Background: 

Recovery for psychiatric patients is challenging. Besides medication, various forms of intervention and support are needed to help them return to normal living in the community.

Description: 

The Psychiatry Recovery Carnival HBUK 2024 was organized by Mentari Batu Gajah and the Community Psychiatry Team HBUK on 27th June 2024, at Dewan Bahagia HBUK. The event aimed to raise awareness about existing services, benefits, and career programs available to assist psychiatric patients in their recovery journey.

Implementation: 

Eight government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were invited to give talks and set up booths to provide information on their roles and services. These included SOCSO Perak, Pusat Aspirasi Anak Perak (PASAK), the Kinta District Social Welfare Office, the Perak State Entrepreneurs Secretariat (STeP), the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), Daybreak Association, SAPOT, and the Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA).

A job fair open to the public and psychiatric patients was held at Dewan Anggerik HBUK, in collaboration with SOCSO and PASAK. 74 job seekers attended, with 35 job opportunities offered by three companies. More than half of the participants were psychiatric patients. A Supported Employment Program counter was set up to register patients and provide support services to employers and job seekers.

Impact & Challenges: 

The collaboration between Mentari Batu Gajah and various private and government agencies has the potential to catalyze the recovery process for psychiatric patients. It serves as a platform to raise awareness among the public, healthcare staff, and psychiatric patients about available support services, career development, and welfare assistance. Although employer participation was limited, it helped combat the stigma of psychiatric patients as incompetent workers and open for more career and skill development opportunities for them.

Conclusion: 

This program can serve as a reference for other Mentari to organize in the future to effectively utilize career opportunities and community support services. The carnival can be enhanced by incorporating experience-sharing sessions by psychiatric patients who have successfully returned to work under the employment support program and by employers who have hired workers with psychiatric illnesses. This approach may help build confidence among employers and agencies regarding the effectiveness of the supported employment program.