Kingston, Jamaica, August 15, 2023 (PAHO) – After completing the Problem Management Plus (PM+) training, a cohort of 210 community members is better equipped to offer mental health support to persons in their communities. The programme is a collaborative effort between PAHO and the Ministry of Health and Wellness. It is designed as a wellness intervention to help people in communities manage a range of emotional problems.
Developed and rigorously tested by the World Health Organization, PM+ is a scalable community intervention programme that uses a problem-solving approach to help people manage adversity and everyday challenges by engaging and equipping community members with the tools needed to offer support to other residents who may be struggling to cope.
Speaking at the recent graduation ceremony held on Thursday, August 10, 2023, at the Summitt Business Centre in Kingston, Ian Stein, PAHO/WHO representative for Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, emphasized the intrinsic value of mental health well-being for creating and maintaining healthy and happy communities and societies.
"Life has taught us that in times of distress, the support and solidarity with communities are fundamental to our self-care. I commend those of you who have answered the call to freely giving of your time to meeting the mental health needs of your family, friends, and neighbours," he said.
Keynote speaker and Government Senator, Dr. Sapphire Longmore, leveraged her expertise as a mental health practitioner to emphasize the critical need for accessible health services to enhance mental wellness at the community level.
Dr. Longmore praised the timeliness of the initiative, noting, "There is a great need for this type of intervention because we know that people are undergoing stress and we live in a culture that is predisposed to trauma and violence."
Since its inception, PM+ programme has trained over 162 providers and 48 supervisors from over 20 faith-based and community-based organisations. Successful participants received certificates of completion, with four singled out for special awards for their outstanding achievement. Additionally, PAHO donated forty tablets valued at $J4.2M to assist with the data collection, monitoring, and evaluation processes.
