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France & Belgium -
Mental Health -
21 delegates -
November 2025
From November 17 to 22, a delegation of 21 professionals from the John BOST Foundation (including social educators, psychologists, nurses, nursing assistants, an occupational therapist, a social worker, a physician, managers and senior leadership) took part in a study tour dedicated to exploring inspiring models in psychiatric rehabilitation.
Organised by Dialog Health, this mission aimed to identify innovative approaches focused on recovery, service-user participation, and the territorial anchoring of care and support systems. Conducted across France and Belgium, the study tour enabled participants to visit leading organisations, showcasing the diversity of responses to contemporary challenges in psychiatry and psychosocial rehabilitation.
Lille and Brussels: Rights, Community and Recovery
From Monday 17 to Wednesday 19 November, the delegation travelled to Lille and the Brussels metropolitan area.
The first visit took place at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health (CCOMS), part of the EPSM Lille-Métropole. As the only French centre accredited by the World Health Organization in mental health, the CCOMS plays a key role in promoting community-based approaches, human rights and service-user participation. Through its programmes—such as QualityRights, peer support workers, university training, research and international cooperation—it acts as a bridge between international recommendations and frontline practice.
The delegation then visited HermèsPlus, with a particular focus on the TandemPlus programme, a mobile crisis care team that intervenes directly with people experiencing acute psychological distress. This approach aims to prevent the escalation of crisis situations through rapid, coordinated and tailored intervention, facilitating appropriate referral and access to care.
The visit to the Wolvendael Therapeutic Community provided insight into a model based on collective living as a therapeutic lever. Active participation in daily life, shared responsibilities, voluntary and gradual admission, and support without apparent hierarchy underpin a recovery-oriented philosophy rooted in autonomy, continuity and inclusion.
The delegation also met with the teams from Le Gué, a project whose history illustrates the gradual transformation of a leisure initiative into a genuine community and therapeutic pillar. Despite current constraints, Le Gué demonstrates how support embedded in everyday life can sustainably transform care pathways.
In Lille, discussions with EPSM Lille-Métropole highlighted a profound transformation in psychiatric care: a strong shift toward community-based and outpatient services, deep territorial integration, and regional structuring of psychosocial rehabilitation. This approach places people’s needs at the centre, beyond diagnostic categories. The visit to La Boussole, a local psychosocial rehabilitation centre affiliated with EPSM Lille-Métropole, illustrated a proximity-based rehabilitation model built on personalised pathways, the progressive integration of peer support workers, and the co-construction of individual life projects.
Lyon: Community-Based Care and Early Intervention
On Thursday 20 November, the delegation visited Le Vinatier University Hospital Centre in Lyon. This stage highlighted one of the most advanced shifts toward community-based psychiatry in France, with a large-scale redeployment toward mobile teams, strengthened crisis services, and a significant reduction in lengths of hospital stay. Discussions focused in particular on the PEPS service, specialising in early intervention for emerging mental disorders, and on the CAP 28 institutional strategy, which promotes active service-user participation and more horizontal governance models. An immersion at the Adult CMP / CATTP Villette (Lyon 3) provided deeper insight into community psychiatry and the day-to-day coordination between clinical care, psychosocial support and territorial work.
Montpellier and Nîmes: Recovery, Early Intervention and Psychiatry Beyond the Hospital
In Montpellier, the delegation visited the Jean Minvielle C2R, a psychosocial rehabilitation centre firmly oriented toward recovery. The C2R stands out for its collaborative care philosophy, placing individuals at the heart of decision-making, with the ultimate goal of building a chosen life pathway beyond mere symptom reduction.
In Nîmes, the visit to Villa Orygen, part of the Nîmes University Hospital, introduced a nationally recognised centre for early intervention and psychosocial rehabilitation for young adults experiencing emerging mental health disorders. The delegation also explored the innovative PsyTRUCK 3.0 programme, a mobile mental health unit that facilitates access to care through outreach, assessment and orientation directly within people’s living environments.
