Belize’s First International Social Work Conference  

Today, representatives from the University of Belize and the California Baptist University gathered to participate in an international social work research conference. This year’s presentations focused on the topic of mental health in Belize. The two-day event serves as a means for key stakeholders to gather and discuss how to protect and assist people struggling with mental health in Belize. News Five’s Britney Gordon attended the conference today for more details. Here’s the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting 

The University of Belize has hosted the annual Social Work Conference for nearly a decade, but this year marked the first time the conference became an international event. Representatives from the California Baptist University travelled to Belize to share their research and findings on mental health issues in America in hopes of highlighting new avenues for Belizeans to take in addressing various mental struggles. Dean of the University of Belize, Dr. Lisa Johnson explained the theme of the conference to us.

 

Dr. Lisa Johnson, Dean, University of Belize

“The theme for this year from the International Federation of Social Workers is Buen Vivir we all want to have good living. In order to have good living, we see mental health as a part of the package of good living. We believe that this is a sector that involves multiple disciplines different professionals and so we want to create a platform for social workers and other professionals who are involved in mental health and wellness to come together, to exchange ideas, to identify our gaps, and start talking about realistic solutions to our problems.”

 

The conference covered various topics such as practice for police officers in mental health, mental health needs of children in foster care, and trauma and resiliency in gang-involved girls in Belize. Dr. Dretona Maddox, an assistant Professor at CBU, presented on black teenage mothers. Maddox said that collaborations like this play a vital role in implementing solutions on an international level.

 

Dr. Dretona Maddox, Assistant Professor, C.B.U.

“The collaboration is amazing because it is bringing not only research that we are doing in the United States, but also bringing it internationally to the country of Belize. And so we are excited about that collaboration because it just expands the work that we do. What we know in social work is that these issues that we face are not just localized in one particular area, you’ll find in research that what affects one, even though it may be culturally different in how we intervene with them and how we, create our best practices overall. Poverty in one area is poverty in another. And so what we’re experiencing in the United States is also what we’re experiencing abroad. And so it’s important to bring that together so that we are doing best practices across the board and not just in a localized area.”

 

Another topic discussed was the effect of poverty on mental health. This was a concern that Dr. Kendra Flores-Carter stressed in her panel due to Belize’s high poverty rate. She said that, as poverty exacerbates mental health issues, it is important we recognize signs of those struggling and create accessible resources for them to cope.

 

Dr. Kendra Flores-Carter, Associate Professor, C.B.U.

“Belize has a high poverty rate. When I was doing my research I think it’s over 50 percent poverty if I’m not from the research that I looked at. And so what that tells me is that there is a significant need for mental health resources and services simply because poverty is directly correlated with our mental health. And when we are not able to pay our bills and meet our basic needs, shelter, clothing, food, we are really in a space where sometimes we’re suffering and sometimes, we really get disturbed mentally. You can’t sleep if you’re worried about paying your bills. And if you’re going to work, eventually, because of all the overwhelming stressors that comes with, Maybe not being able to pay your rent, not being able to feed your family, that stressor then becomes a significant crisis within your life, and really and truly what happens is you break down, and you’re worse off, actually. And so it’s very important to be able to create resources and really recognize when people are in crisis.”

 

Attending the event was a cross-section of stakeholders, including representatives from law enforcement, the healthcare sector, and academia. Johnson said that the inclusion of a broad range of people is important for the effectiveness of the event.

 

Dr. Lisa Johnson

“Present we have representatives not only from the University of Belize’s faculty, but Ministry of Education and also Ministry of Home Affairs. The Minister of Home Affairs, in fact, is here himself to participate in one of the panels. You will see police officers social workers out in different fields of practice. And really this is for every professional. It is not something that is just for social work professionals. This is for every professional because every profession deals with mental health issues. Both within the practitioners of that profession and with the people that you work with and with the public that you face. So this is a broad based effort. to look at mental health and wellness on a society, societal level, understanding that in the individual’s mental health then contributes to the lack of or the presence of mental wellness for the society.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.