On the eve of the National Day for Combating Depression, the first workshop of the Healthy Wakes series for patient organisations was held in Warsaw on 22 February, organised by the Institute for Patient Rights and Health Education. The workshop is a continuation of IPPEZ's activities as part of the Patient Organisations Forum 2024 and a consequence of the audit carried out by IPPEZ and the conclusions collected in the report: THE PATIENT IN THE POLISH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM - 2024, in which patient organisations identified urgent actions in the area of health.
Child psychiatry was identified as one of the urgent topics and challenges for health systems, and therefore the first meeting focused on issues in the area of child psychiatry. In the meeting, entitled 'The child psychiatrist. Mental health of children and adolescents in Poland - challenges, needs, future, experts took part: Aleksandra Lewandowska, MD, psychiatrist, national consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry, Dr. Halszka Witkowska, suicidologist, Secretary of the Polish Suicidological Society, coordinator of the help service Life is worth talking about, expert of the Bureau for the Prevention of Suicidal Behaviour at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw, dr n. med. Jakub Gierczyński, MBA, health system expert, Igor Grzesiak, Institute for Patients' Rights and Health Education.
From the side of the patients' organisation, the meeting was attended by Piotr Raczynski, Light for Life Foundation, Ewa Galus-Raczyńska, Light for Life Foundation, Grzegorz Kotoro, European Education Centre Foundation SIMPLY, Joanna Paduszyńska, CEO Elephants on the Balcony Foundation, Urszula Szybowicz, Foundation You Can't See Past Me, Marta Mikolajczuk, Nie Widać Po Mnie Foundation, Dominik Kuc, GrowSpace, Magda Bojarska, Hey Horse, Marta Kulpa, IPPEZ
During the meeting, experts and patient representatives discussed Polish child psychiatry, drawing attention to the most important challenges that require urgent solutions. They also discussed the need for joint action and the development of a single unified voice of organisations on the necessary changes in the field of mental health care. Many important demands were made that can contribute to positive changes in the psychiatric care system, which will be written up and presented to the public in the near future