On the morning of July 1st, 2014, the Research and Training Center for Community Development (RTCCD) held a conference to end the project “Women with Deviance Approach in Mental Health Care” at Phu Ly city, Ha Nam Province. This project was sponsored by Canada through the Grand Challenges Canada organization.
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The conference welcomed 70 honorable guests including Canadian Ambassador David Devine, Professor Dao Van Dung, Head of the Social Affairs Department, Communist Party Commission of Popularity, Prof Le Gia Vinh, Vice-President of Vietnam Medical Association, Prof Le Vu Anh, President of Vietnam Public Health Association, representatives from the People’s Committee of Ha Nam Province, the Provincial Department of Health, the Provincial Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the local governmental agencies of Tien Ngoai Commune where the project was implemented, and the members of the Mental Health Support Groups.
The conference presented the results of the project one year after its initiation. The results were presented in 3 main areas: (1) there is significant improvement in the quality of life of people with mental disorders including living conditions, mental and physical health, legal basic rights, access to community activities and violence & abuse against people with mental illness; (2) the skills of the women in the Women’s Union in facilitating the mental health support groups were enhanced, especially in mental health knowledge and supportive supervision skill; (3) the stigma against people with mental disorders in the community decreased remarkably . At the conference, Canadian Ambassador David Devine spoke highly of the project. He praised the uniqueness of the project and the idea of emphasizing the role of women in taking care of people with mental health in Vietnam. After the conference, all the guests recognized the importance of the role of informal mental health care in the Vietnamese healthcare system, especially taking care of people with mental disorders. Community-based mental health care is a sustainable and cost-effectiveness solution for increasing the quality of life of people with mental disorders in resource-constraint countries. The workshop participants also reached an agreement on maintaining mental health support groups in the project commune and scaling-up the model in Hanam province.
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