Photo courtesy: PAHO

Join us on Wednesday, April 17, 20234, at 11:00 a.m. (EST) for the webinar Restructuring and Scaling up Mental Health Care for Impactful Change, an event to promote a community-based mental health approach.

The event will incorporate insights and recommendations from key documents such as the World Mental Health Report, “Transforming Mental Health for All,” focusing on Chapter 7, titled “Restructuring and Scaling Up Care for Impact,” the “WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030”, and aligning with the six strategic lines of action outlined by PAHO to improve mental health and suicide prevention in the Region of the Americas. This initiative particularly resonates with the first strategic line, “Build mental health leadership, governance, and multisectoral partnerships, and integrate mental health in all policies,” as well as the second line, “Improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of community-based services for mental health conditions and support the advance of deinstitutionalization.”

Objectives:

1. Highlight the opportunities that exist in communities to expand access and coverage to comprehensive mental health services.

2. Facilitate the exchange of experiences in the field of community mental health, including people with lived experience as health professionals.

3. Share the resources available for developing a community-based mental health service that protects and promotes human rights in mental health.

REGISTER HERE

 How to participate

• DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 2024
• TIME: 11:00 A.M. (EST) [check the local time in other cities at the end of this page]
• LANGUAGES: English and Spanish with simultaneous translation.
• REGISTRATION: https://paho-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ADLcbtWoSpimiU17chRYUA#/registration

 Context

The unmet mental health needs in the Region of the Americas are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, deeply impacting the health, social, and economic well-being of those affected, as well as their families, friends, and communities. In the realm of mental health, individuals with psychosocial disabilities often lack access to services that respect their rights and dignity. Consequently, individuals frequently express dissatisfaction with current services, as they often fail to meet their needs or provide necessary support for leading fulfilling lives in their communities, leading to feelings of hopelessness and disempowerment.

With the aim of enhancing care quality and safeguarding the rights of individuals with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities, intellectual or cognitive impairments, the PAHO/WHO will be hosting the webinar series “Foundations for Change in Mental Health in the Americas” throughout the year 2024. The first webinar will focus on restructuring and expanding community-based mental health care, understanding that transforming mental health entails strengthening community care for all those in need. This involves an integrated approach, moving away from psychiatric institutions and integrating mental health as an essential component of primary health care.

 Agenda

It will be available soon.

Time in other cities

• 8:00 a.m. – Los Angeles, Vancouver.
• 9:00 a.m. – Tegucigalpa, San Salvador, San Jose (CR), Mexico City, Managua, Guatemala City, Belmopan.
• 10:00 a.m. – Bogota, Panamá City, Kingston, Lima, Quito, Washington D.C., Havana, Nassau, Ottawa, Port-au-Prince.
• 11:00 a.m.  –  Caracas, Port of Spain, La Paz, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Georgetown, Bridgetown.
• 12: 00 a.m. – Asunción, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Santiago, Paramaribo.
• 5:00 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid.

For other cities, check the local time in the following link.

  care, Mental health