This study tour enabled professionals from the John BOST Foundation to engage with a wide diversity of psychiatric rehabilitation models in France and Belgium.
From community-based approaches to early intervention services, from supported housing to psychiatry beyond hospital walls, this week of visits highlighted innovative practices centred on recovery, service-user participation and territorial integration, offering valuable sources of inspiration for the evolution of professional practice.
Lille and Brussels: Rights, Community and Recovery
From Monday 17 to Wednesday 19 November, the delegation travelled to Lille and the Brussels metropolitan area.
The first visit took place at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health (CCOMS), part of the EPSM Lille-Métropole. As the only French centre accredited by the World Health Organization in mental health, the CCOMS plays a key role in promoting community-based approaches, human rights and service-user participation. Through its programmes—such as QualityRights, peer support workers, university training, research and international cooperation—it acts as a bridge between international recommendations and frontline practice.
The delegation then visited HermèsPlus, with a particular focus on the TandemPlus programme, a mobile crisis care team that intervenes directly with people experiencing acute psychological distress. This approach aims to prevent the escalation of crisis situations through rapid, coordinated and tailored intervention, facilitating appropriate referral and access to care.
The visit to the Wolvendael Therapeutic Community provided insight into a model based on collective living as a therapeutic lever. Active participation in daily life, shared responsibilities, voluntary and gradual admission, and support without apparent hierarchy underpin a recovery-oriented philosophy rooted in autonomy, continuity and inclusion.
The delegation also met with the teams from Le Gué, a project whose history illustrates the gradual transformation of a leisure initiative into a genuine community and therapeutic pillar. Despite current constraints, Le Gué demonstrates how support embedded in everyday life can sustainably transform care pathways.
In Lille, discussions with EPSM Lille-Métropole highlighted a profound transformation in psychiatric care: a strong shift toward community-based and outpatient services, deep territorial integration, and regional structuring of psychosocial rehabilitation. This approach places people’s needs at the centre, beyond diagnostic categories. The visit to La Boussole, a local psychosocial rehabilitation centre affiliated with EPSM Lille-Métropole, illustrated a proximity-based rehabilitation model built on personalised pathways, the progressive integration of peer support workers, and the co-construction of individual life projects.
Lyon: Community-Based Care and Early Intervention
On Thursday 20 November, the delegation visited Le Vinatier University Hospital Centre in Lyon. This stage highlighted one of the most advanced shifts toward community-based psychiatry in France, with a large-scale redeployment toward mobile teams, strengthened crisis services, and a significant reduction in lengths of hospital stay. Discussions focused in particular on the PEPS service, specialising in early intervention for emerging mental disorders, and on the CAP 28 institutional strategy, which promotes active service-user participation and more horizontal governance models. An immersion at the Adult CMP / CATTP Villette (Lyon 3) provided deeper insight into community psychiatry and the day-to-day coordination between clinical care, psychosocial support and territorial work.
Montpellier and Nîmes: Recovery, Early Intervention and Psychiatry Beyond the Hospital
In Montpellier, the delegation visited the Jean Minvielle C2R, a psychosocial rehabilitation centre firmly oriented toward recovery. The C2R stands out for its collaborative care philosophy, placing individuals at the heart of decision-making, with the ultimate goal of building a chosen life pathway beyond mere symptom reduction.
In Nîmes, the visit to Villa Orygen, part of the Nîmes University Hospital, introduced a nationally recognised centre for early intervention and psychosocial rehabilitation for young adults experiencing emerging mental health disorders. The delegation also explored the innovative PsyTRUCK 3.0 programme, a mobile mental health unit that facilitates access to care through outreach, assessment and orientation directly within people’s living environments.
This study tour enabled professionals from the John BOST Foundation to engage with a wide diversity of psychiatric rehabilitation models in France and Belgium.
From community-based approaches to early intervention services, from supported housing to psychiatry beyond hospital walls, this week of visits highlighted innovative practices centred on recovery, service-user participation and territorial integration, offering valuable sources of inspiration for the evolution of professional practice.
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