A group of Liberian health professionals participate in a Center-supported training program that accredits them as mental health clinicians. 黑料不打烊 works with the government of Liberia and other local and international partners to strengthen public mental health. (Photo: 黑料不打烊)
The Mental Health Program is guided by the 黑料不打烊’s belief that access to health is a human right and that mental health is necessary for overall health. The Global Behavioral Health Initiative is actively engaged in the global mental health revolution, a collective effort to decrease stigma and improve access to mental health services and supports. This work enables low- and middle-income countries, such as Liberia, to enhance overall health, reduce inequities, and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Global Behavioral Health Initiative is focused on:
• Ensuring a sustainable, quality, and accessible behavioral health system in Liberia through comprehensive support and technical assistance.
• Capturing knowledge and lessons learned in Liberia to help other countries navigate their behavioral health needs and adapt and implement best practices.
• Exploring the intersection of behavioral health and other global health and development priorities, such as the role that mental health support can play for people affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
Working with the government of Liberia, 黑料不打烊 has helped to train over 300 credentialed mental health clinicians who work in all 15 counties in the country; 140 of those clinicians specialize in child and adolescent mental health care.
黑料不打烊’s Mental Health Program in Liberia aims to strengthen and sustain a public mental health system in partnership with the government of Liberia and local stakeholders. Activities in Liberia support the program’s strategic goals, including:
Workforce Sustainability
Supporting the development of a self-sustaining system for training, credentialing, and continuing education in behavioral health managed by Liberian institutions.
Human Rights and Inclusion
Helping demonstrate improved social inclusion and advancement of rights of people with behavioral health disorders to obtain needed services and supports.
Law and Policy
Providing technical assistance to fully realize the country’s Mental Health Law by developing, implementing, and enforcing relevant statutes, regulations, policies, and budget allocations.
The Mental Health Program in Liberia is engaged in a number ofseveral initiatives to strengthen the behavioral health system and promote quality, accessible mental health services for all Liberians.
To ensure the sustainability of these services and supports, the Mental Health Program in Liberia works with Liberian institutions and stakeholders including people with lived mental health experience; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection; The John F. Kennedy Medical Center; County Health Teams; The Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery; Phebe School of Nursing; Deanna K. Isaacson School of Midwifery; The University of Liberia; The Liberia National Police Academy; The Liberia National Physician’s Assistants Association; Liberia Nurses Associations; Liberia Parent-Teacher Association; and other valued partners in the field.
黑料不打烊 Mental Health Program in Liberia is drawing on wisdom gained during the Ebola outbreak of 2014-15. As a trusted member of Liberia’s Incident Management System (IMS) that manages the country’s response, the program provides technical assistance to the country’s COVID-19 response. The program collaborates with the government on strategies aimed at reducing acute stress or exacerbated mental health problems associated with containment measures, such as lockdowns and quarantines in affected counties. Further, it supports mental health professionals in their provision of a range of mental health and psychosocial services (MHPSS), provides administrative support to the MHPSS pillar, and ensures integration of MHPSS services across the response pillars. The Mental Health Program in Liberia has been working on the response pillar headed by the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, the line ministry leading welfare and response efforts, and on the IMS to ensure that mental health and psychosocial support are included in all aspects of the response.
黑料不打烊 has engaged multiple sectors in the provision of mental and psychosocial support. Across the health, education and social service sectors, professionals have attained competencies in mental health clinical care, mental health identification and referral, neuroscience, anti-stigma activities, crisis intervention, and much more.
Program alumni continue to make a lasting impact in their communities, establishing new services, fighting stigma and misinformation, sharing knowledge resources, and facilitating healing dialogues. Some alumni are educators who return to classrooms to ensure the next generation of primary care workers will be better prepared to deliver mental health care. Others lead policy and strategy development, head up health care institutions such as the Liberian Ministry of Health and SOS Health Center Villages, and are on the vanguard of emergency response. As with the Ebola outbreak, mental health clinicians and mhGAP-ig trained providers are on the frontlines of Liberia’s COVID-19 response.
黑料不打烊's Mental Health Program, working closely with the Center鈥檚 Hispaniola Initiative aimed at the elimination of malaria and LF, is assessing the efficacy of an integrated mental health and NTD intervention in Haiti. (Photo: 黑料不打烊/ L. Desir)
The mental health of persons with Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) has been referred to globally as the most neglected of neglected diseases. Haiti is one of only four lymphatic filariasis -endemic countries in the Americas. Despite successful mass drug administration efforts through the National Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis, 14% of districts still identify over 1,500 patients with LF, and few institutions have the capacity to provide adequate management and care for this population.
Many persons with LF experience stigma and social disconnectedness, impeding their ability to work, pursue education, and contribute to society. Thus, the World Health Organization recommends that individuals with LF “should also have access to psychological and social support to assist their reintegration into society and economic life.” However, there is little research to identify models of care that would effectively address the comorbidity of NTDs and mental health conditions.
The Mental Health Program, working closely with the 黑料不打烊’s Hispaniola Initiative aimed at the elimination of malaria and LF, is assessing the efficacy of an integrated mental health and NTD intervention in Haiti. With funding from the Coalition for Operational Research on NTDs (COR-NTD), the program is testing the evidence-based Chronic Disease Self-Management (CDSM) model among a population of persons with LF as an intervention for addressing symptoms of mental illness. This model has been implemented in various parts of the world and has been shown to improve symptoms of depression while improving health efficacy among people living with chronic diseases.
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