UHWI puts lived experience at centre of Mental Health Week

THE University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) is putting the voices and experiences of people affected by mental health challenges at the centre of its Mental Health Week, launched on Monday by the hospital’s Department of Psychiatry. The launch brought together members of the UHWI leadership team and representatives of departments across the hospital as the institution began a weeklong programme of discussions, wellness activities and public engagement. Mental Health Week is being held in observance of World Mental Health Day, recognised annually on October 10, and is guided this year by the global theme, ‘Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change’. Dr Clayton Sewell, head of the Department of Psychiatry at UHWI, said the theme challenges health-care providers and the wider society to think more carefully about whose voices are included in conversations about mental health. “Too often, we talk about people experiencing mental health challenges instead of talking with them. Their experiences provide insight that clinical training alone cannot, and those voices have an important place in how we think about care, recovery, and the support people need. Mental Health Week gives us an opportunity to listen, challenge some of the stigma that still surrounds mental illness, and keep mental health as part of the wider conversation about health and well-being,” Sewell said. The programme will culminate today, World Mental Health Day, with a family forum and health fair from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm — providing another opportunity for families and the wider community to engage in conversations around mental health and well-being. At UHWI, the Department of Psychiatry provides inpatient and outpatient mental health services across a range of specialities while also supporting the training of medical and other health-care professionals through The University of the West Indies. The week was also intended to keep conversations about mental health going beyond the clinical setting, with patients, families and the wider community part of that discussion.