How to improve the quality of World Psychiatric Association educational activities? Results from an online survey with World Psychiatric Association zonal representatives

Abstract

Introduction:The World Psychiatric Association (WPA), a global association representing 145 psychiatric societies in 121 countries, has a specific focus on education and learning, promoting educational programs on a regular basis. Education in mental health is a continuously evolving phenomenon, although it happens quite often that it is still based on a knowledge formed in the last century and with the latest scientific updates mainly available in English. The WPA is constantly committed in improving and updating the type of educational materials available and ready to be disseminated worldwide.Methods: An online survey has been developed and sent to the 18 WPA zonal representatives in order: to evaluate the educational needs for mental health, to translate materials into native languages or inclusivity, and to prioritize educational activities to be developed by the WPA in the next years.Results: Fifteen out of the 18 zonal representatives participated in the study.According to the public mental health perspective, collaboration with general practitioners (GPs) (80%), communities/stakeholders (66.7%) and programs for promoting mental health in schools (53.3%) are the most prioritized activities carried out. Programs for suicide prevention (86.7%) and promotion of mental health and well-being in the general population (66.7%) are considered as the most relevant to be implemented. From the healthcare perspective, new knowledge on pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions (73%) was requested. The educational packages are mostly available in the English language, although respondents prioritize the translation of WPA educational material into, at least, Spanish and French. The most preferred formats for educational activities are webinar live (80%) and key opinion lectures (66.7%).Conclusions: These findings represent the first step in the continuing promotion of education carried out by the WPA. We aim to run these kinds of initiatives from time to time in order to adapt themes and topics of these materials to the real educational needs of all mental healthcare professionals worldwide.

Pushing forward public mental health agenda and promotion of mental health

“…The gaps uncovered by the WPA survey on educational activities 3,4 will be prioritiz­ed. The ambition is to produce and deliver, in the future, educational/informational ma­terials in the six official languages of the World Health Organization (WHO) (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian) and hopefully even more.…”

Education and training in psychiatry in low‐ and middle‐income countries during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on training and education in psychiatry (Fiorillo & Gorwood, 2020; Gorwood & Fiorillo, 2021; Kuzman et al, 2020; Wasserman et al, 2020), which has been particularly significant in LMICs (Banerjee et al, 2020; De Sousa et al, 2020; Javed et al, 2021), has been further analyzed by Kalayasiri and Wainipitapong (2021). The results of an online survey carried out by the WPA Section on Education in Psychiatry under the supervision of the WPA President Elect, Prof. Danuta Wasserman, on the actual educational needs of Member Societies and WPA Zones, are also presented (Sampogna et al, 2021). The results of the first online edition of the train‐the‐trainer workshop, carried out by the WPA Section on Education in Psychiatry, which has brought together more than 100 participants from different parts of the world, are discussed by Baessler et al (2021).…”