Comprehensive community approach to mental health in La Libertad

Abstract

In 2015, five Mental Health Community Centers (MHCC) where inaugurated at two provinces (Trujillo and Virú) and two Districts (Florencia de Mora and El Porvenir) in La Libertad Region. Seventy healthcare professionals who were qualified to deal with mental health matters, family abuse and violence, among other activities, were deployed at these establishments and worked in conjunction with the Local Goverments and the Regional Healthcare Administration. Over a three-year long period, we have obtained results such as increased earlier diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses that were usually left as screening findings prior to 2015, improved access to mental healtchare to vulnerable groups at high risk of family abuse and mental illnessess, improved sectorization and family visits, and increased coordination with community leaders and local institutions to provide better education regarding mental illnesses. Moreover, this also helped us establish the self-helping groups in coordination with the family of patients undergoing mental illnesses or victims of family abuse.