Problem management workshop gets underway -to help boost local mental health capacity

Jul 18, 2017 News

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Aimed at empowering those who have been rendering some level of support to persons vulnerable to mental health problems, a strategic training workshop got underway at the Georgetown Marriott Hotel yesterday.
The five-day Problem Management Plus [PM+] training workshop represents a collaborative move between the Ministry of Public Health, the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation [PAHO/WHO] and the Loma Linda University of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The workshop is being facilitated by Dr. Carolina Osorio, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry at the Loma Linda University.
Dr. Osorio credentials include training in Psychiatry in India, training in Mental Health in Colombia and a great deal more of training in the United States.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop yesterday, Dr. Osorio shared that she is passionate about the mental health of people for many different reasons.
“Culture for me is extremely important and even though I am here to teach you some skills, I am here to learn from you…to learn from the Guyana culture,” Dr. Osorio said. This, according to her, will translate to the modification of some case studies so that they apply to the Guyanese setting.
Those who will benefit from Dr. Osorio’s pedagogy are social workers, psychologists and health education officers, among others.
Delivering the feature address at the ceremony, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, said that the workshop is both appropriate and timely as it comes at a time when the Ministry is addressing treatment gaps in the public health care setting and scaling up mental health services provision.
Moves in this regard were fast-tracked on the heels of the United Nation in 2016 launch of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]. Number three of the goals, which are slated to be achieved by 2030, speaks to good health and wellbeing.
“We are to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all, at all ages,” said Dr. Cummings as she turned her attention to target number four [of the Number Three SDG] which states that “by 2030 we are to reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention, treatment and promotion of mental health and wellbeing.”
Target number five [of Goal number three] on the other hand, emphasises the need to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse including narcotic drugs abuse and harmful use of alcohol.
Minister Cummings said yesterday that “the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Public Health, has a firm resolve to achieve Sustainable Development Goal number three by 2030.”
She related that aspects of Sustainable Development Goal number three and its fourth and fifth targets are in fact reflected in the Ministry of Public Health’s vision 2020. One of the strategic action plans for mental health highlighted in the Ministry of Health Vision 2020 Strategy, is to improve the quality, appropriateness and responsiveness of mental health services in Guyana. This includes the provision of an appropriate comprehensiveness range of therapeutic hospitals and community based treatments with a focus on rehabilitation and recovery from mental illness and distress.
According to Minister Cummings, the Ministry of Public Health has established a Mental Health Unit to aggressively address mental health issues that occur in the population that are significant cause of disability, reduced quality of life and decreased productivity in the Guyanese populace.
As such the Public Health Minister asserted that “the goal of the Ministry of Public Health is to decrease the burden of mental illness and its devastating effects on individuals, families, communities and the society through improved mental health services delivery by highly skilled and trained public health professionals.”
The training, according to Minister Cummings, is a low intensity psychological training intervention for adults who are impaired by distress and dwell in communities where they are exposed to adversities such as loss of family, friends or livelihood, sexual violence, among others.
Dr. Cummings added, “Individuals who experience adversity generally reside in impoverished circumstances where they lack social security, access to basic services and opportunities to improve their livelihood which places them at increased risk of developing both mental health and social problems. Such individuals need to have access to mental and psychological support and intervention.”
The Problem Management Plus intervention is a two-part programme that involves problem management and problem solving counselling or problem solving therapy. This intervention addresses feelings of helplessness, and practical problems such as family conflicts said Minister Cummings.
She added, “This programme is focused on individual assessment and interventional sessions but with the consent of the client may be extended to include family members or friends. This programme was not created to diagnose mental health problems but may provide relief for emotional problems such as anxiety disorder.”

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