​MENACE

MENTAL HEALTH, AGEING AND PALLIATIVE CARE IN EUROPEAN PRISONS

Synopsis
Mental health conditions are especially prevalent among the incarcerated population, which presently amounts to about 10 million, worldwide. These mental health issues are exacerbated by age, as over 20% of adults aged 60 and over suffer from a mental or neurological disorder. The number of incarcerated elderly is increasing at an exponential rate: at a rate three times that of the general prison population. In this context, this project aims to increase the response to mental health disorders within prisons and the quality of palliative and end of life care provided in prisons, by enhancing the competences of management and frontline staff.

​Objectives

• To develop pedagogical materials and learning processes that support the training of staff and the training of trainers in the field of mental health care and geriatrics in prisons;
• To develop and pilot a “train the trainer” course for prison professionals (blended learning) so that they can be able to train continuously their colleagues on mental health care and the needs of older prisoners;
• To develop and pilot a training course targeting first line prison administrators and first line prison staff on basic mental health and age-related health issues;
• To develop and pilot a training course targeting first line prison staff on the recognition and prevention of suicides;
• To raise awareness within prison staff, prisoners and their families through information and educational materials about mental health issues, and the risk of suicide and self-harm (including awareness of times of risk: when prisoners may be at risk of particular distress and anxiety);
• To enhance cooperation with community health care providers and NGO’S through referral of mentally ill inmates to local or regional mental health care organisations to ensure access to that can provide further evaluation and treatment after incarceration or during community probation measures;
• To raise the awareness of policy makers and judicial staff (namely judges and prosecutors) to the problem of mental health disorders, palliative, end of life care, ageing and of its consequences to prison systems.
  

​Expected outcomes

• A training toolkit;
• A training guide with detailed competences and skills and indicators (blueprint);
• Comprehensive training courses, namely: “mental health and suicide prevention”, “geriatrics in prisons” and “palliative care in prisons”;
• An e-learning course and a “train the trainer” course;
• A course manual, open source and usable in all partnership countries languages;
• Five national seminars and an international seminar;
• Three short-term transnational staff training courses, involving 24 participants each (one team from each country).

Promoter
HOSPICE Casa Sperantei, Romania

Partners
IPS_Innovative Prison Services (Qualify Just – IT Solutions and Consulting), Portugal
BSAFE LAB Law Enforcement, Justice, and Public Safety Research and Technology Transfer Laboratory (Beira Interior University), Portugal
Directorate-General for Social Reintegration and Prison Services, Portugal
Justice Federal Public Service, Belgium
National Administration of Penitentiaries, Romania
Helse Bergen Haukeland University Hospital, Norway
EUROPRIS – European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services, The Netherlands

Funding
Erasmus+ Programme
KA2 – Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education

Timeframe
15/11/2016 – 14/11/2018 (24 months)

Prisons’ management and frontline staff competences regarding ageing, mental health, and palliative care

Sector
Penitentiary

Services
Healthcare, Special needs, Training and development

Where
Romania, Portugal, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands

Website
www.menace-project.org
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BSAFE LAB team
Nuno Garcia
Graça Esgalhado
Ana Cunha
Henrique Pereira​
Rita Castelo 
Vitor Costa
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Contact us
[email protected]