Aim
In light of the WHO’s ‘World Mental Health Day’ on Wednesday 10 October, a meeting on the ‘Mental Health in Elite Sport’ will be held by the Intergroup Sports of the European Parliament. This meeting aims not only at identifying the role of elite athletes and coaches’ mental wellbeing, but also to acknowledge the needs in providing professional mental health support services to those acting at the highest level of competitive sport.
Programme
After an introduction to the significance of mental health in elite sports, elite athletes and coaches will talk about their experiences with mental health. This will be followed by presentations on providing mental health support in elite sport. The meeting will conclude with specific recommendations on the policy measures and support services aimed at ensuring the mental wellbeing of talented, elite and retired athletes and coaches.
The 90-minutes program is structured as follows:
• Introduction to the role of mental health in elite sport - Paul Wylleman, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
• Elite athletes and coaches on mental health in elite sport (roundtable) - Speakers tbc by EUAthletes and FIFPro
• The organization of mental health support in Olympic and Paralympic sports - Maurits Hendriks, TeamNL
• Using resilience to build mental health in elite athletes and coaches – Prof. Peter Falkai, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, European Psychiatric Association
• Recommendations on ensuring mental health support in elite sport - Speaker tbc.
European Parliament
Brussels,
Belgium