Action for Community Treatment Services Foundation (ACTS Fund), a local Nongovernmental Organisation (NGO) dealing with mental health in Uganda, last week held a workshop during which they launched a Mental Health and Psychosocial Training Manual for Teachers and Other Stakeholders.
The training manual was created in line with ACTS FUND technical assistance of providing comprehensive mental health and social services in community-based settings, enhancing and transforming teachers and administrators’ mental health and psychosocial support services skills development.
The workshop was attended by among others officials from the Ministry of Health and District Health Officers (DHOs) from six districts across Uganda.
Following the successful exercise, ACTS Fund has since unveiled a report about the workshop, revealing the reasons that prompted them to develop the Mental Health and Psychosocial Manual for Teachers and Trainers and why it is very important.
Compiled by Samuel Kimbowa, one of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support experts from ACTS Fund, the report is as follows;
Background
In response to increasing mental health problems due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among learners and teachers in the education sector, ACTS FUND has come up with a manual that will be used by educators and other key stakeholders in the promotion of mental health in the school community.
The workshop attracted officials from Ministries of Health and Education, as well as district and local government officials within education, health and gender matters from the central region.
The workshop took place for two days, from December 8th to 9th, 2022, at Okla Hotel, along Balintuma Road, in Mengo, Kampala.
The content of the manual was presented by Mr. Samuel Kimbowa, who is a Child and Adolescent Mental Health specialist and who played a pivotal role in the development of the manual.
Aims & Objectives
The main aim of the workshop was to seek views from participants on the relevance and appropriateness of the information contained in the manual, as well as contribute ideas that would further enrich the manual so that it is culturally adapted for Ugandan schools. The content shared during the workshop tackled 3 major areas that include:
• Educator Wellbeing, Mental Health and psychosocial support, Child Development and promotion of Mental Health in Schools
• Psychological First Aid for Schools (PFA-S)
• Addressing Mental Health Problems in Schools
It was agreed during the workshop that educators will undergo a 3-day training process to acquire the knowledge and skills that will be used to support their mental well-being and that of the learners that they educate. The trained educators will thereafter also train other trainers, as well as ambassadors for mental health in particular schools.
Outcome
The officials were pleased with the presentation made by ACTS FUND.
Many officials realized the importance of supporting both the learners’ and educators’ mental health.
Several participants reported that there was a great need to curb the increasing rates of mental health problems among children and adolescents, which educators and parents had witnessed or received through several reports in their districts.
A number of valuable contributions were also made by the officials during the workshop, which will in the future be used to enrich the training manual.
Participants
The workshop was facilitated by the Executive Director/Founder Mrs. Kibuuka Diana Nakirigya, Country Director ACTS FUND Salongo Kabuye Enoch, and Dr. Kimbowa Samuel.
The guest of honor was Dr. Hasfwa Lukwata, the Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Ministry of Health.
The main contributors were Mr. Nsamba Saidi and Ms. Kyogabirire Ziporah from the Guidance and Counselling Department and Mr. Nkakwa John from the Teacher/Tutor, Instructor Education and Training (TIET) Department, Ministry of Education and Sports.
About ACTS Fund
Action for Community Treatment Services Foundation (ACTS FUND) is a non-profit making organization dedicated to innovations in mental health and scaling up solutions to improve access to mental health care.
In a bid to achieve their mandate, ACTS FUND partners with the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Ministry of Health, and through this partnership, the organization has managed to rehabilitate several girls who were dropped out of school after they were impregnated during the COVID-19 lockdown, many of whom are now back in various schools around the country.
ACTS Fund has so far registered several beneficiaries of their rehabilitation programmes in districts like Wakiso, Mukono, Mpigi, Kalangala and Gomba districts.
ACTS FUND is currently implementing a pilot project for Improving awareness and provision of mental health and psychosocial support services for children and adolescents through teachers and other stakeholders in Schools in six districts of Uganda.