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The workshop was focused on Mental Health. We spoke Eleanor Bennett from the Ministry of Health who gave us more insight to the different mental Health topics that were discussed.

Eleanor Bennett, Ministry of Health - Mental Health Unit
"It's really a workshop that is being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Mount Saini University in New York. We have 2 facilitators from that university who have come here to talk about various issues of mental health and the objective of their visit is to increase the knowledge and skills of the practicing professionals in the mental health field. Yesterday we covered topics such as trauma, in particular, post-traumatic stress disorder and how to recognize people who are traumatized and having psychiatric issues and how to manage some of the disorders in the clinic. Today we are focusing on the effects of various substances on the brain; nicotine, alcohol, marijuana and how to manage some of the issues in the outpatient setting. We are also going to cover suicide risk assessment. We're going to talk a little bit about dementia and attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder in the afternoon."

Reporter
"More workshops like this being held being the state of Belize's mental health, we're not that advanced in knowing things and being proactive."

Eleanor Bennett
"Yes absolutely, actually the Ministry of Health does this every year and it is in an effort to update the skills and knowledge of the people who are providing care. So every opportunity we get, we try to do that because we do realize that the resources are scarce here in Belize. We're very grateful to the Mount Saini University in New York because we have an ongoing relationship for 10 years. They have been here several times just doing conferences like this and holding workshops. This is the main source of getting new information and updated information of things that are happening in mental health."

The workshop was attended by UB students, drug council members, and Mental Health staff.