The Social Services at MSP - Yamoussoukro

Today, I am presenting you the social services at our Psychiatric Hospital. Mr Rene, the social assistant, is our person of interest here, and he is the only staff member with a small office. Fortunately, he doesn’t complain about it. He knows, as well as all other staff members, that his office is not limited at the hospital. It is in the society, the villages surrounding the hospital, even out of the country's boarders. In the fact, he is the staff member with a big office! As he explains it, his job starts when the patient enters the hospital the first day. While the nurse follows the patient while in the hospital, Mr Rene goes beyond the hospitalization period and follows the patient even at home. Everyone knows him because he knows everyone.

At MSP, 95% of all hospitalized patients have social issues that necessitate a special attention toward their successful recovery. Most of the time, these patients come from broken families, poor families with no financial means to support the recovery process, or have problems related to employment and relationships. As a patient comes at the hospital, he is received first by the welcoming team which takes the preliminary information and prepares him for consultation. The social assistant works in concordance with the welcoming team to get the first glance of information needed to conduct his activities. After consultation with the psychiatrist, the patient is sent to the nursing team who takes over with different therapies or prepares him for hospitalization. It is when the patient is to be hospitalized that the social assistant starts his intense inquiries with the family and the patient. It is always crucial that the social assistant gets most of the information on the first day when the family members are present. In cases when no family member is available, as it happens sometimes, the social assistant relies on the information provided by the patient and other interviews done where the patient was found (in the city, market…). In the long run, most of patients provide reliable information that helps the social assistant to track their families and relatives. In other instances, after the first day, some families disappear from all contacts with the hospital. It is the role of the social assistant to do follow up in search for these families to remind them of their responsibilities.

It is always important to work with families throughout the period of hospitalization and to involve them in the therapies as much as possible so that the process continues even after the hospital. The analysis at MSP has shown that most of patients who get re-hospitalized are due to the failure of the family involvement in the after-care.

Every day, the social assistant is the last person to leave the hospital. Given the amount of responsibilities he has, he plays a crucial role in the recovery and rehabilitation of our patients. One thing he is proud of telling when you talk to him is the stories of his traveling when he goes to visit families of our patients even in places where there is no transport. How he goes there? It is his secret.
To get more of other services, don't miss our next article!

By Jean-Clement, RN, BSN

Hôpital psychiatrique St Vincent de Paul : Une main tendue aux malades errant dans la ville

A Yamoussoukro, les malades mentaux ne sont pas abandonnés à eux-mêmes. Sur un fond religieux, l’hôpital psychiatrique Saint Vincent de Paul leur ouvre les bras afin de les soulager et leur offrir une chance de retrouver une vie normale.

«Nos ressources sont limitées, vu que la plupart des parents ne paient pas, alors que nous ne pouvons pas abandonner un malade sans soins», commente frère Félicien. Il insiste sur le credo de l’institut : « Notre devise : Deus Caritas Est (Dieu est Amour). Notre joie, c’est de voir la population comprendre que la maladie mentale peut être soignée et qu’un malade mental est une personne…».
Lisez toute l'article ici

Ecrit par "Ousmane Diallo" à Yamoussoukro

Continuing Education at MSP

At MSP, every once a month, all the medical staff takes at least 2 hours of continuing formation in mental health. Thanks to Dr Diomande, the visiting psychiatrist at MSP, we get to discuss and get more of the mental health issues that we come across in our daily activities. This last Friday, the 20th August, the theme of the discussion was on “Psychosis and paranoid personalities”.

Continuing education is one of the objectives set up by MSP to make sure that all the staff is updated in both knowledge and skills needed to provide competent and professional care to our clients.

Two weeks ago, the 13th August, the team of ergo-therapy took the lead to expose to the staff the new schedule of their activities. At MSP, Ergo-therapy occupies an important role. It provides activities and therapies such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, rehabilitation, education, relaxation, etc. In the future, the team plans to involve actively parents and family of our residents for sessions and family therapy.

Click here for photos

Jean-Clement, fc
MSP Yamoussoukro

City of the "insane" or city of "hope"?

