A new community mental health centre yesterday officially opened its doors for the community of Paola and its surrounding towns.

Since it started operating from Paola, the multi-disciplinary team staff manning the community centre housing a clinic and a day centre is already working with some 300 clients.

Two service users, Maria and Joe (both names are fictitious), spoke briefly about how their lives changed once they started following a care plan drawn up by the community centre’s staff including nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers and other professionals.

Maria, in her 50s, explained how the staff helped her deal with past problems and her emotions. She currently works as a ward clerk, as part of a year-long scheme aimed at helping rehabilitating mental health patients integrate in the community and find work. By attending a day centre, she learned how to knit, a pastime which helps her keep her worry under control. At the same time, her loneliness was addressed as she now spends quality time with people who wish her well.

Thanks to the Paola community centre, Joe, in his 40s, managed to find himself again after a difficult moment took over his life. He has been attending the centre for three months now. There he explored new hobbies and learned how to use modern technology, however, he hopes he can find a job soon.

Mount Carmel Hospital CEO Edward Borg said that the way forward to combat mental health problems is community-based initiatives.

The World Health Organisation estimates that mental health problems are growing at such an exponential rate that within a few years they will exceed cardiovascular diseases’ rates, he said.

What started as a pilot project in Qormi, led to other community centres being created in Floriana, Kirkop, Mtarfa and Żejtun over the years. Over 130 people are employed within the community centres. They work with people coming from 44 localities. Around 14,000 people make use of their services

Mount Carmel Hospital’s community services department also collaborates with the Housing Authority to provide supported accommodation to mental health patients who struggle to maintain a stable job and thus a constant income.

The parliamentary secretary for mental health, Mario Galea, thanked Paola mayor Dominic Grima and chaplain for their cooperation in finding the right edifice to house the community centre.

“The community programme started operating from the church’s offices before we moved here. It is not easy to find the right place especially with the stigma that mental health is still burdened with,” Mr Galea said.

A new book, A practical guide to the Mental Health Services, was launched yesterday. The book addresses various issues pertaining to mental health, including a list of services as well as misconceptions about mental health.

The relatively new Crisis Intervention Team which has been in operation since December 2010, has already catered for 400 persons, Mr Galea added.