KwaZulu-Natal urgently needs child and adolescent mental health services in the public sector. Currently, nine in ten children with a mental health condition go untreated. Your support will help fund a 36-bed Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit in the historic KwaZulu-Natal Children's Hospital, providing residential care, counselling and psychosocial support - bringing hope, dignity and healing to KZN's 4.3 million children, while restoring this landmark hospital for future generations.
KwaZulu-Natal is home to the second highest number of children in South Africa. Mental health needs in the province far exceed available services: there is only one public-sector adolescent mental health unit with eight beds, and none for children. As a result, adolescents are accommodated in adult psychiatric wards, and children in regular paediatric wards - receiving care in inappropriate environments from staff not trained in child and adolescent mental health.
The new unit will provide a safe, therapeutic environment for children and adolescents up to age 18 who require specialised mental health care. It will include a 10-bed child ward, 13-bed female and 13-bed male adolescent wards, occupational therapy, counselling and consulting rooms, outdoor areas and shared support spaces for daily operations and visiting families. It will offer age-appropriate inpatient care, individual, group and family counselling, psychosocial and life-skills support.
The unit will improve health outcomes, strengthen referral networks and serve as a training platform for future mental health professionals in a province with only two public-sector psychiatrists. Through its proven public-private partnership, strategic use of donor funding and commitment to equity and inclusion, the Trust is rebuilding a vital provincial resource that will serve generations of children and adolescents, ensuring that each one has access to compassionate and expert care.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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