Coming at MSP during the day is like going to the moon. Probably you would say that you want to have the first ticket. “Going to the moon?” I would be the first too. Perhaps, it is not as really exciting as you would imagine. MSP is located outside of the city, a place where public transport is not accustomed to go, like to the moon…It makes sense. But this is not the moving part of the story. The first time I was taking the taxi from the city I asked the taxi-man to take me to MSP which is on the way to Oumé. The taxi-man seemed not to understand what I was saying. I thought that it was my “French” which was not understandable. So, I repeated the same thing, “I want to go to MSP, how much?” The guy looked at me and told me, “is it that place where they treat crazy people?” Grudgingly, I said, “yes”. From there I was able to discuss the price with the taxi-man without any problem. Since then I came to understand that MSP was publicly known as the “city of crazy people” or “where crazy people are being treated” (là où on soigne les fous). Hopefully, the taxi-man did not think that I was also a crazy man who wanted to go there for treatment; otherwise he would not have taken me.

In reality, when you leave the city during the night taking the road toward MSP, some miles before the hospital, what you see is an isolated type of city, surrounded by bright lights, in the center of a forest. As you drive along the road, no other light you see other than the ones at MSP. As you approach the city, you start seeing everything clearly: beautiful buildings surrounded by large gardens with lights everywhere. Only those who have been inside these buildings know what city it is all about.

Me, I call it the “city of hope”. This is the place where everyone who comes in goes out transformed. They call them crazy people when they come in, but you have to wait till they go out to see how joyful they are. This is a place where these individuals are given “back” what they have lost out there: dignity, ability, love, but mostly, hope. One resident who was admitted with suicidal ideation shared with us a week later that he was no more thinking about killing himself, because he was “loved more than he has been even at his own home”. He loved the care, the ambiance, the atmosphere, and the place. Being here, he realized the really joy of living. When his parents came to visit him later, they jumped with joy.

Yet, our “city of insane” as the public calls it, still has a long journey to go and challenges to surmount. The foremost is community sensitization. We want to spread the city of hope out of the walls of MSP. This hope that those who come at MSP go out with should be kept even when in the community. It is always devastating when we receive former residents who come back due to failure to carry on their hope. The most reason that is given is that the community was not compliant and supportive to their recovery. It is only when the community understand what its members are living that the stability of health can be achieved.

The MSP is elaborating a program to work with parents of our residents because they are the ambassadors of our mission. These are the individuals who understand the really challenges we face because they share them for the big the big part. Parents will be the first missionaries to bring out the message that what lies behind the walls of MSP is not a city of insane where “crazy people are treated”, but a city of hope where “individuals are given back their dignity”.

Jean-Clement Ishimwe, fc

Welcome

The MSP is glad to welcome its new personnel, Jean-Clement Ishimwe, who will be working as a nurse manager for the psychiatric nursing department. We wish him good luck in his service.

Akwaba!

Ergo-therapy

One of the challenges met at MSP is finding activities to keep the residents active and focused on therapeutic goals. At MSP, ergo-therapy plays an important role in fulfilling this role. Since the beginning of the hospital, ergo-therapy has been given an important place and it includes activities such as crafts, plays, and meetings. Lack of competent personnel in this area at MSP was one of the reasons why most activities were kept as ergo-therapy instead of being taken separately (this was the case of group therapy such as meetings).

During ergo-therapy, patients learn more than doing; they also learn how to be together, to form relationships, to take responsabilities, to have plans and dreams for their future, learn skills, and to be distracted from certain concerns that occupy their mind (hallucinations...).

On photos are some of the crafts that have been made by clients. These and other goods are sold when possible and the revenue received can be used to help clients start new projects once out of the hospital. It is important to mention that most of clients have been successful after hospitalization due to the skills learnt at MSP.

Mental Health services of the Brothers of Charity (part 2)

Specific traits of our mental healthcare model

1. Our institutes should be excellent
It is not just about providing care, but providing managed care in an excellent environment, with competent personnel.

2. The focus is on love, charity
Expertise is fine, but not enough - love is as important. Christian-inspired institutes should uphold love as their central value, the highest value lived in a radical way.

3. This love is given a specific hue among the Brothers of Charity because of their preferential love for the less privileged

4. All our commitment and care have but one aim: the promotion of man in all his facets
Mental healthcare by the Brothers of Charity employs a Christian vision on man, inspired by their values which are aimed at caring for the whole human person.

5. Together we can do much
The multidisciplinary model can be sustained only if all staff are ready to form a close-knit team. The Brothers of Charity believe strongly in it, basing themselves on the conviction that healthcare is a matter of concern for every caregiver and an area where everybody can actualize himself/herself fully.

