Management of mental disorders: Health actors strengthen their capacity in the Cascades

This training course is part of the “Mental Health for All” project, implemented by OCADES Caritas Banfora and funded by the NGO CBM Global. This involves strengthening the capacity of the Banfora Regional Hospital Centre and the regional team of the Cascade Regional Health and Public Health Directorate. This is to enable them to manage mental illnesses and provide psychosocial support to the population in need. During this five-day training, the training will focus more on the introduction of the mhGAP guidelines, an action plan by the World Health Organization to fill the gaps of non-professional mental health personnel, aiming to strengthen their skills in dealing with mental illnesses.

Participants in the Mental Health Training of Trainers workshop in Banfora

Awa Sawadogo/Ouedraogo is a health officer at the Directorate for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases and head of the Unit for the Prevention and Control of Disabling Diseases. She is also the trainer for this workshop. According to him, this session will discuss several modules that will benefit the participants, including “Responses to stressors”, “Depression”, “Psychosis”, “Mental and behavioral disorders in children and ‘adolescents’ and the use of psychoactive substances'” Disorders’. “The focus will be on comprehensive care of the patient, taking into account all aspects to give the patient a new lease of life, and most importantly respecting their dignity and rights,” she stressed.

Trainer Awa Sawadogo/Ouédraogo explains the modules provided during the workshop

Mental health, a global concern

Mental health is deteriorating worldwide, and Burkina Faso is not far behind. According to the World Health Organization, in 2019, one in eight people worldwide suffered from a mental illness. In Africa, 10% of the population suffers from a mental disorder, with high prevalence rates. This makes these conditions the leading cause of morbidity and disability worldwide. For the NGO CBM Global and its partner OCADES Caritas Banfora, social support is important to promote the social reintegration of people with mental illness. That is why they favor the involvement of community stakeholders in the implementation strategy of their Mental Health for All project.

Viewpoints of this issue’s trainers (communicators)

Indeed, the goal of CBM is to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, enabling them to reach their full potential and live a meaningful life, just like everyone else. People with mental health problems and psychosocial disorders often feel ashamed, suffer from stigma or have difficulty benefiting from quality mental health services. Therefore, CBM Global’s approach is to focus on strengthening existing mental health systems so that people can easily benefit from affordable and high-quality care locally. This is the motivation for financing the project called “Mental Health for All” implemented by OCADES Caritas Banfora.

Father Abraham Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the OCADES Caritas Banfora Parish, presents the objectives of the “Mental Health for All” project

According to Father Abraham Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the OCADES Caritas Banfora diocese, the project begins in early 2024 and lasts four years. He recalled that the training, which took place from 18 to 22 June, was part of the implementation of the project’s activities. “It is important to point out that OCADES has been working in community rehabilitation since 2017. That is, we have some interest in the situation of young people with disabilities. Therefore, we were approached by the CBM, which allowed us to be more open in our actions in terms of disability,” he said.

According to him, OCADES only intervenes in movement and hearing disorders, but has no expertise in mental disorders that affect people’s mental health. “That is why the training of men from the regional health department provides us with expertise to go to the grassroots and help people with mental illnesses and their families who suffer indirectly from them,” said Father Abraham Zebo. The workshop aims to improve care and overall support for people with psychosocial disorders.

Family photo of workshop participants

Welcome to this training…

Abdoul Aziz Ouédraogo, the Cascades Regional Director of Health, who attended the training and encouraged participants to master the modules that will be made available to them, welcomed the initiative of the workshop. He expressed his gratitude to OCADES and CBM Global for taking the opportunity of this meeting. He said that this training is a training of trainers. The latter will be empowered so that they can also train other health workers in different health centers. Therefore, after these capacity building, these actors will be able to take care of all those who suffer from mental illness. “This is about bringing mental health care as close as possible to the people, even those who are far away,” he said.

Abdoul Aziz Ouédraogo, Cascade Region Health Director, welcomed the workshop initiative

Moreover, he is happy about the progress of the training because, he says, “these are authorized people who provide the training. We have actors from the central level, mental health experts, but also experts from the regional level. Therefore, the participants will be truly equipped to care for people with mental disorders,” he is happy.

Romuald Dauphiny

Lefaso.net