Friday, October 10th was World Mental Health – a day to reflect on the mental health challenges faced around the world. According the World Health Organization:
Mental, neurological, and substance use disorders are common in all regions of the world, affecting every community and age group across all income countries. While 14% of the global burden of disease is attributed to these disorders, most of the people affected – 75% in many low-income countries – do not have access to the treatment they need.”
Like all HVO programs, the HVO Bhutan mental health project focuses on improving access and quality of care by teaching and training local health providers. Working at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNR Hospital) and the Royal Institute of Health Sciences, volunteer psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapistsand clinical social workers offer their training services to students and staff involved in mental health care.
Volunteers work directly with the care providers and students to assess their training needs and ensure the lessons they impart will provide mental health care skills that best serve Bhutanese patients. As a recent volunteer reported of his assignment:
…it is an unstructured placement that allows the volunteer to assess and shape the experience how he/she sees fit. I didn’t know exactly what my goals would be coming into the experience, but soon focused on teaching therapy skills to the Bhutanese counselors and based on their feedback, I can say confidently that I felt useful and that their needs as budding therapists were certainly met. I feel as though they are able to use to skills that I taught them to better treat their patients moving forward, and ultimately, I think that is what’s most important.”
Bhutan created its current national mental health program in 1997 with the objectives of integrating mental health into primary care and to help in improvement of general health care, undertake public education and reduce problems related to neuro psychiatric conditions and training of personnel. In addition to creating a national mental health program, Bhutan also created a national mental health policy based around the four tenets of advocacy, promotion, prevention, and treatment. However, the dearth of trained mental health professionals in the country has been a challenge to implementation of the policy and program.
HVO volunteers continue to work with local providers and students to help address this scarcity – assisting Bhutan in meeting its national objectives and improving patient access to the mental health care they need.