Stakeholders advocate increased awareness of mental health

Kisumu,

Wednesday, October 4, 2023,

KNA by Elsie Otieno and Rolex Omondi

A consortium of organizations has lined up various programs to create awareness of mental health in Kisumu County in a build-up to the UN International Mental Health Day to be marked on October 10.

Kenya Counseling and Psychological Association (KCPA) Secretary General, Monica Achieng, speaking during a stakeholders’ committee meeting said preparations are in top gear to hold the celebrations at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH).

Achieng said that they have a stakeholders’ committee whose focus is to create awareness and work on convening the celebrations.

“We have people who will do a lot of screening on the ground to identify those who are affected and find a way of helping them. Similarly, we have counselors, psychologists, first-aiders who have been offering psychosocial support from 1st October,’’ explained Ms Achieng who is also the Director of Vision Wellness Organization.

The screening within Kisumu County is going hand-in-hand with awareness creation, a brainchild of SMART DAPPER. It is being undertaken at the Kisumu County Referral Hospital (KCRH), JOOTRH, Lumumba, Migosi, Railways, and Nyalenda health facilities.

“The awareness creation would be through posters, including traditional posters and digital posters and radio talk shows, to inform on mental health and the WMHD,’’. stated Dr Faith Maina, a psychiatrist based at the Kisumu County Referral hospital.

To effectively serve the patients, the Awareness Creation Committee divulged that the focus would be on Health Care Workers' Mental Health Screening, as their well-being is a crucial resource to the community.

The organizations have also informed that they will host a Pre-World Mental Health Day on October 9 by visiting the mental health illness patients based at the KCRH.

Ms. Achieng further pointed out that they will spend a good time with them to know the problems they are facing, and will also donate items like soaps, toothpaste, and sanitary towels. She noted that mental health disorders like stress, anxiety, and depression are some of the issues affecting people which can result in mental illness and some disability.

“When a patient is affected the relatives don’t want to associate with them and sometimes they are abandoned or just neglected,’’ Ms. Achieng cautioned.

Loice Akinyi, the Kisumu County Mental Health Champion and human rights activist concurred with Ms. Achieng’s statements and said mental patients must be handled with care.

“I am appealing to the patients to take drugs as per the doctor’s instructions because they have a lot of side effects. We urge those affected and infected to come on board to help prevent the illness before it occurs to our children and other people,’’ said Ms. Akinyi who is a survivor of mental health, illness, and disability.

On stigmatization, the organizations reiterated that they are passionate about mental wellness and will go out to destigmatize those who are affected.

She said that there is a need to accommodate and support anyone who is suffering from mental health and try to make life easier for them.

The stakeholders’ engagement forum conducted at the KCRH brought together representatives from the Kenya Red Cross, TINADA, Ogra Foundation and Cloud Tone Ample Ventures Sustainability among others. 

Courtesy; KNA