Mental health in the Solomon Islands: developing reforms and partnerships

Abstract

Objectives: The Solomon Islands face significant shortages and geographical imbalances in the distribution of skilled health workers and resources, which severely impact the delivery of mental health services. The government's Integrated Mental Health Service has emphasised the importance of greater community ownership and involvement in community-based mental health care, and of moving from centralised services to increased local and accessible care. Methods: From 2012 to 2014, the Solomon Islands Integrated Mental Health service worked with Asia-Australia Mental Health to build workforce capacity and deliver sustainable community mental health programs. Results: Supported by the Australian Aid Program’s Public Sector Linkages Program, this project shared resources and fostered links between public sector agencies in Australia, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Conclusions: Key learning points from the collaboration included the critical need to establish partnerships with community stakeholders, the importance of sustaining a well-functioning mental health team, and optimising the strengths of the local resources in the Solomon Islands. Through this project, national policies, promotion and service delivery were strengthened, through the exchange of experiences and mobilisation of north-south (Australia-Solomon Islands) and south-south (Solomon Islands-other Pacific nations) technical expertise. This project demonstrates the potential for international partnerships to contribute to the development of culturally-appropriate and integrated mental health services.