Students from Haile Selassie High School in Kingston, are among the first to benefit from a new mobile mental-health service that will support schools in Zones of Special Operations (ZOZOs), as well as those in western Jamaica, affected by Hurricane Melissa.
The Wellness Express – Adolescent Mental Health Mobile Service was officially launched at the school on Friday (February 13).
In his remarks, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said the mobile unit represents a community-based approach to strengthening mental wellness and addressing behaviours that can lead to violence and conflict.
“What it symbolises to me… is the old cliché that says it takes a village to raise a child,” he said, noting that no single sector can address the needs of young people on its own.
Dr. Tufton emphasised that the initiative forms part of a wider effort to expand community engagement in healthcare and bring services closer to citizens.
“We cannot see ourselves as just curing the burdens of illness… we have to see ourselves more as a credible force in the community to provide guidance and support for good community harmony of wellness,” he said.
He added that wellness goes beyond physical health, noting that, “wellness is not just about the physical. It’s about the mental, it’s about the behavioural, it’s about helping each other… and finding better ways to solve problems”.
For his part, United Kingdom (UK) Development Representative for Jamaica and Caribbean Regional Counsellor, Andrew Bowden, said the UK is pleased to support the initiative through the UK–Jamaica Violence Prevention Programme.
“Today, we are sending a clear message that the well-being and mental health of the wider school community… are foundational to developing more resilient youth,” he said.
Mr. Bowden added that the partnership supports Jamaica’s citizen-security plan by addressing trauma, exclusion and unmet mental-health needs among young people.
“This bus… being launched today, is an excellent example of the approach in action,” he said, noting that multiple agencies are working together to deliver holistic support.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Dr. Kasan Troupe, said the mobile unit expands access to critical services for students navigating difficult circumstances.
“We are here launching this Wellness Express as an extended service to ensure that you can stand in your own excellence,” she said.
She encouraged young people to make use of the support being offered.
“Social care works, mental services work, counselling works… this support service today is for you,” Dr. Troupe said.
Meanwhile, Principal of Haile Selassie High School, Annionia Jones, welcomed the initiative, while describing her school as a space dedicated to holistic development.
“The Wellness Express being launched in this space is not by accident. This is an institution that truly embodies the need to develop the whole human being,” she said.
The mobile unit will provide counselling, mental-health screening, referrals and other psychosocial services, as part of ongoing efforts by the Government and its partners to strengthen youth resilience and promote safer, healthier school communities.
