Gede trains Community Based Volunteers on the BasicNeeds Model

Gede became a BasicNeeds Franchisee in March 2016 (the first in Nigeria), and will implement a community based mental health development programme that seeks to address stigma and increases access to quality treatment and services for people suffering from mental illness, including epilepsy. 

Within the first quarter of this year, a number of preliminary activities have been carried out to ensure effective participation from all stakeholders including the Government of Nigeria.

Recently, 10 Community Based Volunteers within the two selected project locations were trained in Mararaba Health Facility on BasicNeeds’ community based mental health development model. 

The two day training allowed participants to understand the 5 modules of the model and how that contributes to the purpose of improving the lives of people with mental illness and epilepsy. Community Volunteers are central in the project and are expected to deliver the necessary support in all community-related activities within the project cycle.

The World Bank Group (WBG)/World Health Organization (WHO) Meetings April 13-14, 2016, Washington DC, USA

 Out of the Shadows: Making Mental Health a Global Development Priority

Plenary Panel Discussion: Mental Health in the Global Development Agenda: Challenges and Options

Suggestions on scale-up of mental health services drew from the example of the HIV campaign, particularly the importance of mental health activists who will knock on the doors of governments persistently, consistently, armed with evidence-based data. For many years, mental health has been like a stepchild, i.e., it is not like HIV, TB, or malaria. It lacks social mobilization and has been very much in the shadows. It has a long way to go, but again, drawing from the example of HIV, who would have thought 20 years ago that HIV treatment and care would be where it is now?

Civil society organizations (CSOs) with innovative, bottoms-up, service delivery programs are more likely to be successful.  WHO, investing on the mhGAP, urged international cooperation from all countries, not just high-income countries (HICs). According to ShekharSaxena, “when it comes to mental health, all countries are developing countries.”Vikram Patel predicts that technology will play a big role in the scale up and MuraliDoraiswamy believes that technology can help refine diagnosis, provide video platforms on life skills, and can be done with such organizations as Google, Microsoft, and Adobe.

Dr. Kay Jamison is optimistic about scale up given that the science is going well and so many families are affected by mental illness all over the world. There is still a need to agree on aspects of treatment, mood monitoring, and medication (e.g., non-psychiatrists prescribe antidepressants more than psychiatrists!). Nevertheless, the science is encouraging.

In summary, scaling up access to mental health following HIV-similar funding mechanisms means:

·         CSOs (and certainly people who suffer from mental illness) must push for access through the rights-based approach through evidence-based research. Currently, successes in mental health care are private while failures are public. It is time for successes and lessons learned from failures to be made public.

·         More effort should be placed on prevention at the community level. Mental health must be integrated with poverty alleviation programs.

·         Civil society organizations, individuals, governments, international organizations—not only the World Bank or WHO—have the responsibility to advocate for access to mental health care.

Why is access to mental health so important? What role does technology play in scaling up access? What will be the way forward for mental health now that the World Bank’s spotlight is focused on mental health?

I will share more insights in my future blogs.

Dr. Cynthia J. Ticao: Performance Director, Research & Advocacy

The World Bank Group (WBG)/World Health Organization (WHO) Meetings April 13-14, 2016, Washington DC, USA

Out of the Shadows: Making Mental Health a Global Development Priority

Opening Session and Plenary Panel Discussion: Mental Health in the Global Development Agenda: Challenges and Options

At the Opening Session on Day 2, everyone agreed about how great and historic the first day was – the first discussion ever on mental health at the World Bank headquarters! The morning started with a cool virtual reality documentary about ‘Francis’ whose life as a teacher was disrupted by mental illness, but was later rehabilitated after he was referred for treatment by a friend. As all participants were reminded by a number of panelists and by Dr. Margaret Chan on Day 1, behind the data are real people, so did this film.

And so did the keynote speaker, Patrick Kennedy, former member of the US House of Congress,and lead sponsor of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder and having struggled with alcohol addiction, he pushed to ‘make the scope of mental health coverage the same as all the rest of physical health care coverage’ in America.

