PRIORITIZING PSYCHOSOCIAL REHABILITATION AND USERS RIGHTS: THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH APPROACH IN EGYPT

Abstract

In Egypt the mental health system is hospital-based, poorly integrated with primary-care services, and facing a large treatment gap. Mental hospitals provide both inpatient and outpatient care in institutional settings, despite the new Mental Health Act enacted in May 2009 “for the protection of psychiatric patients”.

Within the Mehenet project run in partnership between Egyptian and Italian institutions during 2010-12, a community mental health centre was established in the Kafr El Dawar district of Behera Governorate to pilot mental health policy options tailored to the local context and available resources.

The paper describes the preparatory work for its set up and the organisation of community services with reference to the psychosocial rehabilitation activities and to the shift toward a psychosocial approach toward mental health care, pointing out the importance of community involvement. Costs, sustainability, need for scaling up community services for mental health and policy implications are also discussed with reference to the Egypt of today.