Adapted from "Ethos", Brothers of Charity, 2006

L'O.N.G "Lumière et Vie" collabore avec la MSP à Yamoussoukro

L’O.N.G LUMIERE ET VIE est une ONG qui œuvre pour la promotion de la santé mentale et la réinsertion des malades en voie de stabilisation. Pour le lancement officiel de ses activités le samedi 13 mars 2010, elle a choisi le cadre de l’Hôpital Psychiatrique Saint Vincent de Paul de Yamoussoukro. La cérémonie, parrainée par le Père Jacques Kouassi (Curé de la paroisse Visitation de Yamoussoukro), a été honorée de la présence d’illustres personnalités dont Madame la représentante du Maire, Messieurs le représentant du Préfet de Région, le Directeur départemental de la santé, les chefs coutumiers (Baoulé, Wè, CEDEAO). Débutée aux environs de 10 heures avec l’arrivée des officiels, la série des allocutions a très vite emboité le pas au cours de cette cérémonie.

Pour Madame la représentante du Maire, cette cérémonie est un moment où seul le cœur s’exprime, une cérémonie qui vient à son heure pour nous rappeler combien l’amour du prochain devrait être quotidiennement au sein de nos préoccupations ; la solidarité agissante qui se manifeste derrière l’acte de cœur que pose l’ONG LUMIERE ET VIE mérite d’être salué à sa juste valeur.

A sa suite, le Directeur de l’hôpital psychiatrique, le Frère Félicien, a souligné qu’il s’agit d’une occasion pour louer le Seigneur et d’exprimer la gratitude de la congrégation des Frères de la Charité. Pour lui, l’ONG LUMIERE ET VIE se lance dans un travaille qui n’est pas facile. Mais avec Dieu tout est possible car il n’est pas rare de voir des anciens malades totalement restaurés. Remerciant toutes les entités qui lui apportent une assistance quotidienne, il estime en tant que Frère de la Charité, être dans le charisme de leur fondateur qui depuis 1815 a installé et développé un nouveau modèle de soin pour les malades mentaux, un modèle basé sur l’amour et la compétence et c’est cet amour qui est aussi développé au sein de l’hôpital psychiatrique Saint Vincent de Paul de Yamoussoukro. Chaque action envers le malade étant placée dans la perspective de la résurrection. Le malade revoit la lumière de sa vie, il revit.
Faisant l’historique de la création de cet hôpital, il mentionne qu’il est né de la volonté du district autonome de Yamoussoukro. Inauguré le 6 novembre 2002, il a commencé à recevoir les premiers patients dès le 2 janvier 2003. Cette maison dont la mission est d’accueillir les malades se fonde sur des personnes inspirées, formées pour guider les malades vers un avenir dans lequel ils peuvent trouver leur place dans la société. Et à travers le don que fait l’ONG LUMIERE ET VIE, elle se place aussi dans cette perspective de redonner vie aux malades.
Depuis son ouverture à la consultation jusqu’au 31 décembre 2009, 10306 patients ont été consultés.

CONTINUE LA LECTURE ICI

Jean-Clement, fc

Mental Health services of the Brothers of Charity (Part 1)

Mission of the mental health sector

The spirituality of the Brothers of Charity as realized in their care-giving for psychiatric patient is no monopoly of just the religious but a treasure in which all co-workers of this healthcare have a share. Therefore, the Brothers of Charity make great efforts to formulate their spirituality in order to see it lived together with their staff. Within psychiatric healthcare, we have done so recently so that the objectives and the mission of the Congregation in our time have been clearly delineated. This Mission Declaration runs as follows:

Moved by charity for the psychiatric patient,
we, working in the sector of mental healthcare of the Brothers of Charity,
want to deliver optimal services in an expert and inspired way,
in the spirit of our Founder, Peter Joseph Triest.
We care for acute and chronic patients,
indiscriminately of their origin, gender, or belief.
Moreover, we try to find feasible solutions for those who,
because of the inadequacy of the current facilities,
call on our care-giving.
We want to give the best possible care,
in a holistic way, to all patients.
We commit ourselves to making it financially feasible for every patient.
Together with the patients and their milieu,
we strive after the promotion of mental healthcare.
We want to reintegrate them with a lifestyle that suits them best.

We intend to spread this text among all our co-workers and to uphold it as a charter and guide for the future development of our care-giving. This text will also be an evaluation instrument for all our works in order to help reorient them if needed.

