#Kingston, November 8, 2019 – Jamaica – The Ministry of Health and Wellness is partnering with the Ministry of National Security on a range of interventions aimed at strengthening support for persons behind bars who suffer from mental illnesses.
Health Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher
Tufton, made the disclosure at the launch of a
research paper on incarcerated persons with mental illness, dubbed ‘Through the
Cracks’, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Regional Headquarters in
St. Andrew on Wednesday (November 6). He
said the measures include employing additional mental health staff to address
the psychosocial issues of offenders as well as providing early diagnoses and
treatment of those who become mentally ill while incarcerated.
He noted
that the Ministry is looking into training correctional officers in the management
of the mentally ill as an interim measure until a full cadre of mental health
staff, including psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nursing aides, is
in place.
In addition, coordination will be established with
the appropriate parish community mental health teams to ensure close monitoring
and follow-up care after sentence is served and during the probationary period,
to prevent reoffending. Dr. Tufton said
that recommendations have been made for the provision of alternatives to
incarceration for non-violent persons, primarily with substance use and/or
psychiatric disorders.
“These
programmes may include Drug Treatment Court, Mental Health Court, Case
Management and Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams on which some work has
already begun,” he indicated.
Dr.
Tufton said the report of the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and
Sustainable Development, published in 2018, points out that incarcerated
persons are included in the vulnerable populations at increased risk of having
mental health problems.
“This
makes it especially important for us to enhance community mental health
services in line with the 2020 to 2025 strategic plan to provide comprehensive,
integrated and responsive mental health and social care while boosting resource
planning and stakeholder collaboration,” he said.
Through the Cracks is a comparative
research report on strategies to address the rights of mentally ill persons in
Jamaican prisons.
The research, completed by Stand Up
for Jamaica (SUFJ) in August 2019, was funded by the European Union through its
European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) country-based
support schemes in Jamaica and Belize.
Contact: Rochelle Williams
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton (left), engages with Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of the West Indies (UWI), Frederick Hickling (centre); and Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Jamaica, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska. Occasion was the launch of a research paper on incarcerated persons with mental illness, dubbed ‘Through the Cracks’, at the UWI Regional Headquarters in St. Andrew on Wednesday (November 6).
A. Walker Photo