Empowering Minds, Transforming Lives Initiative
On January 15, 2025, the Jamaica Family Planning Association’s SAIL project participated in the launch of a mental health initiative at the Lacovia High School in St Elizabeth that is expected to focus on addressing mental health and other health challenges faced by students at the school. The Lacovia High School would serve as the pilot for the proposed programme which would promote holistic development through weekly sessions for students and their parents on conflict resolution, resilience, and skills development.
Spearheading the initiative is the Social Worker from the Santa Cruz Health Centre, Mrs. Sasha-Lee Smith-Bryan.
Highlights of the day were:
- Lectures on topics such as anxiety, depression, diabetes, teen pregnancy, and building coping mechanisms
- Discussions focused on breaking the stigma around mental health, encouraging students to seek help, and fostering a culture of acceptance and support.
- The keynote speaker, Mr. Oraine Ebanks, Principal of the Green Pond High School, in his presentation, emphasized the importance of developing a healthy coping mechanism for one’s mental health.
The Peer Education Coordinator for the JFPA’s Strengthening Access, Inclusion & Leadership (SAIL) Project, Andrae Jackson, was given an opportunity to outline the key components of the project. The project which is implemented in 2 health regions – South East and Southern – is designed to improve access to health services for adolescents and youth, enhance their inclusion in service planning and delivery using peer education and advocacy, and strengthen leadership of the sector through training and mentoring of health care providers.
Besides providing information to students and their parents at the launch, the SAIL team used the opportunity to recruit students who wished to be trained as peer educators.
Students were informed about the adolescent clinic in Santa Cruz though which they could have access to a psychologist from 12 noon to 3 pm on the second Tuesday of each month.
