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Mental Health Summit
Ireland's ‘Sharing the Vision’ policy for Mental Health outlines a roadmap for change, focusing on outcomes while placing the individual at the centre of the service. The policy aims to enhance service provision and support across a continuum of care, ranging from mental health promotion and prevention to early intervention, as well as acute and specialist mental health services.
Physical Activity, nutrition, and digital technology offer innovative solutions at each point of the continuum of care and can be part of the shift to a more holistic, rights-based, and sustainable approach in Mental Health, as called for nationally, at the EU level, and globally. Join us to Learn, Shape and Share your thoughts on co-creating innovations in Mental Health Care.
Agenda
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08.30 -13.00 Munster Technological University, Kerry North Campus
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Program Starts at 9 am
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Optional Afternoon Programme & Gala Dinner at Ballygarry Estate Hotel and Spa
Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Digital: Shifting the Dial for Better Mental Health Outcomes
Note: This symposium takes place at www.isapa2025.com Queries UNESCO@MTU.ie
Welcome Address
John Farrelly BA, MSc Psych, MBA, MinstD
John is CEO of the Mental Health Commission Ireland. He is an innovator in strategy, regulation governance and digital transformation. He is committed to human rights-based approaches in mental health treatment and care.
Professor Maggie Cusack
Professor Maggie Cusack, President of Munster Technological University, welcomes MTU's national and international partners.
Dr Gerardina Harnett
Dr Gerardina Harnett, Head of the Department of Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, and Healthcare Sciences, Munster Technological University. Gerardina is a Public Health Nurse with an interest in rural remote and isolated settings, sustainability, leadership and health behaviour change.
Invited Speakers and Panelists
KEYNOTES
Professor Ahmed Hankir
Professor Ahmed Hankir, MBChB, MRCPsych, is a Consultant Psychiatrist (Canada and UK), Honorary Visiting Professor at the School of Medicine, Cardiff University (UK), Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Western University (Canada), and Professor of Academic Psychiatry at Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies (USA).
Professor Hankir's research interests include global and Muslim mental health and pioneering and evaluating innovative interventions that reject mental health-related stigma and Islamophobia. He has published widely in these areas. Professor Hankir has co-edited four textbooks on psychiatry and religion, published by Springer, with Senior Members of the American Psychiatric Association. Professor Hankir is the author of 'Breakthrough. A Story of Hope, Resilience and Mental Health Recovery'.
Professor Hankir is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards, most notably the 2022 WHO Director-General Award for Global Health and the 2025 American Psychiatric Association Patient Advocate Award.
Professor Hankir identifies as a survivor and is passionate about empowering, dignifying and humanising persons living with mental health conditions. He advocates for lifestyle interventions, including regular physical activity and a balanced diet, to protect mental health.
Professor Hankir is also passionate about broadening access to medical school for persons from low-income backgrounds. Ahmed enjoys going for long walks in parks, immersing himself in nature, travelling and drinking coffee in local cafes. He also enjoys cycling, running and raising funds for charities.
Dr Karen O’Connor
MB BCh BAO, BMed Sci, MRCPsych, MD, MSc in Leadership, PDip Med Ed, is a Consultant at Cork University Hospital and a Consultant Psychiatrist, as well as National Clinical Lead of the National Clinical Programme for Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP).
EIP is an evidence-based approach that can transform experiences and outcomes, offering hope and efficiency. With each €1 invested in EIP, there is a €18 saving to the economy.
Dr. O'Connor is a medical graduate of University College Cork. She completed her postgraduate training in Psychiatry in Dublin and on a fellowship at Orygen Youth Mental Health Service in Melbourne, Australia.
Dr. O'Connor holds a Medical Doctorate in Early Intervention in Psychosis from RCSI. She is the clinical lead of the RISE service, an Early Intervention in Psychosis service in South Lee Cork. Dr. O Connor is the Vice Dean for postgraduate basic specialist training in psychiatry in the UCC Deanery and a member of the Irish Psychosis Research Network.
Karen discusses the challenges of beginning antipsychotic medication and the role of complementary therapies on cardiometabolic indicators, stigma, self-esteem, and quality of life.
Aoife Ní Mhuirí
Aoife Ní Mhuirí BSc (Physiotherapy), MSc (Sports Medicine), is the CEO and Founder of Salaso Health Solutions, an award-winning digital health company based in Kerry and New York. Aoife is a chartered physiotherapist with over twenty years of experience in clinical physiotherapy and exercise physiology, specialising in physical rehabilitation, lifestyle medicine, physical rehabilitation, and chronic condition management.
