The European Commission has approved funding for a psychiatric pilot project submitted by the Hospitality Europe office, jointly with Italian researchers of the Order. Every year, the European Union allocates funding for projects on highly innovative subjects regarding Community policies that have not already been included in the Commission’s framework programmes.

The project just approved will study violent behaviour and the risk of suicide or self-harm by psychiatric patients, and is linked to several serious cases that have shocked European public opinion in recent years (such as the air crash cause by the Germanwings pilot who was suffering from serious mental illness). The purpose of the project will be to identify risk factors that might result in risks of violence or suicide by patients, and to identify the most effective preventive measures, drawing European comparisons. In view of the critical character of this study, the European Commission has agreed to provide an overall budget of €1.2 million for the pilot project. It will be a three-year project, coordinated by researchers from the Operations Unit of Epidemiological and Evaluative Psychology at the IRCCS Fatebenefratelli Centre in Brescia.