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Institution

Type of organisation

Governamental/Public-national

Institutional presentation

The services of the Psychiatric Hospital have been established with the purpose of seeking to improve the quality of life for person with mental health disorders and mental health problems. It is a 24 hr run institution which can cater to five hundred and forty clients. It is the lone mental health care institution in Barbados and is governed by the Mental Health Act Cap 45. The Vision Statement of the Hospital states it is geared towards facilitating community based care empowering families and communities through education and enhancing quality of life. The Mission Statement : To provide for the Barbadian public with a mix of high quality mental health services with special emphasis on community- based education , prevention and treatment of metal illnesses in order to reduce the need for institutionalized care.

Direct beneficiaries

• Experimental drug users
• Drug users
• Problematic drug users
• Women presenting problematic drug use
• Homeless
• Dually diagnosed (comorbid)
• HIV/AIDS
• Specific drug users – Sex workers, Pregnant teens, Institutionalized persons (prisoners), School-age at risk youth, Out of school youths...

Target population activities

• General population

Objective of the centre/ services

The objectives of the Drug Rehab Unit is to help individual understand how addiction and other factors have contributed to a quality of life characterized by unmanageability and destructiveness. It serves as a life in recovery free from the effects of alcohol and other drugs dependencies.

National coverage

The Drug Rehab Unit has national coverage and caters to adolescents and adults alike who suffer from the disease of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Co-occurring disorders.

Intervention framework

Intervention types

• Prevention
• Treatment
• Social integration
• Penal system interventions
• Risk reduction
• Harm reduction

Intervention framework for Prevention

• School/secondary education
• University/Tertiary education
• Community
• Public events
• Family
• Work place

Intervention framework for Treatment

• Support groups
• Medical-assisted substitution (Methadone or other substitution programme)
• Dual diagnosis treatment
• Internment/in-patient
• Outpatient/diurnal/outpatients clinic
• Treatment groups (relapse prevention)

Intervention framework for Social integration

• Housing support
• Employment support (writing applications/ opening bank accounts/providing references)
• Education support

Intervention framework for Penal system interventions

• Prison
• Community
• Family

Intervention framework for Risk reduction

• Interventions on prevention and health education
• Community based programs (network, social inclusion…)
• Public health intervention (provision of HIV screening or basic health intervention eg for diabetics)

Intervention framework for Harm reduction

• Psychotherapy for harm reduction
• Prevention and management of overdose (distribution of naloxone)
• Distribution of hygienic injection material (syringes and other paraphernalia)
• Distribution of paraphernalia for smoked consumption (pipes, aluminum foil)
• Distribution of paraphernalia for inhaled use (cigarettes, rollers, etc.)
• Community-based programs (networking and territory work, social inclusion)
• Street approach programs (brigades, peer work, extramural health education)
• Basic assistance services (showers, food, laundry, etc.)

Activities

• Support
• Coodination
• Promotion
• Health education
• Training
• Information
• Family & socio-educational intervention
• Personal & socio-educational intervention
• Guidance
• Distribution of material
• Awareness
• Early Intervention/detoxification
• Telephone hotline
• High threshold outpatient treatment
• After-care, social reintegration, halfway houses

Description of the main activities