Conference Agenda

Mental illness is widespread among adults and remains the foremost cause of years lived with disability. Despite its importance, there is a scarcity of research on person-centered care (PCC) from the viewpoints of mental health service users, particularly within clinical community mental health services. This study sought to investigate the potential for enhancing PCC through the lived experiences of individuals with mental health conditions who use local community mental health clinics (CMHC) in Malta.

A qualitative research design was utilized, following the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Ten participants from Malta, who frequently visit CMHCs, were recruited through intermediaries. Each participant took part in an interview, conducted at a mutually convenient time and location. These sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for subsequent analysis.

The analysis identified three main themes: quality care, emotional support, and partnership and collaborative care, each comprising various sub-themes. The study illuminated both the strengths and shortcomings of the existing system and their implications for a PCC-oriented healthcare approach. The findings emphasize the importance of continuous education, practice, and research in PCC within this domain. Furthermore, the research offers healthcare professionals (HCPs) a chance for ongoing professional development in accordance with the latest PCC principles.

This paper maps the experiences of the Vastaamo’s data breach victims by analysing their stories through the lens of temporality. The Finnish psychotherapy centre Vastaamo fell victim to a data hack in 2019 and more than 30 000 clients were affected. While this incident is often considered as an extraordinary tragedy, cybersecurity breaches in the healthcare sector are growing and personal mental health data makes a valuable form of data on the dark web. In this presentation, I examine the anonymous accounts (N=100) provided by the data hacking victims through the lens of temporality. I especially focus on the ways in which the writers themselves draw connections between datafication of health care, their leaked personal information and mental (ill)health. Further, as the personal data generated in the past may potentially continue to ‘haunt’ the victims in the future in several ways, I discuss the leaked data as ‘haunting data’ with their own multitemporal (after)lives. The paper provides insights to the multiple ways in which datafication comes to matter in mental health care, paying particular attention to the ways in which digital temporalities entangle with mental (ill)health.

Recent developments in critical health communication research emphasize the need for critical inquiry into the different ways in which media actively co-construct what constitutes 'mental health/illness'. In this presentation, I respond to Lynch and Zoller’s (2015) suggestion to turn to rhetorical studies to examine how language constructs specific cultural understandings of mental health/illness and mental health literacy and how, at particular moments, these constructions become persuasive to particular audiences and particular causes. My contribution is based on a research project I coordinated in which a group of interdisciplinary researchers studied the rhetorical construction of 'mental health/illness' in newspapers and magazines in six European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, Norway and Sweden) and how these constructions relate to specific understandings of mental health literacy. Our rhetorical analysis reveals that we cannot unambiguously assume that biopsychiatric discourses or discourses aimed at empathy and understanding are either exclusively stigmatizing or exclusively empowering and destigmatizing. We consequently call for a critical conception of mental health literacy arguing that all mental health news socializes its audience in specific understandings of and attitudes towards mental health and that discourses on mental health/illness can work differently in varying contexts.

This qualitative study explores healing processes often referred to as "miracles" experienced by individuals who have faced significant personal or environmental adversities, including exposure to war. We examine these transformative experiences not as supernatural events, but as methodological processes emerging from integrating mentalization and spiritual contemplation practices.

Mentalization, the ability to understand the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of oneself and others, fosters self-understanding and improves mental health. Mindfulness, as a foundation of spiritual contemplation, cultivates present-moment awareness and self-acceptance, offering documented mental and social benefits. Together, these approaches create a bridge between scientific understandings of mental health and spiritual traditions. Through analyzing practitioners' narratives of perceived "miracles," this research investigates how the integration of these approaches contributes to mental health and relationship quality, emotional regulation and meaning making.

This qualitative part of a larger mixed-methods study, employs semi-structured interviews and self-reported questionnaires, utilizing thematic analysis for the interview transcripts. The findings advance our understanding of holistic recovery processes. They reveal how personal experiences illuminate pathways to hope, connection, and comprehensive healing while challenging the perception of "miracles" healing by highlighting its methodological foundations.