Briefing Note Purpose
To announce the formation of a Mental Health Project Group and to seek expressions of interest for involvement in the group.
| Date created | 10 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Action | Seeking expressions of interest |
| Status | Open |
| Disposition | Awaiting expressions of interest |
| Feedback by | 31 December 2025 |
Several countries have raised concerns regarding the quality and resulting usability of mental health disorder content within SNOMED CT. This feedback was provided during various meetings and discussions at the October 2025 business meeting in Antwerp, including the Member Forum Content Quality in Practice workshop, and the CMAG business meeting. More details on the nature of these issues are available in the October CMAG meeting minutes, specifically under the item “Quality of Mental Health Content.”
In response, SNOMED International proposes establishing a Project group to conduct a comprehensive review of the content, then aligning it with best practice standards, and implementing enhancements to ensure its overall quality is significantly elevated.
Although the work will be coordinated with SNOMED International, this initiative will be led by member countries as a sub-project of the Mental and Behavioural Health CRG. The group will comprise subject matter experts and representatives from participating National Release Centres, together with a SNOMED International Senior Terminologist.
The Task and Finish Group’s scope of work will encompass several key areas regarding mental health disorders:
-
Project Plan Development: Clearly define the boundaries of the mental health work with development of a project plan.
-
Content Review: Analysis of the existing disorder content related to mental health.
-
Change Identification: Determine necessary revisions, taking into account the requirements of various members, such as the need to consider the usage of ICD-10, ICD-11, and/or DSM 5 within countries.
-
International Authoring: Collaborative authoring of the identified changes on the international platform, with final review by a SNOMED International Senior Terminologist.
Guidelines for the project plan and expectations of an external author are detailed in Requirements of external editors of the SNOMED CT International Release.
Please submit expressions of interest to Monica Harry by 31st December 2025.
Please also share this information with your mental health SME’s whom you feel may be interested in contributing to the work.