Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) recently hosted its fourth Annual Symposium for Community Mental Health Services in Qatar, highlighting the importance of providing community-based mental healthcare and ensuring integration with other healthcare services.
The opening ceremony, which brought together around 200 mental health experts and key stakeholders from across the region, was held in the presence of HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari.
HE Dr al-Kuwari said the annual symposium provides an important platform for stakeholders to discuss a number of topical issues, including the need to balance hospital-based mental health services with community-based services. She also highlighted mental health and well-being as one of the priority areas of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022, noting its specific focus on encouraging people to speak openly about mental health conditions as part of removing the associated stigma and encouraging early treatment. 
“Good mental health and well-being for the people of Qatar, supported by integrated mental health services that provide access to the right care, at the right time, in the right place, is a key tenet of the Public Health Strategy. While substantial investment has been made to provide accessible, effective and high-quality community-based mental healthcare services, collectively we still have a significant task ahead of us,” said HE Dr al-Kuwari.
Mahmoud al-Raisi, chief of HMC’s Continuing Care Group, said as the main provider of specialist mental healthcare in Qatar, HMC is proud to take a key role in providing a platform for dialogue among stakeholders, particularly around the future development of integrated mental health services in Qatar. 
“Mental health services in Qatar are undergoing significant change in order to deliver care that better meets the needs and expectations of the communities we serve. This is the fourth year we’ve organised this event and our focus this year was to bring together stakeholders with a shared interest in working collaboratively to establish a more seamless pathway for our patients as they journey between different service providers,” said al-Raisi. 
He added, “The event represented an important opportunity for key stakeholders to gather and discuss challenges and lessons learned and for all of us to encourage positive, open dialogue about mental health issues and the direction we need to take in developing future support.”
A variety of health professionals from both public and private sector providers, as well as patients and their families, social service workers and representatives of community-based organisations attended the one-day event. It included presentations on community mental health services in Qatar, the ‘Better Together’ initiative and services available at Naufar and Sidra Medicine, and also featured a speaker from Ireland who detailed the modernisation of mental health services in that country.
Dr Mohamed Ali Siddig Ahmed, senior consultant psychiatrist and clinical director, Community Mental Health Services, emphasised the importance of the symposium in fostering partnerships among organisations and individual stakeholders across Qatar as a strategy to successfully integrating community mental healthcare with primary and secondary healthcare services.
Dr Ahmed was also the lead organiser of the symposium.


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