The Pohjola and Suomi Mutual Medical Award goes to an internationally recognised expert
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Vappu Taipale Would Shift Focus in Mental Health Work towards Mental Health
Promotion
Ignoring the prevention of mental health problems will necessitate using more
drastic methods. In such a case, even a large number of psychiatrists are not
sufficient. These words are uttered by Professor Vappu Taipale who will receive
the Pohjola and Suomi Mutual Medical Award 2011 in recognition of her
distinguished efforts and long-term contribution to the promotion of children's
mental health in Finland. The Award is worth 20,000 euros and the grantee is
selected by the Finnish Medical Foundation.
A report issued by WHO/Euro, Finland has the most psychiatrists and child and
adolescent psychiatrists in Europe after Switzerland, states Taipale. But why is
it so that they always seem to be in short supply? The point is about where
their labour input is allocated. According to Taipale, Finland has gone
backwards in terms of the philosophy in the 1970s healthcare policy that was
built around prevention of problems. As late as the 90s when Finland was hit by
the economic slump, child health clinics, schools and other educational
institutes fought for the maintenance of preventive care.
Vappu Taipale (b.1940), MD and a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry,
boasts decades of expertise in the field of mental health and is a renowned
expert in social welfare and health policy issues both at home and abroad, for
instance in the UN and the EU. As early as 1971, she and Eero Valanne published
a text book, Lastenpsykiatria (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), which became a
classic in medical studies. She has acted as a professor, minister and Director
General of the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health
STAKES from where she retired in 2008.
Ordinary, everyday life is decisive
In the last few years, Taipale has been active in issues related to ageing, at
home and abroad. Very similar aspects of mental health hold true for both
children and the elderly. An elderly person is a physical, mental and social
creature and so is a child too, she points out.
She firmly believes in ordinary, everyday life, little positive things it
involves and experience of ordinary things. Mental health is like a renewable
natural resource. It regenerates and wears every single day. Everyday life is
the number one issue in the promotion of mental health of all ages.
- We have a distorted picture of elderly people. This picture is dominated by
costs, illnesses, accidents and pharmaceuticals. However, more than 80 per cent
of the elderly are energetic, capable of walking on their own feet, points out
Taipale.
Increasing poverty among children is worrying
Taipale wants more social justice. -During the last ten years, child poverty has
increased at an alarming pace and is occasionally greater than that among the
population on average. We are back to the social inequality that we had forty
years ago.
She also states that parents should talk about their financial problems with
their children or otherwise children only make guesses and cannot unburden their
heart.
However, the majority of children survive bad conditions or otherwise the human
race would already have become extinct. A child's resilience and stamina can be
sustained if he has someone who cares for him and has a positive experience of
coping with the challenges life throws at him. We have evidence of this among
children in Serbia experiencing war. A shared story is important, or explaining
what happened and why and how to survive. Then it is possible to move on.
As Chairman of the Union for Senior Services, Taipale has realised that "war
also comes to our mind as elderly people". That is the story we share.
Jubilee lecture on nuclear weapons
This year is the 31st time the Pohjola and Suomi Mutual Medical Award is
granted. The Award has been granted to a Finnish physician since 1981 in
recognition of his outstanding international and national career. The Award is
worth 20,000 euros and the grantee is selected by the Finnish Medical Foundation
in cooperation with all major Finnish physicians organisation. The Award will be
given to Professor Vappu Taipale by donor representatives Jouko Pölönen,
President of Pohjola Insurance Ltd, and Markku Vesterinen, President and CEO of
Suomi Mutual, at the Finnish Medical Convention on 11 January 2011.
At the event, Vappu Taipale will deliver a jubilee lecture entitled "What should
every doctor and medical student know about nuclear weapons".
- Prevention is all that matters in this particular case too. If a nuclear
weapon was launched somewhere in the world, a cloud much more devastating than
the volcanic ash cloud would spread over the whole world. Medical doctors'
contribution to prevent this "final epidemic" is important because people trust
what we say, Taipale points out.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Vappu Taipale, tel. 040 050 3623 or vappu (at)vapputaipale.fi
Anne Lamminpää, Chief Physician, tel. 010 25 32418 or anne.lamminpaa (at)pohjola.fi
Professor Tero Kivelä, Finnish Medical Foundation, tel. 050 525 2723 or
tero.kivela (at)helsinki.fi
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Source: Pohjola Pankki Oyj via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1477145]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 07.01.2011 - 09:31 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 50271
Anzahl Zeichen: 6270
contact information:
Town:
POHJOLA
Kategorie:
Business News
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