Institutional work
Welcome to our Institutional Work Section! We are pleased to present a space dedicated to the Italian Bipolar Association’s active engagement in the field of mental health and human rights. In this section, we focus on initiatives and projects that aim to promote significant changes in the Italian health care system, ensuring better access to services and greater protection of the rights of people with psychiatric disorders and their families.
After more than a year of thorough and careful work, the Italian Bipolar Association is officially launching the first National Survey on Poor Practices in the Care of Psychiatric Patients, as part of the MENCAP Project.
If you have had direct or indirect experience with mental health care in Italy, we invite you to participate or disseminate this survey.
Our institutional work is divided into several fundamental parts:
- Defense of Human Rights of Psychiatric Patients: We collaborate nationally and internationally in the MENCAP project, a long and complex initiative spanning a decade. Through this project, we aim to promote a better understanding of the human rights of people with psychiatric disorders, working closely with other organizations and institutions to implement significant changes in the healthcare system.
- Information and Communications with Public Entities: We actively interact with entities such as the government and hospitals to provide information, advice, and support in managing issues related to patients with bipolar disorders and other psychiatric conditions. We strive to improve communication and collaboration between healthcare institutions and the Association to ensure appropriate and respectful treatment for all patients.
- Complaints and User Protection Service: We offer a dedicated service to individuals wishing to report cases of malpractice or abuse in the healthcare system. Through a meeting with the Association’s board, we take responsibility for managing the complaint directly with the involved entity, representing the user and safeguarding them throughout the process.
Our institutional work is divided into several fundamental parts:
- Defense of Human Rights of Psychiatric Patients: We collaborate nationally and internationally in the MENCAP project, a long and complex initiative spanning a decade. Through this project, we aim to promote a better understanding of the human rights of people with psychiatric disorders, working closely with other organizations and institutions to implement significant changes in the healthcare system.
- Information and Communications with Public Entities: We actively interact with entities such as the government and hospitals to provide information, advice, and support in managing issues related to patients with bipolar disorders and other psychiatric conditions. We strive to improve communication and collaboration between healthcare institutions and the Association to ensure appropriate and respectful treatment for all patients.
- Complaints and User Protection Service: We offer a dedicated service to individuals wishing to report cases of malpractice or abuse in the healthcare system. Through a meeting with the Association’s board, we take responsibility for managing the complaint directly with the involved entity, representing the user and safeguarding them throughout the process.
Through these initiatives and services, we are committed to promoting a fairer, more inclusive healthcare system that respects the human rights of all psychiatric patients in Italy.
It is time to make our voice heard.
After more than a year of in-depth and careful work, the Italian Bipolar Association officially launches the first National Survey on Poor Practice in the Care of Psychiatric Patients, as part of the MENCAP Project.
This survey stems directly from the hundreds of testimonies, recounting difficult experiences in mental health services: stories of abandonment, mistrust, misunderstandings, dehumanisation, hasty diagnoses and treatments undergone without adequate explanation or informed consent. The survey responds to the significant lack of data in Italy regarding systemic malpractice, abuse and discrimination in mental health. Although the Basaglian reform promoted important changes, it was not accompanied by an effective national monitoring system of patients’ experiences. This survey aims to fill this gap by collecting concrete and structured data.
Your testimonies have shown us that something is wrong with the system, and not just today. The time has come to turn these voices into concrete data.
Why a survey?
Because advocacy campaigns, political demands, training of professionals and changes in health services cannot be based on single narratives or indignation alone. They need measurable, rigorous and scientific evidence. This survey is structured to clearly capture all the nuances of lived experience:
- from systemic paternalism to undue pressure,
- from neglect to lack of listening,
- from broken trust to dehumanisation.
How was the survey constructed?
Our survey was developed with great care and attention, in collaboration with King’s College London and UCL alumni with experience in public health and research, our volunteers, people with direct experience who participated in the pilot phase, and an expert GDPR consultant. It is based on advanced international ethics and policy models, written in accessible but rigorous language, and is open not only to patients but also to caregivers, family members, friends and legal representatives.
Survey objectives:
- To identify in a detailed and systematic way the unfair practices, abuses and discriminations within the Italian psychiatric services, analysing also the less obvious and often ignored forms.
- Generate a solid base of empirical data to be used to strongly and rigorously support political and legislative demands that concretely improve the quality of psychiatric care.
- Develop specific, evidence-based training courses for health professionals to prevent malpractice and promote good clinical practice.
- Carry out public awareness campaigns based on the real experiences of patients and their caregivers, raising awareness and reducing stigma and prejudice.
- Promote an international dialogue, making the survey replicable in other European countries to build transnational comparisons and support shared policies on mental health.
Transparency and methodological rigour
To ensure maximum transparency and replicability of the study, we make the detailed survey protocol publicly available. This document precisely describes the objectives, the methodology used, the measures taken to protect participants and to ensure the quality and validity of the data collected. The full protocol can be found here.
Participation is simple, anonymous and essential: the more voices we collect, the stronger our demands will be.
If you have had direct or indirect experience with mental health in Italy, we invite you to participate or disseminate this survey.
Link to the survey: https://forms.office.com/e/mPR61mcPBk
Your participation can really make a difference.
