A Transitional home for clients with Mental illnesses officially opened at MTRH
The Official Opening of Nawiri Recovery & Skills Centre at MTRH/Photo Courtesy
By Faith Chebichii
Astellas Global Health Foundation visited Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital where they Funded the Nawiri recovery & skills center,A transitional home of its kind in Kenya dedicated to the provision of critical services to clients in need of MENTAL HEALTH CARE.
The team was hosted by MTRH CEO Dr. Wilson Aruasa and they shared much on the impact of their partnership in treating and training patients having mental illnesses.
The Construction of Nawiri Recovery And Skills Center was commissioned in August 2022 by the then Cabinet Secretary for Health Hon. Mutahi Kagwe.
“There are so many clients who will benefit from our services here, this is a transitional home where we train clients .Other than just treatment we are helping them recover their skills such as gardening, weaving ,beading among other critical skills. We have a multi-disciplinary team from Nawiri and MTRH who successfully manage several patients every day,” said Dr. Aruasa
The MTRH CEO said the facility with 20 rooms, a dining and sitting room cost Ksh 25 million with $1M funding from Astellas Global Health in the first phase.
CEO Aruasa said they will work to ensure all families get National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to ease access to healthcare.
“We will ensure every family has their own National Health Insurance fund( NHIF), should they not have, we have set aside money within the grant so that we can enroll them in the same,” Dr. Aruasa opined.
He also noted that services in terms of the charges are under the MTRH user fees which are heavily discounted by the hospital’s board.
“For those who are not able to pay, we have a credit mechanism where we allow those patients to enjoy the services at discounted fees . This is how we run this Nawiri Recovery & Skills Centre which is under the MTRH directorate of mental and rehabilitative services,” CEO Aruasa added.
Dr. Aruasa said Nawiri recovery and skills center being the first one of its kind in Kenya they will be pushing for similar centers across the country and especially within the Counties economic blocs in order to bring mental health services closer to the people.
“We would like to set up a similar center in Nakuru, Coastal region, Northeastern, Nyanza, Rift valley, and Western among other places in the country so that patients can benefit and recover their at the transitional homes,” Dr. Aruasa said
He noted that there is a need to embrace mental health as a key component of the human being since taking care of mental health as well as spiritual well-being is essential.
Aruasa reiterated the need to identify those with mental illnesses and link them with such facilities so that they get treatment.
The President of Astellas global health foundation Shingo Ino ,noted that 80 percent of people globally have mental health issues, therefore developing such partnerships would aid in their treatment.
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