Aoife is also a lecturer in Health and Leisure Studies at the MTU in Tralee and physiotherapy who is passionate about the power and value of exercise and physical activity in supporting health and well-being.
As a leading digital health innovator, who Aoife leveraged her diverse knowledge and experience to establish Salaso Health Solutions. Salaso’s mission is to integrate digital solutions into healthcare delivery to improve outcomes and empower organisations, clinicians, and patients with accessible, scalable healthcare.
As a clinician herself, Aoife leverages her combined clinical and technology industry experience to demonstrate how incorporating digital technologies provides an essential platform for transforming the healthcare system and rethinking how we deliver Mental Health services. Aoife will discuss the application of digital technology, including AI, in shaping and delivering mental health services.
During the afternoon programme, Aoife and her team will guide delegates through how the Salaso a digital solution (Salaso’’s Smart Therapy Engagement Platform as a Service – STEPS) Health Solutions system supports education, exercise and lifestyle change in delivery of mental health services.
Special Olympics & Mental Health Ireland and Safe Food Ireland will discuss how they co-created resources to support those with intellectual disability promote and protect their mental health and well-being.
Evidence on the efficacy and practicality of physical activity and nutrition interventions in clinical and community settings, utilising digital technology, will be explored with insights from leading global authorities.
Reframing Mental Health Treatment
To cost-effectively embrace interventions for physical health into routine clinical practice.
Pioneering a multidisciplinary approach of a balanced care model.
that is in line with human rights and the sustainable development goals.
Evaluating the influence of digital technology
in reducing the sedentary behaviour and maintaining physical activity levels in the long-term for those with enduring mental health difficulties
Integrating Sustainable Development & Human Rights in Mental Health
Our speakers join the panellists below for a fireside chat
TARGET AUDIENCE
This symposium is open to all individuals working in or using mental health services and their families, as well as academics and researchers, policy and industry stakeholders, mental health advocacy, and practitioners in adapted physical activity, exercise-based interventions, nutrition, metabolic disease management, cardiometabolic health and obesity management.
Practical Information
Getting there: The event takes place in Munster Technological University Kerry North Campus
Registration Fee: The registration fee covers the event & operational costs.
Thursday Afternoon: UNESCO International Consultation or Salaso Demonstration and ISAPA Trade Exhibition & MTU Mental Health Simulator Unit or Golf
Gala Dinner: A Gala Dinner Event Takes Place at the Ballygarry Estate Hotel and Spa. All are Welcome (evening wear or national costume desirable). Register at the link above.
Queries and advance questions for our panellists can be sent to unesco@mtu.ie
Visit our website: www.aclu.ie
CONTEXT
Munster Technological University has been working in partnership with the HSE and Cork Kerry Community Services to examine the acceptability, efficacy, and feasibility of integrating physical activity, nutrition, and digital technology into mental health services to improve outcomes for service users. The Advisory Board of this Aclú initiative is transdisciplinary, consisting of representatives from the Mental Health Commission, HSE, patient and public representatives, local government, disability services, leading academic experts (national and international), and subject specialists in physical activity, nutrition, and digital technology with public and private sector experience.
Putting Health Research Priorities into Action
Mental health difficulties, including severe depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and psychosis, are a high burden for patients, health systems and society, and remain unmet medical needs. Innovative, safe and effective therapeutic and relapse-preventing solutions based on active substances are required, as many available treatments show modest efficacy, non-negligible side effects, discontinuation problems and high relapse rates. Non-invasive, multidisciplinary, and/or transdiagnostic approaches are needed to complement therapeutic and relapse prevention solutions, delivering better health outcomes, self-determination, autonomy, and quality of life in the long term.
In line with EU research priorities for Health, the Aclú Mental Health Symposium presents physical activity, nutrition, and digital technology as innovative, multidisciplinary interventions and/or alternative approaches that can achieve lasting therapeutic benefits in combination with an active substance.
The symposium will present the rationale, evidence, and future directions for physical activity, nutrition, and digital health interventions in mental health treatment and care. Topics explored include safety and efficacy, mechanism of action, personalised approaches, technology development and use, design of end-user-optimised interventions, leveraging existing data and research, and engaging with national public health authorities and regulators to ensure a robust development pathway and further uptake of the intervention.