Benin: Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom, is seeking partnership with the Edo Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the College of Nursing Sciences, UBTH, to strengthen community mental health nursing and improve care.
The proposal was discussed on Friday during a courtesy visit by senior lecturers from the university, led by Mrs Abieyuwa Eweka, Provost, College of Nursing Sciences, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, to officials in Benin.
Eweka said the delegation visited the ministry to explore collaboration on Community Mental Health Nursing aimed at strengthening mental healthcare delivery across Edo and addressing existing gaps in community-based services.
She said that while nursing education in Nigeria offered Public Health Nursing and Mental Health Nursing as separate specialties, there was currently no dedicated programme focused on Community Mental Health Nursing.
According to her, training nurses in community-based mental healthcare would bridge service delivery gaps, ensure patients received holistic support and facilitate their successful reintegration into society following treatment and recovery.
Dr Chinyere Ihejieto, Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing at Leeds Beckett University, said the collaboration would focus on developing Community Mental Health Nursing to address deficiencies in mental healthcare delivery systems.
She proposed establishing a pilot team of 10 nurses, comprising five Public Health Nurses and five Mental Health Nurses, to pioneer the initiative and demonstrate its effectiveness within communities.
Ihejieto said the university would provide technical support through developing operational guidelines, sharing best practices and introducing community mental healthcare frameworks currently used successfully within the United Kingdom.
She explained that the approach would promote community and home-based care, reduce stigma associated with mental illness and enable affected persons to receive support within familiar environments safely.
Senior lecturers at Leeds Beckett University, Caroline Key and Louisa Morley, said the model emphasised prevention, early intervention and addressing factors contributing to mental health challenges alongside treatment programmes.
They added that the university remained committed to sharing knowledge, research findings and practical experience to support the initiative and strengthen mental healthcare outcomes across participating communities effectively.
Responding, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Eugenia Abdallah, welcomed the proposed partnership, describing it as consistent with the ministry’s efforts to improve mental health services.
She said the ministry operated an intervention framework through which persons living with mental health conditions were identified, counselled and referred to appropriate treatment facilities for specialised medical care.
The commissioner added that beneficiaries received psychosocial support and, after recovery and medical certification, were reintegrated into society and empowered through skills acquisition programmes where necessary for livelihoods.
Abdallah reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to capacity building and professional training as key strategies for strengthening mental healthcare delivery and improving support services for vulnerable populations statewide.
She added that the Edo Government, under Gov. Monday Okpebholo, remained committed to protecting the health, dignity and wellbeing of residents through inclusive social and healthcare interventions.
Both parties expressed optimism that the proposed partnership would strengthen community-based mental healthcare, build professional capacity and improve access to quality mental health services across Edo.
