Queen Maxima of Netherlands talks to experts at mental health facility

Queen Maxima of Netherlands paid a visit to a mental health care institution in Schagen to interact with the practitioners and discuss their method of treating patients in their home environments.

During her visit to the GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord mental health care institution on Thursday, Queen Maxima spoke to experts, administration, and practitioners about the functioning of the facility. The institution offers treatment and counseling to people of all ages with mental health problems. Pictures of the visit were shared by the Dutch royal court on its Instagram account.

GGH NHN has three specialisations for the treatment of mental health problems, one of them being treating people in their own environment (ambulantization). The other two are focus on recovery and personal direction and the provision of digital care and prevention. The queen discussed the protocols co-developed by the GGZ NHN, the Integral Family Teams Youth, and the Recovery Supporting Intake.
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The mother-of-three also discussed the deployment of family team by the institution which focuses on families themselves instead of focusing on the various aid organisations involved. These teams try to help families with multiple complex problems, such as addiction, parenting problems, and psychiatric complaints. The Integral Family Teams put the family at the centre of care and provide them with multiple complex requests for help by putting together a large network of support for their patients, "such as family, neighbours, school, sports and the municipality."

Dick van der Vlugt, a mental health expert at GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord, later released a statement on the hospital's website to speak about the "special" visit by the queen, reports Royal Central.

Praising the 49-year-old royal, Vlugt wrote: "She knows what she is talking about and is involved. She asked specific questions about what recovery is, what the difference is between a normal intake and a recovery support intake, and how someone with depression, for example, should seek help. It was really special!"

Marijke van Putten, one of the hospital's psychiatrists and conversation leaders, also took to its Facebook page to praise the Dutch royal for her working visit. "There is still a stigma on mental problems and the fact that the Queen shows interest in mental healthcare helps to make mental problems negotiable," Putten stated.