Suelle Findlay-Williams.According to her

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Children’s exposure to traumatic events… In recognition of the fact that children are being exposed to traumatic events, the likes of natural disasters as well as criminal and domestic violence, plans have been streamlined to impose an inter-agency intervention.The workshop in session A master implementer training workshop in this regard was engaged Thursday at the Ministry of Health and forms the second phase of the Cognitive Behavioural Intervention for Trauma In Schools (CBITS), according to the Health Ministry’s School Health Coordinator, Suelle Findlay-Williams.According to her, CBITS provides a step-care approach to mental health intervention for children.CBITS was started in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, after Hurricane Katrina by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network to address the mental health needs of children.  The programme, now in its second phase in Guyana, started as a result of traumatic events, for example, the 2005 floods and the 2008 massacres, as well as other incidences of violence.“It (CBITS) involves a multi-tiered level of care, proactive focus on addressing symptoms before they interfere with the child’s educational, social and emotional functioning. It focuses on working with children with emotional and behavioural issues in a non-clinical intervention model,” Findlay-Williams highlighted.Accordingly, she said that CBITS utilises evidence-base treatment and models, and identifies best practices in the field of child trauma.For this reason, she added, the Ministries of Health, Labour, Human Services and Social Security and Education in partnership with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) supported the introduction of CBITS Two Guyana.An initial training workshop according to the Coordinator was held in October 2008 and represented the initial phase of the project.Subsequent to the workshop, a national oversight committee was established in January last comprising members drawn from the Ministries of Education, Health, and Human Services, the University of Guyana, UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).Thursday’s workshop saw the attendance of key stakeholders from all of the named organisations and, according to Findlay-Williams, the sessions which will continue until Wednesday are designed to train the participants in both theory and practice with the view of acquiring skills to help children have a balanced and productive future.“This means that participants will be integrally involved in the roll-out of CBITS throughout Guyana. Thus far, approximately 31 workers from the Ministries and non-governmental organisations have been trained in CBITS.”Mental Health Advisor to Guyana, Dr Sonia Chehil, pointed out that the hosting of the workshop comes as a concrete demonstration of the commitment from the Ministries and partners involved in the initiative.She observed that the programme has been effectively moving forward since its introduction locally.“Although CBITS was introduced to Guyana last year, this workshop will be the first of a number of activities that will allow CBITS to be embedded within Guyana so that the intervention can start…so that we can start seeing and treating children that have been exposed to trauma.”The initiative, Dr Chehil noted, also represents a part of the national strategy for mental health to build capacity across the country and provide care to individuals of all ages suffering from mental illnesses as well as those suffering from mental problems.It is the expectation of Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy that by the end of the year 2012 there is a CBITS programme in every sub-region of Guyana. And while it may not be possible to have the programme in every school in the very near future, the Minister speculated that through the use of Youth Friendly Centres it is hoped that one team could provide CBITS type of support to several schools at the same time.