Baringo County rolls out mental health policy

Baringo Governor Benjamin  Cheboi. [File, Standard] 

Baringo County Government is rolling out a comprehensive mental health guidelines policy aimed at effectively managing, supporting, and providing treatment for individuals with mental health challenges.

The County Executive Committee Health Solomon Sirma said that employees from both formal and informal sectors suffer from mental health-related problems.

He said that for decades, mental wellbeing has been a concern among people but has been ignored.

The CEC noted that there was a need to create home-grown solutions to address and diagnose the menace.

“As the County marks World Mental Health Day on October 9 at Eldama Ravine Sub-County Hospital, it is important to create awareness on the need for both employer and employee to seek medical attention for those suffering from this disorder,” he said.

Sirma said that many people were battling mental health in the workplace regarding socioeconomic challenges, substance abuse, and excess consumption of alcohol among others.

The CEC said that from Friday till Wednesday next week, the county will focus and ensure that mental health issues are addressed.

The Director of Preventive and Promotive Health Patrick Baruet, says that the county was working towards this year's mental health theme to prioritize mental health in the workplace.

Baruet said that the government has developed mental health workplace guidelines to guide employers.

The director said that there were three key approaches such as promotive and investing in efforts to ensure that employees in the workplace have a better capacity to take control of their mental health.

“We also have a preventive approach where we look at the workplace and put in place preventive mechanisms to make it easier for staff to enjoy good mental health,”

Self-care, the director added, was key to promoting mental well-being by ensuring that every employee in Baringo County is in the right environment to promote well-being given that 60 percent of the time is spent at work.

He stated that the workplace should be a conducive environment and if not handled well can create challenges.

“In line with the approach by the government, we invest more in preventing mental health conditions and place measures to take care of the affected people,” he said.

The County Mental Health Specialist Dr. Kaptuya Malel said that mental health has been ignored as it continues to take a toll on health workers,

“Statistics show that there is a lot of burnout, stress, anxiety, substance abuse, and depression associated with the interaction at the workplace,” Malel said.

She observed that the prevalence of burnout among health workers was 66 percent which might lead to anxiety or depression.

She urged employers to invest in input for productivity and mental health and this has to be emphasized.