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Elvira Alisahovic-Gelo
The Health Centre of Sarajevo Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Mol Cancer
Mental disorders account for nearly 12% of the global burden of disease. By 2020 they will account for nearly 15% of disability-adjusted life-years lost to illness. The burden of mental disorders is maximal in young adults, the most productive section of the population. Developing countries are likely to see a disproportionately large increase in the burden attributable to mental disorders in the coming decades. People with mental disorders face stigma and discrimination in all parts of the world. Effective interventions are available but are not accessible to the majority of those who need them. These interventions can be made accessible through changes in policy and legislation, service development, adequate financing and the training of appropriate personnel. Although being one of the most vulnerable societies in the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) has made significant progress in the area of mental health care reform, which was launched in 1996 focusing on community based mental health. The essential change of the context of service provision in mental health implies opening a network of mental health centers, a multi-disciplinary approach and teamwork, development of other community based services and improvement of inter sectoral cooperation. These processes aim to build an effective, efficient and quality mental health service focused on the user needs and accessible to as many people as possible in the context of the integrated system of service delivery. The mental health care system needs to protect human rights, ensure gender equality and efficiently respond to diverse needs of the population, especially of the most vulnerable groups. The positive effects of the reform are visible in most of the areas with CMHCs in terms of improved accessibility of services, quality of treatment, shorter length and frequency of hospitalization, increased staffing levels in mental health care. The activities of the mental health centers have contributed to a better intra-sectoral cooperation within the health care system (family medicine, hospital services) and inter-sectoral cooperation at the local level with CSWs, schools, non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Elvira is currently working in the Health Centre of Sarajevo Canton, Community Mental Health Center Ilidza since 2009. After finishingMedical faculty in Sarajevo University 1998 Elvira was working in Family Medicine as GP. After the residency of neuropsychiatry, she was educated as part of the mental health reform in B&H, psychotherapy and now in the supervision of EMDR therapy. Have a lot of education about community mental health care. Lecturer for family medicine doctors and mentor for psychiatry residents. she was an external quality assessor of health institutions in the Federation of B&H.
E-mail: elviragelo@gmail.com
