Welcome Letter
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Invitation for the Second European Conference on Assertive Outreach
Improving Integration
Dear colleagues,
We cordially invite you to the second European Conference on Assertive Outreach entitled 'Improving Integration'. Improving integration means both integration of services as well as integration of patients in society. The first and inspiring European conference on assertive outreach showed that much work needs to be done to improve the availability and quality of outpatient care for severely mentally ill patients, especially with respect to integration.
Integration of services is important for patients with severe mental illness, because these patients have complex needs. Many patients also need assertive outreach services, since they are difficult to engage into treatment. In order to prevent fragmentation of services, the outreach services also need to be integrated, Assertive outreach is one model to provide integrated services.
Integration of patients in society refers to patients participating in education, social relationships, leisure activities and work. This is problematic for many of our patients. By providing interventions that aim at improving integration in society, such as housing first, supported employment and recovery groups, we can stimulate integration in society. These interventions can be integrated in an outpatient treatment model that also provides assertive outreach.
During the Second European Assertive Outreach Congress we will bring together the knowledge about AO and integration in Europe.
The broader aim of the conference is to bring together clinicians, researchers, policy makers, representatives from patient and family organisations to discuss ways to optimize outpatient care for patients with severe mental illness.
The European Assertive Outreach Foundation creates a European network, by organizing international AO conferences every two years. The EAOF stimulates research across different countries to investigate and compare models of AO, their cost-effectiveness, and the development and implementation of other evidence-based practices within the context of AO. The EAOF will help ensure that the most vulnerable citizens in our communities receive the highest possible quality of care.
We are looking forward seeing you in the beautiful city of Avilés in Spain!
