Mina Aleksic studied painting at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, art therapy in SIPEA- Italian Association for Psychology, Education and Art therapies in Rome. She is one of the founders of Citizens association Prostor, as well as an art therapist and project coordinator.

Your involvement in the study has been key, could you tell us more about it?

My focus has been involvement of psychiatric care users in the Impulse study. I helped start the LEAP (Lived Experience Advisory Panel) group in Serbia, as well as supporting the same groups in other countries. Together with the colleagues from association Menssana in Sarajevo, I co-authored a guide to developing and sustaining user involvement in mental health care in SEE" and developed a Model to successfully engage and empower patients and caregivers in LMICs.

Tell us a bit about yourself outside work - how would you describe yourself and/or what do you like to do when you aren't working on research? 

I enjoy spending time outside of city walls and concrete, I like to be active, enjoy sports and all outdoor activities, music, movies.

What is your favourite aspect about your work?

Questioning the term "normality", promoting the art of psychiatric care users and observing how the public attitude changes and how the self-esteem of people who struggle with psychiatric condition grows.

What have you learned and what will you take forward with you after this study has finished?

I had a chance to observe how the lead applicant Queen Mary University led one big international EU project. I learned a lot from this experience. I also noticed how medical staff that works in the psychiatric system has very little time and resources to implement the real reform, and that is rather unfortunate. That is why I think partnership between civil society and psychiatric institutions is necessary if we want to provide quality support and chance for recovery for our beneficiaries.

One key message that you would like to communicate, and you wish everybody knew and understood?

From my experience, providing support for psychiatric care users in the community is crucial for ensuring recovery, improving life quality, and supporting their integration in the society.

Tell us a bit more about association Prostor?

The citizens association Prostor has been working towards development of community-based services for persons with mental health problems and de-stigmatization of this population in Serbia since 2010. The purpose of the organization is to develop municipally recognized and supported services that cover most of the needs of persons with mental health problems: psychological, economic, and social. Over the past 9 years, Prostor has provided services for persons with mental health problems through different programs in the community aiming at empowering them, support of their re-socialization and providing psychological support. During its work, Prostor has been recognized by the institutions as a partner in the reform of mental health system, particularly in the process of de institutionalization. Consequently, Prostor has officially partnered with Belgrade municipalities in pioneering the development of the local Community Mental Health model in Serbia, now widely recognized and practiced in EU countries. Apart from direct work with psychiatric care users, Prostor has been working on the development of alternative approaches in treatment of mental health problems through the organization of educational activities for mental health professionals, persons with mental health problems, students, civil society organizations working in the field of community mental health, and volunteers. Prostor is an official representative of the International Hearing Voices Network and one of the founders of the regional West Balkan Hearing Voices Network. At the moment, Prostor is carrying out 5 projects- local project "Creative space for mental health", financed by the Swiss government, international Erasmus + project "Community mental health practices in ex- Yugoslavia", Impulse project and "Reaching community together" financed by the EU commission, as well as one small local project "Support for mental health", supported by Belgrade municipality Zvezdara.