorial, colleagues who attested to this complementarity of disciplines took part; we especially want to highlight the active participation of Roser Perez-Simó, with whom they had worked together for a long time, who was honored at the Fifth Congress and who, unfortunately, is no longer with us. However, it should be noted that this Congress placed special emphasis on the role of social work professionals, as on that occasion the Official College of Social Work of Catalonia was the one leading its organization. Each of the first four congresses was organized on a rotating basis by the various patron colleges.  Starting with that congress, this changed, becoming a more collaborative and interdisciplinary effort by all the disciplines represented in the Foundation.

To conclude, it's worth recalling one of the last words Alain Touraine spoke at the closing of the congress, which he told us: Human rights have no other foundation than the rights of human beings to build their lives and social relationships based on the fundamental requirement of being free, that is, prioritizing an image of themselves that dominates social determinants..   I'm sure that eleven years later we can also make them our own.