A three-day workshop aimed at building awareness and understanding in the law enforcement community of individuals living with mental illness began on Wednesday.
The workshop, which is as a result of collaboration between the Mental Health Unit of the Health Ministry and Canada’s Dalhousie University, has drawn participation from the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Fire Service, the Guyana Prison Service and several other government agencies.
Participants are expected to focus on initiating the development of a ‘Crisis Intervention’ care pathway in Guyana, incorporating a mental health curriculum for law enforcement.
The curriculum will target increased awareness of mental health needs and problems within the law enforcement workforce as well as community. Participants will also work towards establishing a distance collaborative support and mentorship programme between Dalhousie Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team and the Guyana Collaboration through the use of technology.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Shamdeo Persaud, at the opening session which was hosted at the Ocean View International Hotel, said that the activity was long overdue, since many countries have already started such work.
“Mental health is a global problem… it’s a challenge and many other countries have been working to develop programmes that will reach these needs,” he stated.
Persaud explained that mental health is one of the greatest causes of disability and emphasised that it extends beyond the “regular mad person on the street.”
“It goes to the state of mind in which a person is and that is causing them not to perform and not to deliver and even causes them not to enjoy life, which may lead to depression and those sorts of things… when we talk about mental health, we are not only talking about the person living on the streets. There are lots of other conditions,” he emphasised.
The CMO pointed out that the law enforcement officers have been experiencing mental illnesses and the issue needs to be addressed. He added that a more comprehensive approach is needed when dealing with these persons and such matters and as a result, the collaboration is an excellent one.
“This is the platform to launch a comprehensive programme to address the needs of persons within law enforcement.
We are talking about people who simply lie, steal, they have underlying mental issues,” he explained.
Already, he highlighted, the Ministry of Health has been involved in discussions with the Guyana Prison Service about health issues such as the transmission of diseases which can be considered a stepping stone to rectifying these problems.
Also addressing the forum was Mental Health Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Health Dr. Sonia Chehil, who is in her seventh year working in Guyana with the Ministry of Health. “Every year it gets more challenging but it is also more rewarding with every year,” she affirmed.
According to Chehil, great strides have been made in the sector with one tangible piece of evidence which she identified as the involvement of various sections of the law enforcement community. “In this room, we have so many people from law enforcement and health sitting and talking about issues. Seven years ago, this wouldn’t have happened. This is a great achievement,” she suggested.
Chehil stated that the health sector cannot pursue such a project independently and as a result she was pleased to see such co-operation among the agencies. “Health alone can’t solve the issues.
It will take all of you. We have met with human services, the prisons, the fire service and so on and the response has been overwhelmingly positive,” she noted.
While the workshop will not solve all the issues, Chehil said work will begin first with the completion of a model.
“There is an enormous amount of stress in the law enforcement… seeing all that they do and still having to be professional and not over emotional… to be the beacon of strength for everyone else. This tells on you after a while and it’s had effects on them,” she noted.
Chehil highlighted that it was former Commissioner of Police Henry Greene who had approached them and inquired whether or not the health sector can provide any services that will help the law enforcement team in this regard.
“Step one will be to introduce the mental health curriculum to help them build resilience to deal with stress and step two will be to build curriculum to help them acquire the tools they need to help persons who they encounter who are dealing with stress. It will be about how the law enforcement, human services, prisons and health form a collaboration to help the people they serve,” she said.
Additionally, Chehil noted that the programme must be sustainable. “It must be embedded in the organisational structures… Nova Scotia, Canada will be able to support through teleconferencing, videoconferencing and occasional visits,” she assured.
Called upon to make brief remarks was Director of Prisons Dale Erskine, who noted that it is very important that the Guyana Prison Service be a part of the process.
“We need a model, something systematic to be put in place that will recognise and help treat persons. I welcome such an initiative,” he stated.
