The implementation of the National Mental Health Plan is expected to get a boost this month from the participation of six members of Dalhousie University International Psychiatry Section Colla-borative, the Ministry of Health said in a press release yesterday.
And over the next few days the ministry envisages the establishment of a post-graduate diploma programme in psychiatry for physicians;
a clinical internship programme, a psychiatric nursing programme, a community mental health worker programme and a patient care assistant programme, the release stated.
Involved in the Guyana Mission from June 19-25 are Dr Sonia Chehil, Director, International Psychiatry Section; Dr. Matthew Morgan, Lecturer, Depart-ment of Psychiatry; psychiatric nurse specialists Sandra Hennigar, Susan Charlton and Loretta Whitehorne, who are all RNs, in addition to Dr. Arlene MacDougal, Senior Resident, Psychiatry.
The release also stated that during this mission three components of the Strategy for Health Human Resource Development in Mental Health will be addressed.
The release identified the mission objectives as site visits to the National Psychiatric Hospital, Berbice, and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation Psy-chiatric Department as part of an environmental scan and situational review.
The mission is also aiming to present the draft post-graduate psychiatry diploma programme curriculum for review by key stakeholders as well as the Ministry of Health and then to have a review and adaptation of the document.
Moreover, the mission is expected to present a revised post-graduate psychiatry diploma programme curriculum for consensus approval; and the draft nursing psychiatry programme curriculum for review by key stakeholders and the Ministry of Health.
Another mission objective is the evaluation of the current resident placement and development of the clinical and academic goals and objectives for the next senior resident placement.
Human resource development in mental health has been identified as one of the ten priority areas of action in Guyana’s National Mental Health Strategy 2008-2012, the release added.
