MdM Mental Health Referent Job Vacancy in Gbarnga, Liberia

Currently
after almost eight years of post conflict and international reconstruction
efforts, Liberia is gradually recouping from the scars of its 14 years of civil
war, which affected both the physical and psychological wellbeing of its
people. And while the health sector as a whole has seen improvements, a large
percentage of the population still has limited access to health and social
welfare services especially in the rural areas.

The
goal of this 30 months duration project is to contribute to poverty reduction
in Liberia through the improvement of the health status of the Liberian
population. In order to pursue this institutional goal, two major issues in
Liberia have to be addressed, which are the limited access to quality health
care as well as limited local capacity to manage and sustain such health care
system. In total, the target group of this action totals 333 481 people ,
divided into two main groups:

Direct
beneficiaries from 16 health catchment areas; hospital in Gbarnga (CB
Dunbar), health center in Belefenai and 14 others clinics covering a total
estimated catchment population of 266 951 : Women in child bearing age,
Children under 5 (respectively 23 & 17% of the population) and youths.
Bong
County stakeholders including Bong County Health Team (BoCHT) staff,
personnel working in the clinics, health center and hospital, Community
Health Volunteers (CHVs) (gCHVs and Traditional Trained Midwifes
(TTM)/Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA’s), CHDC and CHC members, Students
and teachers at the Phebe Nursing School (PNS), who have activities
throughout Bong County.

The
project will aim at addressing the following problems and constraints of the
specific target groups, which are commonly recognized by the MOHSW and form
part of the National Health Policy Plan (NHPP):

Precarious
hygiene, low health seeking behavior and demand for health services at the
community level; leading to high morbidity patterns & high risk
factors (like teenage pregnancy);
Critically
limited number and low capacity of Human Resources for the provision of
BPHS especially in rural areas where difficulties in retention are the
highest;
Lack
of health facilities providing 24h emergency obstetric care (EmoC),
secondary health structures and adequate referral mechanisms;
The
MOHSW and the other level of health management in Bong County are not yet
in capacity of re-establishing and maintaining the health system to its
pre-war status (funding and capacity gap, delay in developing guidelines
and launching sectoral policies);
Limited
capacity of National Drug Supply (NDS) and National health programs on
Malaria and HIV/AIDS to roll out their services throughout the country
& ensure availability of medical supplies .
Limited
local expertise in implementing new health programs such as mental health,
prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT).

TASKS
AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The
Mental health Referent is under the direct management of the Medical
Coordinator. He/She is in charge of the supervision of the work of the 4 Mental
Health supervisors (including 2 nurses), mentoring for the 3 trainees as mental
health clinicians and support of the work of the mental health general
coordinator and the field officer at the Bong County Health Team.

More
specifically:

1.Supervise,
manage and provide technical support to the mental health team:

To
plan and follow up the implementation of the team’s activities (field
work, reporting etc.)
To
provide technical and training support (training curriculum, pathology
identification and treatment, developing protocols, etc.),
To
ensure the regular debrief of the team members on their activities
Implement
the reorganization of the mental health team

2.Implement
the program mental health components in close collaboration with the other
medical departments:

To
support the transitional process of the psychiatric consultations handover
to the Bong County Health Team (BoCHT)
To
support the mental health coordinator of BoCHT in setting up the
activities
To
promote areas of collaboration between the mental health and the other
departments (ex: community health officers for the sensitization on stigma
etc.)
To
contribute to the capacity building of all partners in the quality
delivery of mental health services in Bong county

3.Participate
and contribute to the development of the mental health sector in Liberia:

Participate
in the implementation & monitoring of the National Mental Health Plan
and liaise with other stakeholders involved in mental health programming
To
mainstream mental health in curricula of general health workers )and
medical staff– including pre and in service training.
To
continue theoretical refreshments and on-job training for health workers
at county level
Contribute
to the strengthening of the links between the different community-based
activities

4.Participate
in all the monthly activities of MDM staff :

Participate
in the elaboration of reports for internal and donor purpose
Attend
and contribute to MDM internal and external meetings
Provide
technical advices and support on Mental Health issues to the other team
members
Active
communication with the other team members to ensure the smooth functioning
of the program.

5.Advocate
for the effective implementation of the accreditation and certification of the
MDM mental health training program and its graduates:

Follow
up of the recently finalized formalization process of the MH training
curriculum
Support
the BoCHT to take over in the organization, and coordination of the
activities of the MH training program
Follow
up of the legal status of the MH supervisors and recently trained
clinicians after successful certification in front of the Nursing Board

Required
skills:

Psychiatrist
or psychiatric nurse
Ability
to work with and supervise a team
Experience
in capacity building and skills transfer (including to local authorities)
Ability
to represent the organization and negotiate with program partners
Understanding
and interest in collaboration with national authorities
Excellent
communication and organization skills
Experience
in the use of mental health assessment tools and training national staff
in the use of them
Experience
with working with patients with substance abuse
Experience
with the setting up of support groups
Experience/knowledge
on epilepsy

Other
preferred skills and specification:

Previous
participation in medical program in Africa or in post conflict situations
Interest
in community mobilization, anthropology and intercultural approaches
Creativity,
patience, and flexibility
Willing
to work and live in group
Ability
to work in a potentially insecure environment and follow security rules.
Strong
commitment to the organisation and its values