By Laura J Ridge | Board President, Nursing for All
Nursing for All's programming has continued to change lives in the last several months. Our services in high blood pressure and diabetes management, family planning, and mental health care, all offered free of charge, have touched hundreds of people throughout Liberia.
To show how our initiatives operate, we want to show you a week in the life of Aaron Debah, the leader of our Ganta mental health project.
Aaron is a graduate of the Carter Center's Mental Health Program, and he and Gabriel Tounzea, also a nurse, provide care about 400 people in Ganta, Nimba County, as the only mental health care providers in the city. They see patients with epilepsy, depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance abuse. His patients do not pay for their services, or for the medications they receive.
Monday through Thursday, Aaron sees patients in a clinic space donated by United Methodist Hospital in Ganta. He evaluates and treats new and established patients, he refills prescriptions, and he mentors young nurses who are interested in mental health care.
On Friday, Aaron sees patients for most of the day, but in the afternoon he meets with the community health workers he has trained and supervised. These workers are Aaron's eyes and ears in the community, where they travel to patients' homes to make sure they care they have received in clinic is working at home. The community health workers answer patients' questions, assess them for progress, and report any concerns they have to Aaron.
On Sundays, Aaron writes and delivers his "Hour of Mental Health Care" show on the Voice of Gompa radio station. In Liberia's postwar society, many more people are afflicted with mental health problems than can access care. This radio show gives people the chance to learn about common mental health issues such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), how they can improve their mental health and that of their loved ones, and assures them that they are not alone. It also gives Aaron the chance to publicize his program to community members who may not be aware he is available to them, and that his services are free.
On Monday, Aaron starts his week all over again.
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