JNC, WHO Discuss Activating Role Of Local Mental Health Nursing

Amman, Sept. 23 (Petra) -- The Jordan Nursing Council (JNC), in cooperation with the World Health Organization's (WHO) Jordan office, held a specialized dialogue session Tuesday to discuss activating the role of nursing in mental health services, particularly in primary health care.

Experts, specialists and representatives from the health, academic and professional sectors took part in the event, aimed to identify gaps, challenges and opportunities and produce practical recommendations for decision-makers.

Talking at the dialogue, JNC Secretary-General Hani Nawafleh said the mental health file cannot wait for a crisis to receive attention, stressing the need to build capacity "proactively" and reach people before their suffering worsens.

To provide better services, he called for shifting from delayed response to prevention, early detection, intervention, follow-up and continuity of care.

Building the future of mental health requires developing policy, regulation, education, competencies and the workforce, Nawafleh said.

He urged action to empower mental health nurses to practice their actual role within primary health care amid growing demand for integrated, community-based services.

He noted that the council, led by Princess Muna Al Hussein, its president, has taken part since 2007 in national efforts to strengthen and reform the mental health system in cooperation with the Health Ministry and WHO, which contributed to achieving national plans, building nursing capacity, training specialized nurses, supporting community services and integrating mental health into primary care.

Meanwhile, WHO representatives called for health services, citing the National Mental Health and Substance Use Action Plan 2022-2026 and the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) as tools supporting the integration of mental health into primary care and investment in nurses' capacities.

The session addressed three interlinked areas: Policy and regulation; education, employment and workforce development; and the integration of mental health nurses into primary health care. It concluded with a set of recommendations presented by participants' expertise and field practice across mental health sectors.

Nawafleh said the value of the session "is not measured by the number of recommendations, but by their ability to reach the decision-making table and turn into actions that can be implemented, measured and followed up." He described the session as the first stage of a path from specialized expertise to policymaking, adding that: "We do not want recommendations that end up filed away; we want expertise that reaches decisions, and decisions whose impact reaches the field and the people." To follow up, the outcomes will be presented at a second dialogue session on Oct. 8, with the participation of policymakers and decision-makers, coinciding with World Mental Health Day.

This step aims to move the outcomes from specialized discussion into policies and measures that benefit patients, families and communities.

//Petra// NQ

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