Bridgetown, Barbados, May 7, 2024.- A total of 30 mental health professionals from 18 Caribbean countries and territories will participate from May 7-10 in the first Caribbean-focused QualityRights workshop, with the aim of catalyzing positive changes in mental health services throughout the territory. caribbean QualityRights is a global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve the quality of care provided by social and mental health services and promote the human rights of people with mental health problems and psychosocial disabilities, intel intellectual or cognitive. It offers a new approach to mental health care that is rights-based and recovery-oriented.
The training of trainers workshop has been organized by PAHO’s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health and the Subregional Coordination Program for the Caribbean using the Quality Rights framework to train mental health professionals and stakeholders to become leaders and advocates in their local contexts. Among the participants, several of them are directors of psychiatric hospitals, psychiatrists, people with lived experience, psychiatric nurse psychologists, counselors, social workers and advocacy organizations. Prior to attending this training, participants completed the WHO-QR e-training, which provides an opportunity to gain exposure to various components of rights-based mental health services and recovery.
About the WHO QualityRights Initiative
Strong leadership and good governance for mental health are the foundation for establishing and supporting effective, sustainable and equitable mental health systems and services. Good governance should include the design and implementation of national policies and laws for mental health and substance use that are evidence-based and aligned with international human rights instruments.
Unfortunately, poor quality care and human rights violations are common in mental health services worldwide. Reports from many countries have highlighted the considerable violence, abuse and coercion that occurs in these settings, including forced admission and treatment, as well as the use of seclusion and restraint.
QualityRights is an innovative evidence-based framework from the World Health Organization for improving the quality of mental health services using a rights-based approach. QualityRights aims to improve existing mental health services by reorienting services from a purely biomedical approach to a holistic, comprehensive and participatory approach that values and emphasizes empowerment, autonomy, recovery and integration to family and community.
Dr. Taraleen Malcom, welcomed the cohort on behalf of Dra. Amalia Del Riego, PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean countries: As we embark on this training, we seek not only to build capacity but also to foster a new mindset where respect, dignity and advocacy they replace stigma and discrimination. This training is a critical step forward in our commitment to uphold the highest human rights standards in mental health and empower those affected by mental health conditions.
The Director of the PAHO/WHO Caribbean Subregional Program, Mr. Dean Chambliss, stated: This initiative challenges us to rethink traditional approaches and adopt a rights-based, recovery-oriented model of care. It asks us to look beyond the status quo and implement practices that truly respect people’s rights and meet their needs.
Dr. Renato Oliveira, head of the Mental Health Unit, highlighted the link between this workshop and the equity and rights-based approach of the new Mental Health and Suicide Prevention strategy and with recommendation number four (4) focused on guaranteeing human rights. of people living with mental health problems from the New Agenda for Mental Health in the Americas report developed by the High-Level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19.
The specific objectives of the workshop are:
- Capacity Building: Empowering participants to take a rights-based approach to mental health care, emphasizing recovery, legal capacity and freedom from coercion.
- Policy Awareness: Improve awareness of mental health laws and policies in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- Continuous training: Foster continuous professional development and the exchange of knowledge among mental health professionals.
- Strategic Insights: Inform future strategies and implementation pathways for countries based on insights gained from QualityRights training.
- Collaborative approach: Foster collaboration between stakeholders to drive improvements in mental health services, laws and policies.
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