RECOMMEND

The Ethics Committee on the 20th Anniversary of the FCCSM

With joy and best wishes, the members of Ethics Committee (CEA) we want to join in the congratulations and celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the birth of Catalan Congress of Mental Health Foundation.

In fact, the current CEA's core group already participated in the work and efforts to establish the Foundation at the end of the 20th century. A group of professionals was formed to address the ethical perspective at the First Catalan Congress on Mental Health in 1999.

A CEA Steering Group was established and accredited by the Generalitat in 2005. It was the first independent CEA, meaning it was not affiliated with any healthcare institution.

Among its objectives are:

  • The review and analysis of legal proposals
  • the ongoing reflection on ethical conflicts that may arise in healthcare practices
  • the stance on proposed legal reforms at both the state and autonomous levels

Even as the Promotional Group, he prepared a document regarding «Human Rights, Ethics, and Mental Health. Mandatory Outpatient Treatment. Restrictive Measures» that the FCCSM will publish in February 2005. As can be seen, the subjects remain very relevant.

Two more documents have been published that collect the writings and presentations from the different conferences that the CEA has held.

«Protection of Rights and Dignity: Mental Health Legislation, edited in December 2008, reproduces the document presented at the Conference of the same name.

«Human Rights and Psychiatric Hospitalization. For an Ethics of Capacity. Diagnosed Life, This is a collection of three documents. The first was presented at the Conference held in November 2014. The other two correspond to an earlier Conference, held in December 2011.

Finally, in December 2019, at the Conference on «Collaborative Medication Management: For a New Care Culture» The CEA presented a document on Medicalization.

Of the 14 members who made up the CEA (Ethics Committee) in the year of accreditation (2005), 4 remain in the current, smaller composition. Various career developments and professional occupations explain this change. On numerous occasions, departures have been to assume positions of responsibility within an association or Ethics Committee. We also note the good adaptation and commitment of new members.

In addition to the documents produced, to which we must add participation in FCCSM congresses, the CEA has also carried out actions to defend the rights of mental health users. The most forceful example was the opposition to the legalization of the so-called Involuntary Outpatient Treatment (IOT), on two occasions at the state level and once in the reform of the Civil Code (Catalan Civil Code). In this last situation, in addition to the written complaints, arguments, and media statements, different members of the CEA met with all the political groups in Parliament to raise awareness against the legalization of TAI. Ultimately, this legalization was not approved (2010).

The CEA has been meeting on the last Monday of every month for all these years, and the meeting has only had to be suspended on very few occasions. We have been invited to meetings with other entities, and we have also often invited users and professionals from very diverse associations and organizations. With them, we have deliberated and reflected on the different topics that occupy our writings.

In recent months, reflecting on the Foundation's 20th-anniversary announcement has led us to consider a significant renovation, if not a sort of re-foundation, that will allow us to continue and expand (and also rejuvenate) the CEA's future prospects.

With this spirit, we want to approach the 20th-anniversary celebrations of FCCSM, for which we wish a long and prosperous life, which we want to continue sharing.

CEA