On June 11, 2014 a consultation meeting on the National Mental Health Program final phase will be held at the Sonesta Great Bay with relevant stakeholders.
“I am extremely happy that we are at this stage with Mental Health, as we will be properly structuring mental care for the future of St. Maarten,” said Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever. “It is important to have the proper framework in place in order to move forward in a structural manner.”
St. Maarten is in the process of developing a National Vision on Mental Health including but not limited to psychiatric and addiction care. Collective Preventive Services was assigned to coordinate this effort of coming up with a Mental Health Vision for St. Maarten. From 2012 to 2014 several activities were executed at this moment.
During the PAHO-WHO Directing Council meeting in September 2012, Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever gave his approval that St. Maarten would carry out the World Health Organization (WHO) assessment tool for mental health systems “Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (AIMS)” that was utilized in St. Maarten in 2013. St. Maarten’s report was uploaded on the WHO website.
The results of the assessment provided baseline information and will be used to improve mental services on St. Maarten. During the workshop, all stakeholders will be informed that PAHO-WHO approved the WHO-AIMS report on Mental Health System in St. Maarten and its publishing on their website.
Since the finalization of the WHO-AIMS report on Mental Health System in St. Maarten, a National Mental Health Policy Plan and Methodology report was executed and finalized. This workshop will focus on the AIMS Survey, which was approved for St. Maarten, and a PowerPoint presentation will be made on the National Mental Health Policy Plan for the country and Methodology report in their final stage of development.
The workshop brings together persons involved in Mental Health Care on St. Maarten for the sharing of knowledge in formulating a solid mental health policy plan of action, methodology report and a National Vision/Mission statement for the field of mental health diseases. This final consultation round with all relevant stakeholders will be executed for a final mental health consensus, all documents will then be presented to the minister of health with concluding remarks.
