The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recently funded the renovation of the Tanka-Tanka Psychiatric Facility, The Gambia’s only psychiatric facility, through the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. IOM’s efforts to develop Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS) services in a nation with historically low mental healthcare capacity were aided by the facility hosting returned migrants with mental health needs.
The construction of a new inpatient ward, which increased the facility’s overall bed capacity from 100 to 150, was the showpiece of the renovation. The Tanka-Tanka Psychiatric Facility had limited space and overcrowding difficulties, which had a severe effect on patients’ privacy, dignity, and recuperation before the renovation. The situation also pushed the institution to treat certain patients in an outpatient setting, even when inpatient treatment was required.
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The Tanka-Tanka Psychiatric Facility expansion was intended to improve people’s well-being by building safe and dignified areas that met global safety, security, and sanitary requirements.
Dr. Mustapha Bittaye, Director of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, stated that they were concerned about the support and resources they required to ensure that crucial demands were satisfied. He also added that the relief came at an appropriate moment and it was a permanent boost in bed capacity that would benefit patients.
IOM also supplied recreational equipment to facilitate recreational therapy exercises in addition to the building work. The institution partnered with the Migrants as Messengers volunteer network for an art-based psychosocial intervention recently, in which residents and returnees teamed up to paint a mural on one of the facility’s interior walls. Positive messages and pictures of optimism and well-being were featured on the mural.
Those improved prior capacity-building efforts, such as the International Organization for Migration and the World Health Organization‘s establishment of a National Framework for Supporting Migrants with Mental Health Needs, which was supported with a training curriculum. The process was critical in identifying and filling gaps in the country’s MHPSS services, particularly in terms of reinforcing family, community, and social support networks. Finally, after the Tanka-Tanka Psychiatric Facility renovation was completed, 60 employees were educated in administrative management and facilities maintenance.
UN Peace and Development Advisor remarks
The Tanka-Tanka Psychiatric Facility launching occasion was also attended by the UN Peace and Development Advisor in The Gambia, Patrick McCarthy, who spoke on behalf of the UN Resident Coordinator. He urged that they should not forget that psychological well-being is extremely critical to encouraging the reintegration of returnees. He added that it was important to have established structures and mechanisms in place to aid migrants upon their return, enabling them to enjoy better quality access to mental health care.
