The National Mental Health Programme Team in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has collaborated with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) to launch an educational programme to promote mental health and wellbeing in Qatar.
The ‘Ma’ak’ National Mental Health and Wellbeing initiative is designed to provide education and awareness programmes targeting different population groups and aims to reduce stigma attached to mental health conditions.
Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of the Public Health Department MoPH said: “Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Qatar’s population is high on the agenda for the Ministry of Public Health and our healthcare partners. Both the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 and the Public Health Strategy 2017-2022 identify mental health and wellbeing among their key priorities.”
Mahmoud al-Raisi, executive chair of the National Taskforce on Mental Health & Wellbeing and Chief of the Continuing Care Group at HMC said: “Mental health awareness is an important aspect of a comprehensive national mental health and wellbeing strategy for the population. The Ma’ak programmes will help improve understanding of mental health conditions and facilitate easier access to healthcare services for those in need.”
The first sector addressed by the programme is education. Both HMC and PHCC have developed education materials for schools that have been distributed over the past few months.
Dr Samya Ahmad al-Abdulla, deputy national lead for Mental Health for MoPH, and executive director of operations at PHCC, explained: “We launched the PHCC Back-To-School campaign, under the slogan of 'Towards Promoting Students' Overall Health’, in August, with the aim of reaching a wide segment of the community, including students of all ages, their parents and all public-school employees.”
“We also have a team of PHCC professionals visiting schools to provide valuable information about the importance of and advice on maintaining good mental, behavioural and psychological health as part of overall good health. Our goal is to empower students physically, psychologically, mentally and behaviourally as they embark on a new academic year,” added, Dr al-Abdulla.
HMC launched the Ma’ak National Mental Health and Wellbeing schools’ programme in October as part of the World Mental Health awareness activities. A series of free webinars covered a range of educational materials for different audience groups within this sector, including school children, parents, teachers, and school administrators.
Future educational sessions will be offered during the school term. Some of the curriculum for schools will offer additional training modules based on the World Health Organisation Mental Health in schools’ programme. Schools that wish register their interest in participating in future educational sessions on mental health and wellbeing can send an email to [email protected]
Iain Tulley, MoPH national lead for Mental Health and Wellbeing, and CEO of the Mental Health Services at HMC, added: “The Ma’ak programme brings together expertise from a group of dedicated partners to facilitate open discussions about potential psychological concerns among different population groups and raise awareness about where to seek professional help. The schools’ program is the first Ma’ak programme to be established. Our goal over the coming year is to develop other programmes that target different population groups and their respective mental health needs.”
The Ma’ak National Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme taskforce is chaired by Iain Tulley and currently includes representatives from the MoPH, HMC and PHCC. Operationally, the programme is under the Kulluna umbrella, which is co-sponsored by ConocoPhillips Qatar.
The ‘Ma’ak’ National Mental Health and Wellbeing initiative is designed to provide education and awareness programmes targeting different population groups and aims to reduce stigma attached to mental health conditions.
Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of the Public Health Department MoPH said: “Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Qatar’s population is high on the agenda for the Ministry of Public Health and our healthcare partners. Both the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 and the Public Health Strategy 2017-2022 identify mental health and wellbeing among their key priorities.”
Mahmoud al-Raisi, executive chair of the National Taskforce on Mental Health & Wellbeing and Chief of the Continuing Care Group at HMC said: “Mental health awareness is an important aspect of a comprehensive national mental health and wellbeing strategy for the population. The Ma’ak programmes will help improve understanding of mental health conditions and facilitate easier access to healthcare services for those in need.”
The first sector addressed by the programme is education. Both HMC and PHCC have developed education materials for schools that have been distributed over the past few months.
Dr Samya Ahmad al-Abdulla, deputy national lead for Mental Health for MoPH, and executive director of operations at PHCC, explained: “We launched the PHCC Back-To-School campaign, under the slogan of 'Towards Promoting Students' Overall Health’, in August, with the aim of reaching a wide segment of the community, including students of all ages, their parents and all public-school employees.”
“We also have a team of PHCC professionals visiting schools to provide valuable information about the importance of and advice on maintaining good mental, behavioural and psychological health as part of overall good health. Our goal is to empower students physically, psychologically, mentally and behaviourally as they embark on a new academic year,” added, Dr al-Abdulla.
HMC launched the Ma’ak National Mental Health and Wellbeing schools’ programme in October as part of the World Mental Health awareness activities. A series of free webinars covered a range of educational materials for different audience groups within this sector, including school children, parents, teachers, and school administrators.
Future educational sessions will be offered during the school term. Some of the curriculum for schools will offer additional training modules based on the World Health Organisation Mental Health in schools’ programme. Schools that wish register their interest in participating in future educational sessions on mental health and wellbeing can send an email to [email protected]
Iain Tulley, MoPH national lead for Mental Health and Wellbeing, and CEO of the Mental Health Services at HMC, added: “The Ma’ak programme brings together expertise from a group of dedicated partners to facilitate open discussions about potential psychological concerns among different population groups and raise awareness about where to seek professional help. The schools’ program is the first Ma’ak programme to be established. Our goal over the coming year is to develop other programmes that target different population groups and their respective mental health needs.”
The Ma’ak National Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme taskforce is chaired by Iain Tulley and currently includes representatives from the MoPH, HMC and PHCC. Operationally, the programme is under the Kulluna umbrella, which is co-sponsored by ConocoPhillips Qatar.
