On January 30, 2014, I was elected President of the Catalan Mental Health Congress Foundation by the Board of Trustees, at the proposal of the Board of Directors.

First of all, I want to thank all the board members, the Director, and the Trustees who have placed their trust in me to carry out this responsibility, and I want to express how deeply honored I feel by this appointment.

The reason for this need has been the loss of our colleague and friend, Josep Clusa, president of the Foundation until his death last August. He presided over the Foundation for eight years (2005-2013) and did so, as he did with all his endeavors, naturally and tirelessly, with complete dedication and revitalizing every new project and idea.

As you know, when the Foundation started, I held this position from 2000 to 2005. However, I need to briefly go back over the history I lived through to place myself in the current moment.

My work begins in prehistory, with the initial project and the stage prior to its establishment. It was from the Psychiatry Section of the Official College of Physicians of Barcelona that the idea of the 1st Congress was presented to the COMB Board.

We initiated the preparation and execution of the Preliminary Sessions (1997).,

following the first Congress (1999), with numerous working groups that met during the previous year (1998), involving professionals from various fields (teachers, journalists, urban planners, economists, lawyers, artists, and other intellectuals). Simultaneously, we contacted the other Professional Colleges (Nursing, Social Work, and Psychologists) to integrate the various professional groups into the project.

Starting from the 1st Congress, the Platform (coordinated by Lluís Isern) was created, a transitional structure that allowed for the establishment of the Foundation in 2000. Initially, the Foundation was therefore presided over by me and directed by Lluís Isern, until 2002, when Victor Martí joined as director, a position he holds currently.

So, I worked for eleven years, taking responsibility for bringing the project to fruition. Needless to say, the Foundation has been made possible by the work, initiative, intelligence, ingenuity, sensitivity, and commitment of so many people who are supporting it. From the members of the psychiatry section, to the members of the professional College Boards, to the sections of the Colleges themselves, who became involved, colleagues from many different workplaces who became interested and started working in all the areas that the Foundation has been developing, which are many and will need to be considered in perspective at some point. And also thanks to the support and funding received from the Administration and the Professional Colleges.

From 2005 to 2013, Pep Clusa infused character and vitality into the Foundation's momentum. The Working Groups were expanded and sustained, and the call for, participation in, and coordination with other entities during conferences and congresses acquired growing participation and prestige.

Experiences have been consolidated, such as cooperation in a Community Mental Health program, a professional training program in Gaza, with the support of the Barcelona City Council, the creation of the Trauma and Transgenerational Transmission project has been carried out, the work of the CEA (Care Ethics Committee) has been consolidated, among other initiatives.

Starting in 2010, the Thinkers Group was launched. In light of the last Congress, “Mental Health and Society in a Context of Crisis” (June 2013), three Working Groups were established, which are actively proposing lines of research, training, community work, and citizen activism. At the same time, participation is ongoing in different forums, such as the Advisory Council of the Master Plan for Mental Health and Addictions, the Mental Health Working Group of the Municipal Council for Welfare of the Barcelona City Council, and collaboration with the European Movement for Dignity, Continuity, and Accessibility for the Mentally Ill.

This is just a small outline of many more activities and hours of work that I cannot include here, but which I did not want to overlook, to let you know that I am aware of the magnitude of the work done by everyone.

Now, I believe that at this time it is necessary for the Foundation, even more so, to stir our spirits, alleviate our affliction, awaken our ideas, encourage our fighting capabilities, and promote our creativity, all while proposing ways for all of us to channel them towards timely action.

Clear positions are needed regarding the temporizing attitudes towards the degradation and deterioration of healthcare and social care that we are experiencing, despite the efforts made by professionals.

At the last Foundation Congress, in June 2013, we worked with many of you to better understand the social crisis we are experiencing and to organize ourselves more effectively, to resist better, and to make work projects viable that help alleviate the current situation. We invited people who are fighting from the field of social and political activism to transform the social situation we are experiencing and to regain dignity amidst so much desolation. And we convened thinkers and professionals committed from ethics, law, mental health, and many other fields.

We worked on many fronts to open up thinking and action, including citizen involvement, our responsibility to speak out as health experts, the possibility of organizing large working groups, and relationship networks with other professionals in Europe.

Professional and citizen mobilization is essential at this moment, and the Foundation, through its Board of Trustees and Friends of the Foundation, must contribute knowledge, commitment, and responsibility, courage, bravery, and the capacity for action.

In the coming weeks, Victor Martí and Montserrat Martínez Gobern (Vice President) will conduct a series of interviews with government officials who have responsibilities in the field of mental health, as well as with professional associations (now five, with the recent incorporation of the College of Educators) as supporting partners and other entities in the sector (professionals, users, and families) in order to update all these contacts and revitalize the relationship.

For all these jobs, I count on all of you and you have me at your disposal.

 

Àngels Vives Belmonte