uate the effects and impacts of mental health policies at the national level and the interest, at the European level, in comparing the mental health policies of different countries.
Mental health was on the agenda of the Presidency of the European Union, which Finland held for the latter half of the 1999. A conference on Promotion of Mental Health and Social Inclusion was held in Tampere. Its goals were to increase the importance and visibility of mental health in Europe and to seek synergies on strategies concerning future European action and co-operation. Workshop topics included the development of mental health indicators; promotion of mental health for children and adolescents; the possibilities of information technologies; and working life and mental health.
Information technology and mental health promotion 11
Information technology has been used in the Finnish mental health care system since the 1980s. For many years its use was restricted to crisis hot lines. Now, the Internet has greatly expanded the scope of services. Information technology includes integration of data transmission and data processing. The Internet, e-mail, the videophone, videoconferencing, and even the text messages on a mobile phone are examples of this technology.
Information technology offers clients and service-providers many advantages such as low costs, easy use, accessibility, and flexibility. It has been estimated that "traditional" mental health services reach only 10-15% of those in need. Experiments in information technology have tapped a much wider audience without reducing the number of people using traditional services. However, the potential number of users of Internet mental health promotion and substance abuse prevention services is still closely linked to household income. A survey conducted in 1999 found that while every other person in the medium or high income bracket had access to the Internet, the figure was only 28% among those in the low income bracket.
From 1991-1999, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health funded the country's first mental health promotion and substance abuse prevention information technology network. The network, called MEPT, is co-ordinated by STAKES. It consists of four sub-projects, each of which has produced valuable information on the utilisation of information technology in mental health promotion and substance abuse prevention. The projects aim to prevent problems, promote mental health, and develop new models of co-operation. All four subprojects seek to make the client an active player, who is willing to and capable of making choices, rather than a passive recipient of help prescribed and delivered by others.
