Niemikotisäätiö participated in the international European Conference on Mental Health (ECMH) in Prague with several presentations. The conference brings together mental health professionals, researchers, experts by experience and mental health service users from around the world.
One of Niemikotisäätiö’s presentations brought a particularly important perspective to the conference: the voice of a service user. Peer instructor and expert by experience Kaisa Talvinen and experience coordinator Sirpa Sinisalo presented the peer activities at Niemikotisäätiö’s Haaga Activity Centre and Vernetti, an association run by service users themselves.
The presentation, Mental health support society “Vernetti” – 20 years of peer power in Helsinki, Finland, attracted considerable interest among the international audience, which consisted mainly of professionals. Kaisa brought her personal perspective as a service user and peer instructor to the discussion, sharing what peer support means in practice. The presentation received positive feedback, with participants approaching the presenters to praise it even the following day.
Sirpa Sinisalo complemented the peer-support perspective by presenting Niemikotisäätiö’s expert-by-experience activities and training, which the foundation has been providing for more than ten years.
Niemikotisäätiö also had two other presentations at the ECMH conference. In their presentation Trust starts with privacy, Niina Sahlberg and Petteri Katajamäki discussed the importance of data protection in building trust. In mental health services, data protection is above all part of the service user’s everyday experience: trust grows from being able to talk about personal matters safely and knowing that personal information remains protected.
Emma Heikkinen’s presentation, Service design promotes co-creation and strengthens service users’ participation and agency within services, focused on service design and co-creation. At its core was the involvement of service users in developing services and how co-creation can strengthen their participation and agency.
In addition, Seppo Eronen and Pasi Paksuniemi facilitated the Project Speed Dating programme, where participants from different countries had the opportunity to share project ideas and expertise, network, and lay the groundwork for new international partnerships and projects.
Read more about Niemikotisäätiö’s presentations in Prague >
