This week, the Kick-off Meeting of the EQUICARES project took place in the Belgian capital. This is a research initiative in which the Fundación para la Gestión de la Investigación en Salud de Sevilla (FISEVI) is participating.

During the different sessions and meetings held, the partners of this project (18 from 7 different countries) have established the general lines of work, key points and future stages to follow.

The project uses innovative methodologies, such as the advanced application of the Levesque framework for the evaluation of mental health services; the use of Computational Social Sciences to increase access for hard-to-reach populations in vulnerable situations and to collect accurate quantitative and qualitative data on inequalities in mental health services; and the combination of complementary cost analysis techniques.

In order to design innovative solutions, the project maps, through digital ethnography, existing innovative solutions, analyses accessible mental health services and links them to different parts of the mental health system. This knowledge is visualised and made available to policy makers through a dedicated Atlas.

|Photo credit: White Research|

EQUICARES tests innovative solutions in 8 areas across 7 countries, representing diverse socio-economic backgrounds and covering all major categories of vulnerable groups, while contributing to various EU strategic frameworks. Through the “Smart Health Labs”, the project engages vulnerable groups at community level to co-design, implement and evaluate innovative solutions based on the principles of social economy and user-centred innovation.

At the individual level, the project promotes awareness-raising and capacity building, as well as testing a novel AI-based Assistant, advancing the AI-generated mental health ecosystem and fostering users’ digital and mental health literacy. EQUICARES evaluates the value of its innovative solutions and applies new cost analysis techniques to provide robust evidence on the negative impact of not taking action.

Finally, the project replicates its results in 4 additional cases and develops the “Inclusive Mental Health and Care Policy Dashboard” to ensure the sustainability and uptake of its results in public policies.

Project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.