Keep Your Chin Up! The National Project on Depression 1994-1998

STAKES ran a national depression programme called Keep your Chin Up 1994 - 1998. It was a part of a national suicide prevention programme and targeted depression, since depression is arguably the most important factor leading to suicide.

The project aimed to:

*Increase awareness among the general population and health care professionals ;

*Secure and develop adequate treatment, help and action programmes which respond to needs in a timely fashion;

*Enhance co-operation between various stakeholders at the regional and local levels;

*Improve the ability of the municipal health and social welfare services to recognise, treat, study, and prevent depression in all age groups.

The Suicide Prevention Programme

From 1986 to 1996, in response to its high suicide mortality rates and the World Health Organisation's call to reverse the upward trend in suicides, Finland carried out a nationwide suicide prevention program, which was co-ordinated by STAKES. The programme entailed comprehensive multisectoral co-operation across the country. It focused on preventing suicides by eliminating threats to mental health. The programme has resulted in two documents: Suicide can be prevented and Suicide prevention in Finland 1986 ­ 1996, external evaluation by an international peer group (see box above).

The European Network for Mental Health Promotion

For several years, Finland has been advocating for increased visibility of mental health issues in the European Union. STAKES initiated and co-ordinates the European Network for Mental Health Promotion (ENMHP) founded in 1995. The network brings together chief medical officers responsible for mental health, administrators, and experts to co-operate in promoting mental health. All Member States of the European Union are represented in the ENMHP, with the exception of Austria. The ENMHP plays a crucial role in the European Mental Health Agenda, which is an ongoing process, aimed at enhancing the importance and visibility of mental health issues in European programmes and decision making.

The Key Concepts Project, launched in March 1999, is one of the recent activities of the ENMHP. It collects information on existing mental health policies, wellbeing indicators, and information systems and seeks to develop a system of mental health measurements and standardised definitions in Europe. The driving forces behind the project are the growing need to eval-