"MENTiS aims to strengthen the mental health support initiatives within European talent development and elite sport organizations by directly targeting entourage members’ mental health literacy, mental health first aid competences, and mental health self-care competences"
OBJECTIVES
For the 2022 Erasmus+ Sport call, the research group Sport Psychology and Mental Support (SPMB) submitted as a coordinator a collaborative partnership entitled “Promoting Mental Health through the Entourage in high-performance Sport” (MENTiS). The project is led by VUB (prof. dr. Paul Wylleman, prof. dr. Koen De Brandt, prof. dr. Jolan Kegelaers, and dra. Laura Spolverato) and co-funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme of the European Commission.
MENTiS (1/12/2022 - 30/11/2024) aims to strengthen mental health initiatives within European high-performance and talent development sports organizations. To this end, the project developed new community-based interventions targeting the athlete entourage (i.e., coaches, support staff, significant others).
More specifically, the objective is to develop evidence-based mental health educational resources and tools centred around three key pillars:
mental health literacy
mental health ‘first aid’ competencies
mental health ‘self-care’ competencies
These educational resources and tools were developed, implemented, evaluated, refined, and eventually widely disseminated. The project provides a direct added value within the EU context by focusing on the development of mental health competencies in the important, yet often overlooked, population of entourage members.
To address these aims, MENTiS brings together a consortium of 28 experts in high performance sport and mental health, representing 8 organizations from 6 European countries (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK). The consortium includes 4 national sport governing bodies, 1 high-performance centre, and 3 athlete-friendly universities.
IMPACT OF MENTiS
The resources and tools developed and implemented within this project will allow organizations to optimize their support services and facilitate mental health support for both athletes and entourage members.
The MENTIS project and its deliverables aim to generate positive impact by bringing direct added value to European high-performance sport research, policy, and practice in the following ways:
- Promoting and increasing awareness on the topic of mental health in sports;
- Providing opportunities to develop a detailed understanding of the role of the athlete entourage for promoting mental health;
- Providing and enhancing opportunities for the development of entourage members’ competencies to promote mental health;
- Facilitating cooperation related to mental health between sport, education and health stakeholders.
"It is projected that 6.636 athletes and 1.568 entourage members can be involved in this project through the consortium partners."
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
CONTACT THE MENTiS COORDINATOR
- prof. Paul Wylleman, VUB
- prof. dr. Koen De Brandt, VUB
- prof. dr. Jolan Kegelaers, VUB
- dra. Laura Spolverato, VUB
MENTiS CONSORTIUM
RESULTS
TOOLS & RESOURCES
Below you can find and download different resources for entourage members.
If you are looking for tools to specifically support athletes' mental health: have a look here at our Dual Careers for Mental Health project.
TESTIMONIALS FROM ATHLETES AND ENTOURAGE MEMBERS...
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
For more information on the MENTiS project and other Erasmus+ Sport projects, please contact Koen De Brandt (koen.de.brandt@vub.be) and Jolan Kegelaers (jolan.kegelaers@vub.be).
VUB also coordinates other projects on mental health in sports. Have a look at our project page.