Our Work
Transforming lives for a better Jamaica.
JAMHAN has quickly become the leading resource for mental health and wellness information, referrals and research in Jamaica. We have launched education and advocacy campaigns, executed symposiums and forums and created support groups. We also closely collaborate with our partners to execute highstake projects.
Events
JAMHAN events provide a platform for advocates, researchers, practitioners, and people with lived experiences to network, share their expertise, and advance mental health and well-being.
Support Group
Our mental health support group was founded by Tameka A. Coley— mental health blogger, author, and activist.
Campaigns & Presentations
We take advantage of multiple touchpoints of communication to share information to the far reaches of the island in the fight against mental illness, and to boost awareness on prevention
Fulbright-Humphrey Speaker Series
Mental Health: Everyone’s Business
Feel Good Move Good Campaign
Ms Jamaica Festival Queen
Public Education Videos
Our videos are aimed at increasing awareness of a range of mental health challenges and changing toxic thoughts and attitudes that worsen these issues.
Research Projects
Practicing Mindfulness in Low and Middle-Income Countries Young Workers in Hospitality and Tourism
Context & Description
The Goal of Project
Feasibility and Acceptability of a Virtual Savvy Caregiver Program in Jamaica Funded by: Emory Global Health Institute Faculty Seed Grant
Project Goals
- Identify steps to develop and implement a virtual cultural adaptation of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) for Jamaican carers of persons living with dementia.
- Foster a collaborative relationship between Emory faculty and researchers at CAIHR and JaMHAN.
Process
Researchers will be facilitators of the SCP and elicit feedback from participants about the extent to which data collection instruments need adaptation, whether the SCP met their needs, and preferences regarding the structure, content, and delivery of the SCP. Thus far, researchers have applied for ethical approval with the UWI MREC and begun facilitator training of the SCP.
Spotlight Initiative Funded by: UNAIDS Spotlight Initiative Pillar 4 Small Grants
Context & Description
Women and girls in Jamaica experience several types of violence and abuse by strangers, intimate partners, family members, and within workplace settings, including physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse, with physical and sexual being the most prevalent forms affecting Jamaican women and girls. Consequences of GBV include short- to long-term mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In Jamaica, there are several community-led and civil society organisations in the form of hotlines, chatlines, in-person support services and telehealth services, many funded by internal and external funding bodies. We don’t, however, know what works and for whom and there is a lack of coordinated service delivery, and consequently unmet mental health challenges. Through funding from the EU’s Spotlight Initiative, we developed the Monitoring and Assessment of GBV psycho- social support Systems (MAGS) Toolkit to strengthen our referral system and those of other Civil Society Organisations. We also developed a comprehensive directory of psycho-social support services. Contact us to find out more about the referral system and for a copy of the directory.
Project Goals
- Strengthen JAMHAN’s mental health referral network and protocols for survivors of GBV, linking marginalised women and girls to safe, adequate, and gender-responsive mental health and psychosocial support services.
- Increase JAMHAN’s visibility as the leading mental health and psychosocial support referral network hub, and facilitator connecting marginalised women and girls to quality and appropriate mental health services.
- Increase JAMHAN’s advocacy role for services for female survivors of GBV through the development and dissemination of recommendations to key stakeholders, for a culturally appropriate, Jamaica-specific, Referral Systems Assessment and Monitoring (RSAM) toolkit.
Current Programmes
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)
Partnered with Centred, the Jamaica Mental Health Advocacy Network provides EAPs to organisations seeking support for staff members to master how to manage stressors that impact productivity. A healthy management of personal and professional stressors is instrumental to creating a more positive and efficient work atmosphere.
Referral Network
Contact us to learn more.
Knowledge Centre
