COMMUNITY ENGAGMENTS

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & INVOLVMENT

Community engagement is a major element of THEHOPE project. Engagement activities have been carried out in Peshawar to create awareness among the local communities regarding psychoses, learn how to identify a psychoses patient, and highlight the importance of early identification, referral and management of the First-Episode of psychoses in the adolescent population. Participants of the community engagement sessions act as a support group for the psychosis patients and are expected to share their learnings from the sessions among their families, friends, and their communities. To get an insight into TSH routine practice, field trips were also conducted by The HOPE team. TSHs expressed their willingness to co-operate and to be a part of The HOPE study and their appreciation to have a clear pathway to be able to refer mental health patients for clinical advice.

The community engagement activities under THEHOPE research project were conducted with the local community after the initial two PPIE meetings focusing on community mapping. The focus was to actively involve the local community for creating awareness about the project and common mental health disorders, particularly psychosis. This will also help address the stigma and misconceptions prevailing in the community and improve access to the mental health services.

CEI in Local Hujra

With the support of the village council nazim in UC Hassan Ghari, a session was organized by the KMU field team in a local Hujra. Nazim was taken on board and the field team requested him for his support and time. He appreciated the initiative to engage with the general public and talk openly about the mental health issues.

The session was attended by Nazim’s entire team including Vice Nazim, NC Nazim, Kissan councilors, youth councilors along with the jirga members and the local community. The field team briefed them regarding the mental health disorders and importance of early treatment.

World Mental Health Day

An awareness session was held at the Criminology Department of the University of Peshawar on 10th October 2023. The event was organized in collaboration with the Department of Sociology and sponsored by Khyber Medical University, Peshawar. Dr. Johar Ali, the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, chaired the session, and the guest of honor was Prof. Dr. Saeed Farooq, PI THEHOPE.

During the session, the focus was on creating awareness about psychosis, its symptoms, and possible treatment options. The event also included a panel discussion on the stigma attached to psychosis, ways to reduce it, and the social impact of mental illness. Dr. Jalil presented a comprehensive overview of mental health, psychosis, and THEHOPE through a presentation. The session had a total of over 200 participants.

Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University

Session held at Benazir Bhutto Women University which was organized by THEHOPE Team in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry BBWU. The session was attended by various people including the VC BBWU, KMU faculty, BBWU faculty, and students. The moderator of the session was Ishfaq Tariq, and the guests were Dr. Abdul Jalil Khan, Dr. Zoahib, and Dr. Noor Sanauddin. Over 150 students from different departments of the university were present in the session. Different presentation on mental health awareness and prevailing mental health issues were discussed

Multiple community awareness and mental health promotion sessions were held at various locations under the Community Engagement and Involvement initiative by THEHOPE research project. These sessions aimed to involve the community in an understanding of common mental health disorders, particularly psychosis. Sessions were conducted at the community level in different Hujras, mosques and primary care facilities following the socio-cultural norms of the area settings. The CEI team also had meetings with the local community elders and government officials.

The detailed report outlining the CEI activities conducted is attached