By Robert A Emmanuel
The Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ambassador Lionel Hurst, said that the Minister of State with responsibility for Social Transformation, Senator Samantha Marshall, will be expected to suggest further legislative reforms as the government reviews its mental health policies.
The Cabinet met on Wednesday with Senator Marshall about the country’s policies on handling individuals with mental health challenges, including a discussion about the rise in individuals with Alzheimer’s.
Mental health legislation in the country remains archaic as the government has previously acknowledged the need for reform.
“Clearly we are going to have to change some legislation to make sure that these youngsters have rights that are embedded in law rather than merely some love and affection that drives the caregivers,” Hurst stated.
He added that, “the Minister of Social Transformation, herself a lawyer, will be proposing some of these [reforms] to the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda through the Ministry of Legal Affairs.”
Last week, Rashawn Shabazz, who was suffering from mental health issues, was shot by police officers during an altercation in St John’s.
Shabazz, who was released from the prison a few days earlier, was seen throwing projectiles and carrying a weapon threatening bystanders.
He’d also injured a police officer.
Prison staff have told Observer that it has been difficult getting its mental health prisoners to take their medication since many would act out or engage in throwing away the food where the medication would be inserted.
Hurst acknowledged the difficulty that law enforcement and prison authorities face, stating that those with mental problems should be treated as gently as possible.
“There is a difficulty at the Clarevue [Psychiatric] Hospital…many families have abandoned their loved ones, so that though the patients are well enough to return to their homes, the family members have refused to accept them,” he said.
Family members, according to Hurst, would have expressed fear as a result of past violent outbursts experienced by their loved ones and argued that the mental health facility can no longer admit new patients as a result.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that if a person has mental difficulties and he can be treated with certain medicines, then it would be better for them to remain in his or her household,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet notes that Alzheimer’s is seen to be affecting more of the country’s elderly, and “daycare centers for the elderly are likely to become [increasingly] necessary throughout Antigua and Barbuda.”