Event highlights
The QualityRights conference in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, brought together mental health professionals, service managers, policy-makers and other stakeholders from across the WHO European Region to strengthen a growing community of practice dedicated to reducing coercion in mental health services. Organized as part of the European Commission-funded contribution agreements supported by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) and Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST), the event focused on advancing human rights and recovery-oriented approaches to mental health care.
Over 2 days, participants exchanged experiences, showcased national initiatives and explored practical strategies for reducing coercion, strengthening recovery-oriented practice and embedding human rights in mental health services. Interactive discussions and peer learning sessions provided opportunities to reflect on shared challenges, identify solutions and build stronger collaboration across countries.
Participants highlighted the value of learning from one another’s experiences and building lasting partnerships to support implementation across the Region. As one participant from Lithuania noted, “Exchanging knowledge with other countries is essential. It helps us understand what works in different contexts and learn from both successes and challenges in implementing QualityRights.”
Participants also shared practical examples of how QualityRights is already changing care in their own settings. Reflecting on the impact of the training, a participant from the Republic of Moldova said, “After attending the QualityRights training in Armenia in 2025, one doctor introduced simple changes in her psychiatric hospital, such as celebrating patients’ birthdays and organizing dance activities. Those small changes transformed the atmosphere on the ward and improved people’s quality of life.”
Participants also identified common priorities for sustaining progress, including expanding de-escalation training for the mental health workforce, strengthening peer support and the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience, continuing to assess mental health services against QualityRights standards, and transforming organizational cultures to reduce coercion and foster more respectful, recovery-oriented partnerships between staff and service users.
As part of the ongoing collaboration under the European Commission-funded projects, WHO/Europe will continue to support the community of practice through knowledge exchange, technical assistance and opportunities for continued peer learning.
Event notice
WHO/Europe is convening partners to build a community of practice to reduce coercion in mental health services, in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on 27–28 May 2026.
The conference, organized as part of the European Commission–funded contribution agreements “Addressing mental health challenges in the EU, Iceland and Norway” and “Support for health resilience in the Eastern Partnership”, will bring together countries in the WHO European Region that have undertaken the WHO QualityRights training on reducing coercion and strengthening recovery-oriented practice in mental health care. Participants will include mental health professionals who are dealing with people in distress on a daily basis, service managers, policy‑makers and other key stakeholders.
Why QualityRights?
In many countries, people with mental health conditions and psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities continue to face stigma, harmful treatment practices, neglect and abuse. Too often, they are detained against their will, treated without informed consent, and excluded from opportunities to live independently, access education, work and housing, or participate fully in community life.
The WHO QualityRights initiative addresses these challenges by promoting a fundamental shift in mental health care towards approaches that are grounded in human rights and recovery. Recovery is understood not only as clinical improvement, but as supporting people to live meaningful lives with autonomy, purpose, dignity and connection.
The community of practice will provide a platform for participating countries to showcase good practices, innovations and early successes, and to learn from one another through peer exchange. Sessions will focus on shared challenges, the co‑development of practical strategies and implementation plans, and sustaining meaningful and lasting changes in clinical practice. A key outcome will be the strengthening of communities of practice to support continued collaboration to reduce coercion and advance rights‑based, recovery‑oriented mental health care across the Region.
Background
Within the framework of the European Commission contribution agreement “Addressing mental health challenges in the EU, Iceland and Norway”, funded by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG-SANTE), WHO/Europe aims to equip both policy-makers and the health and care workforce with the skills and capacities to improve population mental health and well-being. The project focuses on tailored capacity-building and policy dialogues to make the best use of existing policies and resources, to support a comprehensive approach to mental health.
In parallel, within the framework of the European Commission’s Directorate‑General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST)-funded project, WHO/Europe is supporting countries in building the skills and capacities of the health and care workforce, enabling them to expand access to quality, rights‑based mental health care, and support service transformation across the Region.