ROCK, Trelawny — Addressing mental health issues will be a major focus among the raft of benefits for the 40 members of the Association of Past Members of Jamaica Constabulary Force (APMJCF), Chapter One under the two-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the National Health Fund (NHF)here on Thursday.

The APMJCF Chapter One spreads across the parishes of Trelawny, St James, Hanover and Westmoreland.

Speaking at the APMJCF Chapter One Christmas Luncheon at Glistening Waters Hotel and Attractions in Trelawny, Everton Anderson, CEO of NHF, bemoaned that mental health “is so often ignored”.

“So part of our programme is to encourage exercise of the mind, is to encourage reaching out to your friend, is to encourage watching what’s happening with your colleagues because sometimes if you see somebody drifting a little, you can pull them back,” Anderson stated.

He added: “It [MOU] will also focus on screening, blood pressure, prostate screening, mammograms and checks annually. And we’re committed to work with you to make that happen. So the physical health is one, but the other big thing is mental health.”

President of APMJCF Harris Daley expressed his gratitude to the NHF for providing the health care benefits under the MOU.

“Sometimes we do have mental health problem and don’t realise it. And we as elderly people should really focus when we are told and take care of ourselves whether it be mental, physical or social, we should always attend to it,” the retired senior cop told the Jamaica Observer.

“I feel very good about this MOU. I knew for sure that they would have studied and realised that in particular the force would have given to the nation and we are now in retirement. It’s a little way that they can give back to us.”

Meanwhile, Anderson recounted that following a similar MOU between the NHF and members of the JCF in the past, it was discovered that the male members were often reluctant to visit the doctor. He argued that this partnership with the retired cops in the western part of the island is also to encourage the males to check up on their health.

“The history between the NHF and the JCF is a bit long, and we want to make it even better. We actually signed a MOU some years ago with the Jamaica Constabulary Force. And under that MOU, we did significant work in screening. What we found then was that, especially the males weren’t going to the doctor, they weren’t getting any checks,” Anderson stated.

He quipped: “What we found was that the females, if they had a problem with their fingernails, they would go to the doctor to check it out. It’s not unique to police.”

He stressed that often people plan for the material things in life, the good life, but “we need to reshape our minds to dream and vision and plan and act of having good health.

“And that is why we are very, very, very, very happy to be here today [Thursday] because we want to build an advocacy around good health care. The World Health Organization states that health is a state of complete physical, mental, social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, “said the NHF head.