MONTEGO BAY, St James — Just two months after its doors were opened, there has been such an unexpected high demand from youngsters seeking psychosocial intervention and other services that the Child and Adolescent Wellness Centre in St James is desperately in need of more staff.

Located at 1 Humber Avenue in Montego Bay, the centre began welcoming clients on November 12. To date, close to 30 youngsters have been seen by a team made up of one mental health nurse, two psychiatric nurse practitioners, a social worker, an administrative assistant, and a clinical attendant.

Brown Lawrence told the Jamaica Observer, following the official opening of the centre on Thursday, that while a doubling of the current staff will be necessary, occupational therapists and speech therapists are among other professionals that will be needed for additional services to be offered.

“The numbers will increase as the Children and Adolescent Hospital will provide transfers here. Come February, we will see a big jump in our numbers,” predicted the head of the centre, mental health psychiatric nurse practitioner Tackaya Brown Lawrence.

The Children and Adolescent Hospital is expected to be open in the first half of this year.

Brown Lawrence said word about the centre is being spread in schools and there have been some referrals from those sources. They are also being prompted in some workplaces and the feedback indicates parents are becoming more comfortable with seeking help for their children.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang pointed to St James’ historically high homicide rate as an indicator of the need for such a centre in the parish.

The European Union’s technical advisor to the Citizen Security Secretariat (CSS) Dr Elizabeth Ward said data from a citizen security plan and secretariat research conducted two years ago showed the critical need for such a centre in Western Jamaica.

“What we had done was an analysis of the data, and also working with staff members down here in the health services, [which] identified that the need for a child and adolescent guidance centre in the west was critical. What was good was that we had links with the Ministry of Education because they were worried about the level of violence in schools so they were keen to get the health component strengthened and offered that this space could be made available to the ministry of health,” she explained.

Data from the World Health Organization show that one in seven children, between the ages of 10 and 19, has some form of mental disorder, which accounts for 15 per cent of global diseases in this hemisphere. Depression, anxiety, and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said data from a Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) study for Jamaica is equally concerning, as 20 per cent of the country’s children have a mental health disorder such as depression, anxiety, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and conduct disorders.

The minister added that 63 per cent of Jamaicans with mental health issues have reported onset before the age of 25. Meanwhile, 35 per cent of Jamaicans with mental health disorders reported onset before the age of 14.

Tufton said the first study he commissioned after being appointed as minister in 2016 was a mental health and wholeness passport report, led by consultant psychiatrist Dr Earl Wright.

According to Tufton, this led to a series of policy changes regarding how to address mental health in the population. Among them was the goal of creating a more community-based approach to intervention by establishing either the personnel or institutions, such as the Child and Adolescent Wellness Centre, to conduct early intervention at the community level.

“I say all of that to just place why we are here in context. This is absolutely a necessity,” said Tufton.

“The people who are going to benefit from this, I am sure, will be extremely appreciative. The persons and institutions who are contributing to this, I want to salute and say a big thank you for that. And, from a health perspective, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, this for us is an essential partnership as we seek to build societies starting one community at a time,” Tufton added.

Among the partners that came together to make the facility a reality were the European Union, Ireland, the Sandals Foundation, Doctor’s Cave Bathing Club, and Gore Family Foundation. Others include Ministry of Health and Wellness, Western Regional Health Authority, and Ministry of National Security.