Extract from "Ethos" of the Brothers of Charity, 2006

Volunteering program at M.S.P

Volunteers are like a golden gift to our center because they give without measure, without any expectation of a return, and with a heart full of love. For some years, the MSP has encouraged the program of volunteering because it is part of our mission to increase awareness of mental health within the community. For the majority of the population, whenever one comes across a mentally challenged patient, the first reactions are that of resentment and avoidance. A mentally challenged individual is mostly characterized as “aggressive”, “dirty”, “untouchable”, and many other definitions you don’t want to hear now. So many ways have been tried to change this mentality. People may listen to lectures, read books and literatures, but there is no one best way of learning that can be compared with direct contact with the real world.

MSP welcomes volunteers of various ages, gender, responsibilities, and from across the world. Some of the activities that volunteers participate in are: ergo-therapy, sitting and talking with patients, playing games such as soccer, table games, and participating in various occupational therapy (OT) activities offered at the center. The majority of volunteers have been adults, some coming from religious institutes, others from the neighboring parish community such as prayer groups and scout troops. Our goal is to extend the program to target the younger population such as elementary and high school age population with the plan to instill mental health awareness at a younger age. In addition, we are planning to establish a permanent program for volunteers who wish to commit themselves for a longer period. YOU CAN BE ONE OF THEM. WE WILL BE GLAD TO HAVE YOU.

By Jean-Clement, fc

How it started...Historical background

It was about 10 years ago when the Brothers of Charity received an invitation from the local authorities to start a psychiatric facility in Yamoussoukro. It was uncommon to walk in the large roads of the city of Yamoussoukro without coming across a psychiatric patient rooming around either naked or wondering without anyone showing any concern or interest. Yamoussoukro is the political capital city of Cote d’Ivoire, located at about 150 miles (240 Km) from Abidjan, the economic capital city. Yamoussoukro is a rather quiet city compared to Abidjan. It is well known by its magnificent Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, the largest basilica in the world.

The Brothers of Charity were known to have a specialty in taking care of individuals with mental challenges. Due to the needs that were spotted in the area, the Brothers of Charity opened a psychiatric center to welcome those individuals that nobody cared for. This was on November 6th, 2002.

The center was named after Saint Vincent de Paul, a French priest and a founder of a religious congregation of the Sisters of Charity that take care of the sick and the abandoned. St. Vincent de Paul has also a special place for the Brothers of Charity being the Patron Saint of the Congregation. The used to be a bush where nobody dared to pass for fear of being chased by an angry snake was soon to be transformed to a beautiful city of hope. A city of hope indeed because everyone who comes into the center goes out healed, changed, transformed to the better.

The hospital has the capacity of accommodating about 32 patients (with acute mental illnesses) with a consultation unit for ambulatory patients. With the increase of chronic patients without support, a rehabilitation center was added to provide an accommodation to those patients who had no family or support system to rely on. The center welcomes both male and female patients, with various ranges of ages, regardless of their religious or cultural beliefs. Next to the hospital, a convent was built to house the Brothers of Charity who are involved in the care of patients.

Follow us for the next article about the different therapeutic activities and departments within the hospital.

Jean-Clement Ishimwe, f.c

Recent Local News

At a certain moment at the weekend a girl of twelve was sitting down all alone in front of the psychiatric hospital. We interviewed her and gave her all the necessary care. She couldn’t only give vague indications of her family and she either could make clear why she wanted to stay at us. We tried to find her family with the aid of our personnel. Happily, after a weekend

full of commotion, we could find the members of her family who came to collect her.

In the main time, on Friday 05^th February, we welcomed Bro. André, the new superior of the community in Abidjan accompanied by Bro. Bonaventure. They did not only come to visit the community but also to assist at the celebration with regard to the world day of the consecrated life on the 05^th February in the Our Lady of Peace Basilica. All the Religious of Ivory Coast were on the appointment. The mass was presided by the Apostolic Nuncio.

On Saturday the 13^th February we had the marriage celebration of a member of our personnel, civil as well as religious. All the personnel were prepared for it. On Sunday the 14^th February the mass for the sick in the MSP was led by their spiritual director, animated by the friends of the patients of Yamoussoukro and followed by exchanging gifts. On Saturday the 20^th February a concert was presented by the choral of Saint Bernadette in favor of the sick from the MSP in the cathedral Saint Augustin followed by exchanging of gifts. On Sunday the 28^th February our second Brother from Ivory Coast, Bro. Koffi Laurent, will do his first profession in Ndera. On Saturday the 13^th March will be the start of the activities of the ONG “Light and Life” in the MSP with exchanging of gifts.

Br. Félicien Ngendahimana