UHWI puts lived experience at centre of Mental Health Week

According to Jamaica Observer (General News), THE University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) is putting the voices and experiences of people affected by mental health challenges at the centre of its Mental Health Week, launched on Monday by the hospital’s Department of Psychiatry. The launch brought together members of the UHWI leadership team and representatives of departments across the hospital as the institution began a weeklong programme of discussions, wellness activities and public engagement. Mental Health Week is being held in observance of World Mental Health Day, recognised annually on October 10, and is guided this year by the global theme, ‘Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change’. Dr Clayton Sewell, head of the Department of Psychiatry at UHWI, said the theme challenges health-care providers and the wider society to think more carefully about whose voices are included in conversations about mental health.