Mental health model of care programmes after the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Before the tsunami, there was no systematic training provided for General Practitioners (GPs) and nurses in issues related to mental health and psychosocial support in times of disasters. After the tsunami, the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia in Jakarta was contracted to organize a special two-week intensive training programme on basic psychiatry for 13 GPs from Banda Aceh Mental Hospital. To improve the nursing practice, a Professional Nursing Practice Model (MPKP) has been piloted in two wards in Banda Aceh Mental Hospital. This is a model of best practice for nursing care and management in an open ward system developed by the School of Nursing group and implemented in several mental hospitals in Indonesia. Basic training of GPs located at the primary healthcare level is being carried out based on the existing Ministry of Health curriculum for GPs. It covers 14 conditions listed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Primary Care classification and has been conducted in 11 tsunami-affected districts. Currently, a total of 169 GPs have been trained. In general, there is an increasing interest among primary care doctors in mental health. Currently, community mental healthcare is provided in 11 districts in Aceh and two districts in North Sumatra by 277 Community Mental Health Nurses (CMHN) who have received basic training. Two thousand six hundred and two cases of serious mental disorders (mostly chronic psychosis) have been detected and treated by the CMHN and the doctors in Primary Health Centres (PHC). CMHN can provide a vital link between patients in the community and doctors in PHC. Two years after the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh, psychosocial intervention should continue and mental healthcare should be made available not only at Banda Aceh Mental Hospital, but also general health services, including PHC services.