{"id":13076,"date":"2022-02-24T11:50:46","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T11:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches"},"modified":"2022-02-24T12:14:49","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T12:14:49","slug":"churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches","title":{"rendered":"Churches urged to train mental wellness coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Discussions around mental health can essentially be unfavourable if not done appropriately and as mental health issues continue to deeply affect societies, the role of churches has been questioned on the matter.<\/p>\n

Deputy health minister Dr Utjiua Muinjangue said the dialogue on mental wellness and the role of the church comes at the dawn of the Mental Health Bill, which will replace the obsolete Mental Health Act of 1973.<\/p>\n

\u201cProviding for and supporting good mental health is a public health issue, and surely the church, faith-based organisations have a role to play in mental health,\u201d said Muinjangue who is a trained social worker.<\/p>\n

She said this at a conference on mental wellness and the role of the church, which was hosted at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (Nipam).<\/p>\n

\u201cChurches have been particularly successful in uplifting local communities from poverty through the provision of education, health services, income-generating projects, restoring human dignity and other socio-economic interventions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Mental Health Bill is expected to be tabled in parliament this year.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThis Bill is aimed at guiding on mental health issues and will serve to protect the human rights of patients, their families and their properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added the Bill would also assist Namibia in addressing challenges, such as the lack of infrastructure and facilities to serve people with mental health conditions, shortage of skilled persons, lack of funding and investment in mental health. Muinjangue said the churches in the country have made a significant impact on the social structure of the population and have not only been successful at working to articulate their faith through a variety of methods and mechanisms and spreading the word of God.<\/p>\n

Namibia has one fully-fledged public mental health centre at the Windhoek Central hospital, one ward at the Oshakati hospital and one private facility in Windhoek (Bel Esprit).<\/p>\n

At the conference, clinical psychologist Maryna Mostova said churches that strive to meet the needs of their congregations must be willing to address mental health openly as this is usually complicated by the stigma surrounding mental illness.<\/p>\n

She said when helping a person going through a mental health crisis, it is important to look for signs of suicidal thoughts and behaviours, non-suicidal self-injury, or other harm. \u201cSuicide is a medical emergency and need to be attended by the relevant professionals as soon as possible. Take the person to the nearest medical facility or stay with the person who expressed suicidal intentions until the appropriate help is received,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

The implementation of the Mental Health First Aid Action Plan is something that should be taken seriously when matters are being resolved at churches.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen in a non-judgmental way. It may seem simple, but the ability to listen and have a meaningful conversation requires skills and patience. Listening is critical in helping an individual feel respected, accepted, and understood. It is important in non-judgmental listening to use a set of verbal and nonverbal skills such as open body posture, comfortable eye contact,\u201d said Mostova.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe most important skill is to stay calm! Give reassurance and information. It is important to recognise that mental illnesses and addictions are real, treatable illnesses from which people can and do recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mostova also said when talking to someone you believe may be experiencing symptoms of a mental illness, approach the conversation with respect and dignity and cautioned not to blame the individual for his or her symptoms.<\/p>\n

Ludwig Beukes from the Council of Churches in Namibia said mental wellness and the role of the church should become an annual event and that the first aid toolkit booklet must be developed to assist the churches for early detection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe church should treat mental wellness like any other diseases and that will enable it to provide psychosocial support. The church must have a multi-disciplinary approach where it can work closely with mental health professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cChurches must train mental wellness coaches that can serve as a bridge between pastors, congregation and mental health professionals,\u201d said Beukes.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Discussions around mental health can essentially be unfavourable if not done appropriately and as mental health issues continue to deeply affect societies, the role of churches has been questioned on the matter. Deputy health minister Dr Utjiua Muinjangue said the dialogue on mental wellness and the role of the church comes at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":13075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-13076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nChurches urged to train mental wellness coaches - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discussions around mental health can essentially be unfavourable if not done appropriately and as mental health issues c ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Churches urged to train mental wellness coaches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discussions around mental health can essentially be unfavourable if not done appropriately and as mental health issues c ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-24T11:50:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-24T12:14:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-6217769df1acb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Churches urged to train mental wellness coaches\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-24T11:50:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-24T12:14:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches\"},\"wordCount\":687,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/02\/img-6217769df1acb.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/churches-urged-to-train-mental-wellness-coaches\",\"name\":\"Churches urged to train mental wellness coaches - 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