Nine panel members discussed the challenges and options to including mental health in the global development agenda:

·         Vikram Patel (co-founder of Sangath and co-director of the Centre for Global Mental Health) believes integration can be done through a collaborative model of care;

·         Lawrence Gostin( O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law at Georgetown University) asked why we have done so well with HIV and done so miserably with mental health;

·         ShekharSaxena (WHO Director, Mental Health and Substance Abuse) echoed the same concern for the inclusion of mental health care and its role in disasters;

·         Kay Jamison (Dalio Family Professor in Mood Disorders and Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) emphasized the need for people who get well not to keep quiet because society does not see people who respond well—they only see those who do not do well and the importance of studying non-adherence to medication, particularly in young people;

·         MuraliDoraiswamy (Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University and Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Brain Research) pointed to three areas that need to be address—resilience in children, rehabilitation, and research involving public/private partnerships to understand illness and resilience;

·         AryehNeier (President Emeritus, Open Society Foundation) echoed the suggestion of others on Day 1 to use the rights-based approach in mental illness and disability;

·         AkmalTaher (Special Advisor, Ministry of Health of Indonesia) shared funding and stigma challenges in Indonesia;

·         Francesca Colombo (Head, OECD Health Division) underscored the problems of costs and treatment gaps, and espoused the importance of prevention and early intervention.

·         Phillip Campbell (Discussion Moderator and Editor-in-Chief of Nature) reemphasized the point raised by Dr. Margaret Chan at the high-level meeting on Day 1, i.e., teachers and parents have an important role to play in prevention and early detection. Many innovative strategies are being tested globally. He asked the question, “How can we scale up?”

Follow my next blog!

Dr. Cynthia J. Ticao: Performance Director, Research & Advocacy

CHILD MENTAL HEALTH-GETTING IT 'RIGHT'

Gede's Managing Director has written about the importance of culturally validating mental health tools for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. Check out his article at this link

GEDE at the World Bank Group /World Health Organization Meetings- April 13-14, 2016, Washington DC, USA

A historic event in mental health took place today. WBG and WHO are ‘co-hosting a high-level event to bring mental health from the periphery to the center of the global development agenda.’ For participants who have, for many decades, worked towards access to mental health care, particularly for the poor and marginalized sectors of society, this occasion was a dream come true.

Why would WBG be interested in mental health, one wonders. Poverty reduction, one of WBG’s mandates, will be difficult to achieve without mental wellness. The Bank is challenged by the fact that many government leaders turn a blind eye to mental health issues because of the stigma attached to it. But, WBG can now argue that based on the most recent volume of the Disease Control Priorities (DCP3) published and launched at the event today, “investing in treatment for depression and anxiety leads to a fourfold return.”

The Innovations Fair showcased promisingtreatment pathways that addressed common and severe mental disorders within the cultural contexts of the countries where they were conducted.Representatives from leading organizations, such as BasicNeeds, The Friendship Bench, MANAS, University of Ibadan/EMERALD Project, StrongMinds, Thinking Healthy, shared not only the creative ways that they have addressed mental health problems, but also their passion and their enthusiasm to find ways to improve people’s mental health.

At the high-level opening session Dr. Jim Yong Kim, WBG President, delivering the keynote statement, announced his commitment for the integration of mental health into the primary health care system; Dr. Margaret Chan (WHO Director-General) emphasized that inclusion of people with mental illness in the communities, Dr. Arthur Kleinman (Harvard University) emphasized that current evidence shows mental illness to be treatable, important, and cost effective; William Morneau (Canada’s Finance Minister) shared his country’s emphasis on workplace standards; Mustapha Kaloko (African Union Commissioner) enumerated the challenges faced by African countries; Alan Bollard (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation/APEC Executive Director) shared best practices from countries like Peru; and Jen Hyatt strongly recommended the use of technology in mental health.

I am very fortunate to have attended today’s events, to share (and to be inspired by) the enthusiasm and the passion of fellow researchers and advocates who continue to bring light into the lives of people who live under the shadow of mental illness.

Watch out for more blogs about the meetings!

 - Dr. Cynthia J. Ticao – Performance Director, Research & Advocacy -

THE WORK BEGINS

The two-year Project (March 2016­ – December 2017) between Gede Foundation and BasicNeeds is designed to scale-up community based mental health and development services for people with mental illness and epilepsy in the Federal Capital Territory and Nasarawa State. The Project seeks to improve the wellbeing of 1000 people with mental illness and epilepsy along with 800 of their carers. The Project targets both the general population and those living and affected by HIV-AIDS.

