EQUICARES at the 9th International and 27th National Public Health Congress

Our partners from KOC Univeristy and JIGSAW presented their ongoing work at the 9th International and 27th National Public Health Congress in Antalya, Türkiye. The participation is part of the project’s broader dissemination activities to share insights with the global public health community.

The team contributed to a dedicated session on “Innovative Approaches to Improving Access to Mental Healthcare Services.” The presentations covered several core strands of the project’s research:
• One presentation shared preliminary findings from an investigation into the barriers and facilitators faced by people in vulnerable situations when accessing mental healthcare services across Europe. The analysis highlighted structural, social, and individual-level factors, demonstrating how these elements interact and vary, ultimately shaping unequal access to care.
• Another presentation showcased a systematic approach to assessing access to mental healthcare services using an established conceptual framework. It detailed key concepts of demand-side and supply-side dimensions and discussed their direct implications for designing more equitable services.
• A final presentation outlined plans for an upcoming study employing a digital diary methodology. This research aims to explore the lived experiences of people in vulnerable situations, using longitudinal, participant-generated data to capture how barriers, facilitators, and access dynamics unfold in everyday life and over time.

The session prompted a high level of engagement and interest from the audience. The subsequent discussion addressed several critical themes, including the transferability of the presented approaches across different national and health system contexts, and the conceptual and methodological challenges of measuring access to care.

Participants debated whether access can be considered a uniform construct, given that services perceived as accessible for some may remain out of reach for others. The conversation also explored how barriers and facilitators vary across different vulnerable situations, how these variations can compound access challenges, and how mental healthcare services can be designed to remain responsive and accessible across diverse user needs.