Unchain Partners In Health

Sierra Leone’s history--some of it centuries old, some of it within recent memory--is still relevant and impacting each of us, even across time and an ocean. We speak with Dr. Ismail Rashid, a scholar and professor of African history who grew up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to learn about three key events that have shaped the country, especially in terms of mental health and mental health care: the Atlantic slave trade, British colonialism, and the civil war.

How has history influenced how Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital was built--and how is this history still present within its walls? We hear from two clinicians--Dr. Edward Nahim, who for decades served as Sierra Leone’s only psychiatrist, and Anneiru Braima, head nurse at the hospital--to learn how historical trauma, systemic oppression, and poverty prevented the hospital from providing effective mental health care for years, and produced a facility "unfit for human accommodation."

Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital has come a long way over the years--and that transformation has been both structural and personal. We speak with Annieru Braima, head nurse; Julianna Showers, mental health nurse; and Alpha Sesay, infrastructure lead for Partners In Health, to learn about how the hospital has grown from an impoverished, under-resourced facility into a dignified hospital providing quality mental health care to patients. Because renovation is about much more than improving a building—it can mark the start of a new era, for patients, communities, and a country.

How can we fight deeply-engrained stigma around mental health—not just in Sierra Leone, but around the world? We speak with mental health nurse Julianna Showers and psychiatrist Dr. Abdul Jalloh to learn how Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital staff are working to promote awareness and respect around mental health conditions. And we speak with Aminata, a patient who received care at the hospital, who sheds light on the need for systemic transformation.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month--a time to celebrate the strides made in mental health care around the globe, and to recommit ourselves to all the work that remains towards ensuring mental health care for all. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we're listening back to Unchain, our podcast miniseries about the transformation of the oldest psychiatric hospital in sub Saharan Africa: Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital. Tune in each Saturday to hear from staff, patients, and historians of this remarkable hospital--and get ready for a new episode on May 29 covering recent updates from the hospital.

What is the path forward from Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital--especially in the face of persistent stigma against mental health conditions? For a growing number of patients, the step after leaving inpatient care is to become a community health worker (CHW), providing support to those currently admitted to the hospital. To learn more about this new community health worker program, we talk with Dr. Abdul Jalloh, psychiatrist and medical superintendent of Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, and Agness Sumaila and Hawa Kabia, two current CHWs whose work is helping them rebuild their lives.