To ensure that the communities selected are the most appropriate, a simple yet rigorous selection strategy was developed and used in order to gather the necessary preliminary information. Communities such as Kabusa, Shereti, Durumi, Mpape and Mararaba were selected based on population size, socioeconomic profile, estimated mental health burden and the status of the mental health management systems within the prospective communities. The community entry finally led to the selection of two communities, namely: (1) Mpape (Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory) with an estimated population of over 500,000 people, and, (2) Mararaba (Karu Local Government Area in Nasarawa State) with an estimated population of over 200,000 people.

The next phase will be to capacity build Community Volunteers, Community Health Workers and other relevant stakeholders in these locations on their roles in the project.

Kindly visit this page for regular information on the Project.

Civil Society Organizations on Mental Health Meet at Gede

A group of major Civil Society Organisations whose focus is on mental health met under the umbrella of Global Awareness on Mental Health Associationon March 29, 2016 to draw up plan of activities for the year. Members were nominated into Executive positions, which will see the Coalition run its affairs. The various positions will allow the Coalition to be more focused in achieving its advocacy goals which include having a ‘voice’ and promoting the rights for those with mental illness.

“We are glad to see thelegal framework   andExecutive positionsput in place, so we are set to work and move theCoalition forward ’-says Emmanuel Osemeka, National Coordinator, Social Welfare Network Initiative.

The Coalition was formed with the support from Gede Foundation through its regular Mental Health Dialogue Programme. With over 54 membership strength, mainstreaming mental health into various health needs, as well as advocacy will stand a better chance through this platform.

Mental Health and Mental Illnesses-The Affliction of the Fragmented Mind.

Many communities believe there is a clear dissimilarity among mental illness and psychological health but awfully often the dissimilarities are misinterpreted. Mental illness refers to adjustments in thinking, behaviors or emotions that create suffering and impaired functioning for the person concerned. Mental illness is frequently a consequence of biological changes in the brain. We can determine psychological health by more than the absence of mental illness, however, if an individual is not depressed, and does not have hallucinations or delusions they are probably not mentally ill, but that does not mean they are unavoidably psychologically healthy.

Mental health and mental illnesses are progressively being used as if they mean the same thing-but they are not the same. Everybody has mental health; the same way as each person has health. As the World health Organisation has said “There is no health without mental health.” During a lifetime, not everyone will experience a mental illness, but everybody will have challenges to their mental welfare. Mental health therefore refers to our cognitive and emotional welfare, that’s how we think, feel and behave.

Paranoia hallucinations, emotional withdraw. For a mental illness victim everyday life is a strange and terrifying journey. The symptoms represent what we know best about the illness- but what we don’t know is the reason why the symptoms have manifested themselves. Understanding the variation is significant since some people may think their distress is a result of a mental illness, which maybe a psychological health problem. Mental health illness affects both young men and woman and hassentmany of them into the state of endless mental agony. Mental illness is the affliction of the fragmented mind and wellbeing of our mental health. I always labeled it as the destroyer of a human spirit.

Written by

Obi Chukwuemeka Innocent PhD. Cand. RP.

UNICEM’S OVC PROGRAMME-STAKEHOLDERS’ REVIEW MEETING

Gede’s partnership with the United Cement Company Ltd (UNICEM) in Cross River State to support Orphans and Vulnerable Children in 10 rural communities started in 2013. Every year, the scholarship support programme is reviewed to add value to the services provided.

This year’s meeting aimed ataddressingissues that matter most in the secondary school scholarship programme such as achievements, performance, challenges, new ideas for effectiveness and a plan for 2016/2017 academic session.

The meeting had over 100 participants including School Principals, Teachers, Students, Community Trust Committee Members, Special Assistance to the Governor on Corporate Social Responsibility, Representative from the Ministry of Education, UNICEM and Gede’s Zonal Representative. 

The Plant Manager, Mr. Therry Teriere in his speech welcomed all participants into the meeting and stressed the need for beneficiaries to take advantage of this support to lay foundations for a productive life.

 A detailed presentation showing the performance index of students (covering academic sessions of 2014 and 2015), health outreach activities carried at community schools, challenges in the project and recommendations for project efficiency was presented by Gede Foundation.  The meeting ended with a plan of action for 2016/2017 which included expanding the support package to cover community-youth-empowerment programmes,  infrastructural support to community schools and more engagement  with School Authorities for sustainability.