The 2nd CAMHS Stakeholders’ Workshop, held at the Wyndham Grand Regency Hotel, was a collaborative event with Asia Australia Mental Health and hosted in conjunction with the National Mental Health Strategy Team in Qatar. The workshop was an opportunity for all key stakeholders involved in providing mental health services to children and adolescent, to reflect on the CAMHS Task Force’s achievements made throughout the year and collaborate to establish priorities for the 2013 work program. By the time Dr. Abdulla Al Kaabi, Director of the HMC/SickKids Project, gave his opening speech to the attendees, he was welcoming representatives from 18 different organizations within Doha. The project team was hurriedly creating rows of seats in the back for the impressive turnout.
Mr. Terry Sharkey, Act/Executive Director of the National Mental Health Program, presented a brief overview of the National Mental Health National Strategy and the CAMHS Task Force to provide a basis for discussions to take place throughout the day. However, it was pertinent to the task force, that this workshop not be driven the organizing teams. The participants were supplied with post-its and were asked to identify what they identified as an achievement in 2012. Ms. Geraldine Johnston, Project Manager of HMC/SickKids Project, organized the feedback into seven themes. Gratifyingly, the seven themes reiterated all the efforts of the task force – i.e. recognition of the service gap in child mental health; increased collaboration and collegiality between stakeholders; education and training courses; development of the clinical guideline and proposed organizational structure; creating a physical team identity for the service; and increasing awareness.
Dr. Umesh Jain, Consultant Psychiatrist at The Hospital for Sick Children-Toronto, took center-stage to provide a synopsis of the clinical guideline development strategy and the proposed organizational and service structure. Over multiple visits and all-day working groups, he and dedicated, inter-professional and multi-disciplinary teams identified opportunities to improve the existing system. Dr. Sandra Radovini, Consultant Psychiatrist at Asia Australia Mental Health, used the proposal as a benchmark and led a group discussion to determine how best to achieve it. The stakeholders were engaged and brainstormed various facets that could be improved. Some identified the need to implement early intervention and screening protocols at the primary health care level and increasing community awareness, while others highlighted the importance of increasing organizational collaboration and the sharing of data. Some maintained the importance of cultivating more mental healthcare professionals locally, while others felt that education for existing staffs was required to implement the proposed changes and provide care comparable to international standards. There was a general understanding that each organization is a part of a continuum of care where the collective task is to provide the right care at the right place at the right time. This, incidentally, has become the mantra for the CAMHS Task Force.
Warmed-up after the group discussion, the attendees broke off into three multi-organizational, multi-professional and inter-disciplinary groups that focused on primary & self care, secondary care, or tertiary care services. This break out session was the crux of the day, a chance for the stakeholders to discuss and identify achievable priorities for 2013 and how best to achieve it. All the stakeholders were passionate about implementing change and the discussions were enthusiastic and engaging. The groups presented the outcomes of their breakout session, which prompted even further discussion and insight from the participants. After a brief outline of next steps and closing remarks, the day drew to a close.
Overall, the 2nd Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Stakeholders’ Workshop was a success. The many organizations represented, the engaging and fruitful interaction, the focused discussions, the increased collegiality and collaboration, and the dedication and commitment of stakeholders’, all lent itself to developing a list of priorities for 2013. Next steps will fall to the task force to further prioritize the list and begin working towards achieving it. It should be emphasized that the success of the workshop is directly related to the participation and involvement of all stakeholders. And the future success of the task force directly hinges on their continued commitment, collaboration and collegiality towards implementing an improved framework of mental health services for the children and young people of Qatar.
