Mental health in Malta: are we on the right track?

It is a known fact that mental health issues are on the rise in Malta. In-hospital care is being shifted to the community. Many inpatients have been discharged to licensed mental health facilities in the community with an overall positive experience.

The government has committed itself to close Mount Carmel Hospital, reopen the Psychiatric Unit at Mater Dei Hospital and build of a new acute care facility within Mater Dei Hospital.

Nonetheless, mental health care should primarily focus on prevention, early diagnosis and support, with referral to appropriate services as and when required.

In 2025, the government committed €4.5 million on mental health services in the community. In collaboration with local councils, this will fund the delivery of mental health first aid courses to groups of persons in the community, the provision of one-to-one sessions with mental health professionals, and telephone call-out services to support those at risk of mental health issues.

In 2023, mental health first aid courses were introduced to teens in Year 9 and their educators in all schools. An estimate of 5,365 students and 460 educators would have received this training by the end of the current scholastic year.

The Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation has embarked on a pilot programme that links schools and students with their families and the community. A similar programme is being piloted at St Patrick’s School in Sliema. Initial results are encouraging.

The Learning Support Centres within the education ministry address the psychosocial and the academic needs of young children who fall out of mainstream education.

The perinatal team within the Mental Health Services actively screens couples in early pregnancy and postpartum for early signs of mental health problems. If not picked up early, these could negatively affect the psycho-emotional development of infants.

The Family Focus Group within the Child and Young People’s Services addresses mental health issues in childhood within the family context.

Positive Parenting Malta, within the Ministry for Social Policy and Children’s Rights, promotes psycho-educational material and support for parents to enable them to provide a healthy environment and foster the development of a secure attachment with their children. It is through such positive interactions that we can pre-empt deterioration in mental well-being early in children’s lives.

Among adults, the Employee Support Programmes and other mental health well-being initiatives offered by the public service, the University of Malta, MCAST, various workplaces and major unions, are also commendable and need to be sustained and increased.

More incentives should be offered for more young people to take up professions in social work, family therapy, youth work and counselling

In conjunction with other stakeholders including Djakonija and various NGOs, the government should provide specific services to promote mental well-being also among the senior citizen population, where studies have shown an increased prevalence of loneliness.

The array of services available is indeed numerous but various questions arise. Do we need coordination among the services, and if yes, who is doing this consistently across the course of one’s life? Do we have enough trained human resources to provide these services? Are there any gaps which are not being addressed? Can we afford duplication of services?

More incentives should be offered for more young people to take up professions in social work, family therapy, youth work and counselling. A coordinated interministerial approach should be addressing the root causes that make children fall out of the mainstream education or exhibit serious educational challenges. Unless parents are included in any intervention and the various social determinants addressed, interventions may be futile.

So many complaints reach this office about individuals who do not find support from services in the community and as a result are kept hospitalised, even though they do not require hospital care. This is worrying.

Our national efforts need to be refocused towards preserving mental well-being, investing more in prevention services, early diagnosis of mental illness and easier access to all our services. These initiatives should be coordinated centrally.

The government should be responsible to break silo mentalities and enhance interministerial collaboration and coordination, including with and between all NGOs.

Services should be extended after office hours to facilitate greater access by the working population. Facilities should be welcoming and adapted to people’s specific needs such as neurodiversity and foreigners.

Mental health problems also impact families, work colleagues and friends, who provide a support system that can make or break the effectiveness of any intervention. All necessary support should be provided to avoid their burnout.

In line with Mental Health Europe, the current biomedical narrative focusing on the individual and the related illness should move to address the root causes of poor mental health. This is a real investment for a better future. Budgetary allocation should be increased to reflect this change of mindset which goes beyond services traditionally categorised as the health ministry’s domain.

Denis Vella Baldacchino is Commissioner for the Promotion of Right of Persons with Mental Disorders.