Project name: Mental Health Center of the General Hospital in Prague for people with addictive disorders

Project start date: 1. 5. 2026
Project completion date: 30. 4. 2027
Project budget: 5,437,286.40 CZK
Registration number: CZ.03.02.02/00/25_103/0007190
Project implementer: General University Hospital in Prague
Project guarantor: Mgr. and Mgr. Lenka Šťastná, Ph.D.

Project brief:

The General University Hospital in Prague received Challenges No. 103 Establishment of mental health centers Operational Programme Employment plus financial resources for the project "Mental Health Centre of the General Hospital in Prague for people with addictive disorders".

The aim of the project is to establish and operate a Mental Health Center for People with Addictive Disorders (CDZ) at the Clinic of Addiction Medicine of the General Hospital in Prague, as part of the ongoing reform of mental health care in the Czech Republic. The CDZ will provide outpatient, field and community services to clients with addictive disorders, linking the health and social components of care into one functional unit.

The aim of the CDZ is to provide:

1) Comprehensive treatment-rehabilitation and crisis services tailored to the needs of clients, including the provision of long-term support in the form of case management. 4 basic areas of professional assistance will be offered or mediated - psychiatric (including the work of a psychiatric nurse), addiction, psychological, social.

2) Treatment-rehabilitation, crisis services offer comprehensive support to people with addictive disorders, especially in the form of field work, which allows maximum adaptation to the individual needs of clients in their natural environment. Furthermore, support in managing risky situations, especially those that increase the likelihood of returning to addictive behavior. Workers work with clients to recognize risks, find alternative coping strategies and strengthen protective factors, with the aim of reducing the negative impacts of addictive behavior and supporting the long-term stabilization of the client in his natural environment.

3) An essential part of the CDZ's activities is cooperation with other actors in the community. The service is naturally connected to a network of health, social and public institutions that participate in supporting people in adverse life situations. In the field of health care, the CDZ closely cooperates with general practitioners, psychiatrists and other specialists. It also includes addiction services. Cooperation with components of the integrated rescue system, connection to crisis services, cooperation with authorities, the police, social and legal protection of children, and a wide range of social services in the region are important.

CDZ-AMT emphasizes the prevention of hospitalizations, shortening their duration, supporting the reintegration of people after long-term hospitalizations, and maintaining clients in their natural environment. The project is designed to cover the gaps between existing outpatient and inpatient services, respond to the complex needs of the clientele, and bring an effective, sustainable, and accessible model of community care for people with addiction disorders in the capital city of Prague.

The implementation of the project will create a fully functional CDZ for people with addictive disorders in Prague, which will provide integrated health and social services to people with addictive disorders.