Health Ministry helps raise mental health awareness

The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and non-profit organisation CreateBetterMinds organised Paint De Town Green for World Mental Health Day 2018.

This expo, held on the Brian Lara Promenade, Independence Square in Port of Spain, saw lines of people seeking more information on the importance of maintaining mental health, and ways of detecting mental illness.

The theme for this year, "Young people and mental health in a changing world," saw the organisers taking a fun approach to presenting information, and booths such as that of the Office of the Prime Minister included information on a parent skills training programme.

Mental health planner at the Ministry of Health Karline Brathwaite said, "This is the start of something new and amazing, with a host of stakeholders. It was something birthed by CreateBetterMinds who approached the ministry. and we helped them in co-ordinating this mental health awareness campaign." Brathwaite said the ministry seeks to break the silence around mental health by getting people to talk about it.

"The hope is to get people excited about taking care of their mental health and themselves overall.

"We have teamed with both public- and private-sector stakeholders at the event, providing information on where services in TT can be accessed, especially for children and teens."

Manager of the Mental Health Unit at the Ministry of Health Ashvini Nath said the ministry is happy to collaborate with CreateBetterMinds. PAHO and the other stakeholders to join the international community in bringing attention to mental health.

"This collective advocacy is something we hope will keep growing, so we can engage private and corporate TT. We want Paint De Town Green in the work places next year. This is the start, but this is just the start."

Nath said she sees a growing awareness regarding mental health.

"If you look in the newspapers, especially within the past few weeks, almost daily there has been some mention of mental health. This is a reflection of what is happening in the country – we are becoming more aware of it, and the ministry intends to support this wholeheartedly."