Honest conversation about mental health (HCAMH)

Location

Honest conversation about mental health is a community based initiative aimed at improoving mental health awareness issues at the grass roots in the community through the use of community owned resource persons who are better appreciated by the communities they serve. The organisation is registered with the local admnistrative authorities of Wakiso distict in Uganda, and the on-going activities planned by the group members are envisaged in the district strategic plans for mental health. The organisation has imparted basic mental health skills to members of the community through the use of training manuals, fact sheets which are translated in the local languagesand disseminated at community meetings or gatherings. This initiative has helped demistify mental illness which is heavily stigmatised in our communities, yet there are very few health workers to attend to mentally ill clients. Patient support groups for common mental disroders have been supported through which members can share their experiences and learn from each other on best lessons learnt. There have been efforts to link patients in the community with mental health related problems to appropriate health care systems. In this way the organisation will be able to monitor the burden of mental illnesses in this community and its impact on improoved social and economic livelihoods of the affected families. the organisation networks with related NGOs in the district for complementary delivery of health care services for mentally ill community members. Dissemination of information about the successes of the organisation to stakeholders and the potential for scaling up this initaitive will be engendered. The oganisation plans to raise funds for the sustainability of this initiative through income generating activities and resource mobilisation from the goverment and donor communities. Permanent infrastructure in terms of office space for the client activities is planned in the future. As resource become available a web based forum for the activities will be lauched.