The GLOCAL Project

1. Applies the knowledge gained from assessing local health care services using the ESMS/DESDE system and the integrated atlases of mental health care, to other target populations and countries.
2. Generates local health system metadata sets based on published local atlases of health care and regional directories of health care around the world.
3. Incorporates these metadata sets into a metadata repository to enable international comparisons of health systems' characteristics and services.
4. Uses this knowledge base for evidence-informed policy and planning - including national and international comparisons, benchmarking, and technical efficiency analysis.

ESMS/DESDE System

The European Service Mapping Schedule (ESMS) is a classification system developed for describing adult mental health services that was later adapted for the assessment of health and social systems research (Description and Evaluation of Services and DirectoriEs - DESDE).

INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE ATLASES

Integrated Health Care Atlases are structured service assessment and decision support tools that collect standardised information about specialised mental health services in a particular area and present it visually using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). These atlases support evidence-informed policy and planning. They account for local factors, highlight variations in care - including disparities in service access, detect gaps in service provision, and simplify comparisons with other health service areas.