Everton in the Community present at European Psychiatry Congress

Everton in the Community present at European Psychiatry Congress

Everton in the Community were recently invited to present its innovative work in the field of mental health at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Paris. 

The charity’s Health and Wellbeing Manager Johnnie Garside represented the Club’s charitable arm at the conference where he was in attendance alongside a panel of industry experts to present the results of its recent pilot action evaluation for its long-standing ‘Imagine Your Goals’ mental health programme.

Launched in 2008, Imagine Your Goals uses the medium of football as a therapeutic tool to positively address mental illness and aims to support participants’ social, physical and mental health by building individuals’ levels of resilience, self-efficacy and self-esteem to combat social isolation and aid their on-going rehabilitation.

Everton in the Community were invited to present at the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry as part of its involvement in the European Alliance for Sport and Mental Health (EASMH) project, funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Programme, which aims to increase the participation in sport for people with mental health problems with different clinical conditions across multiple European countries, and to create a European network of sports and mental health professionals interested in promoting sport and physical activity as effective tools for mental health prevention and psychiatric rehabilitation.

“Being invited to present at such a prestigious forum as this represents a significant landmark in the charity’s history, delivering community-based approaches to support people with mental health challenges. Having the opportunity to disseminate our approaches and research findings amongst leading experts in the field of psychiatry and sharing ideas with other organisations is extremely beneficial to further enrich the work EitC delivers.”

Johnnie Garside, Health and Wellbeing Manager at EiTC

Johnnie’s presentation was titled ‘Can football be considered an effective rehabilitative mental health intervention’ and he shared details of the charity’s pilot project and its findings including participants’ mental wellbeing improved by 17.1%, physical activity levels improved by 64% and feelings of optimism for the future improved by 38.4% over the 12-week intervention.