Wednesday (22/12) UGM Center for Public Mental Health (CPMH) in collaboration with the Yayasan Kemitraan Indonesia Sehat (YKIS) held a mental health webinar with the title “Indonesia’s Mental Policy Direction”. This event discusses the policy journey that has been taken by the Indonesian government to ensure the mental health of the community. This event also discussed how the implementation of the policy in the field from various perspectives.
This event takes place from 1.00 PM to 4.00 PM. This event was attended by 290 participants consisting of academics, activists and mental health workers throughout Indonesia.
Moderated by Adelia Khrisna Putri, S.Psi., M.Sc., a lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology UGM who is also actively researching mental health services in Indonesia, this event ran smoothly and interactively. Some participants were given the opportunity to ask questions to the presenters.
The event opened with remarks delivered by Inang Winarno, Executive Director of the Yayasan Kemitraan Indonesia Sehat (YKIS). Winarno thanked the resource persons who were willing to attend this event and provide material on mental health services from their respective perspectives. According to Winarno, the theme of this event is important because mental health services are an urgent need for the Indonesian state, especially now during a pandemic.
“Just as at the time of COVID-19, there were many people experiencing psychological shocks because of a very shocking situation, the emergence of a pandemic that was very sudden and had a very wide impact. Maybe things like that I think need to be anticipated. What regulations are needed so that in the future the direction of Indonesia’s mental health policies can help the community to overcome (and) reduce the risk or prevalence of mental health disorders in Indonesia,” explained Winarno.
The first speaker, dr. Celestinus Eigya Munthe, Sp.KJ., M. Kes., Director of Prevention and Control of Mental Health and Drug Problems delivered a material with the title of Policy Directions of the Ministry of Health in the prevention and control of mental health in Indonesia. In his presentation, Celestinus explained a lot about the development of the mental health law as the legal basis for the Indonesian government’s mental health services as well as the government’s efforts to prepare a healthier and better generation in the future.
Dr. dr. Nova Riyanti Yusuf, Sp.KJ, Secretary General of the Asian Federation of Psychiatric Association, was the second speaker at this event. In her presentation, the psychologist, who was also a member of the DPR, told of his struggles to propose a mental health bill from 2009 until it was passed in 2014. In addition, Nova also made academic studies on mental health, actively participated in efforts to free shackles, and also made a model project in the form of a mobile mental health service, namely two ambulance units for public mental health services.
Bagus Utomo, Chair of the Indonesian Schizophrenia Care Community became the third speaker. This social activist who is concerned about fighting for the rights of ODGJ (orang dengan gangguan jiwa) delivered a presentation on mental health policies in Indonesia from a consumer perspective. Insufficient supply of medicines, uneven distribution of mental health services in the regions, and unsustainability of health services for ODGJ are a few of the other problems that must be input for the government to formulate better mental health policies.
The event closed with a presentation from Dr. Diana Setiyawati, M.HSc., Ph.D., lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology UGM and Head of Researcher at CPMH Psychology UGM. In her presentation Diana explained the results of the latest academic research on mental health literacy. From these research results Diana summarized several points that could be used as recommendations for the government in drafting mental health service policy designs in the future.