Social Workers from the Public Health Ministry’s (MoPH) Mental Health Unit along with psychologists and health education officers, among others, are currently being trained in the Problem Management Plus [PM+] module, aimed at addressing problem management and solutions, as a part of boosting the delivery
Junior Public Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings
of quality health care.
The five-day training workshop is a collaboration between the Public Health Ministry, 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 received psychiatry training in India, the United States and Colombia.
The Problem Management Plus Training intervention is a two-part programme that involves problem management, also referred to as problem solving and counselling. It addresses both psychological problems and practical problems and the programme is focused on individual assessment and interventional sessions. However, this programme was not created to diagnose mental health problems but provide relief for emotional problems.
In delivering the feature address, Junior Public Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings said the training is part of the Ministry’s health vision. “This includes the provision of an appropriate range of therapeutic hospitals, community-based treatments with a focus on rehabilitation, recovery from mental illness and distress,” she said.
The MoPH established the Mental Health Unit, as part of the Health Vision 2020, to aggressively address mental health issues that occur within population while decreasing the burden of mental health issues and its devastating effects through improved mental health service delivery.
The Minister said the training workshop is both timely and appropriate since it comes at a time when the Ministry is addressing treatment gaps in the public health-care system and scaling up mental health services provision.
“The Problem Management Plus Training is a low intensity psychology training for adults who are impaired by distress and dwell in communities where they are exposed to adversities. Individuals who experience adversities generally reside in impoverished circumstances where they lack social security, access to basic services and opportunities to improve their livelihoods which place them at increased risk of developing mental health and social problems,” she said.
The programme addresses both psychological problems and practical problems and is focused on individual assessment and interventional sessions. However, with the patients’ consent, the interventional sessions may include family and friends. The Problem Management Plus Training also teaches individuals that the mental, psychological impacts can be reduced through intervention so that they do not turn to other means such as alcohol and suicide as coping mechanisms.
“The advantage of this manual is that the training can be undertaken by a wide range of individuals who have not been professional mental health-care givers. It will facilitate the psychological support and intervention needed in affected populations, especially in hinterland regions,” Minister Cummings said.
The manual was developed by the WHO. The manual describes a scalable psychological intervention for adults impaired by distress in communities who are exposed to adversity. Aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) have been changed to make them feasible in communities that do not have many specialists.
To ensure maximum use, the intervention is developed in such a way that it can help people with depression, anxiety and stress, whether or not exposure to adversity has caused these problems. It can be applied to improve aspects of mental health and psychosocial well-being no matter how severe people’s problems are.
