Mental Health Support For Tourism Sector Workers

Tourism workers experiencing COVID-19-related mental health challenges will soon be able to access counselling support services under a newly established programme, dubbed ‘Talk Yuh Mind’.

The multi-stakeholder initiative is being spearheaded by the tourism ministry’s Tourism Linkages Health and Wellness Network and will be executed by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Centre for Leadership and Governance. Support is also being provided by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

The programme was launched on Wednesday (April 13) during a brief ceremony at the UWI’s regional headquarters, Mona, St. Andrew.

It aims to raise awareness among tourism workers about who they can contact if they believe they are experiencing anxiety, depression, mental confusion, social deprivation, and stress resulting from COVID-19.

Counsellors and psychologists will also be identified within resort areas to provide the requisite interventions.

An initial 10 counsellors, inclusive of clinical and psychology associates and students of the UWI’s Clinical Psychology Programme, have already been onboarded to provide support. Their services will be formalised with the signing of contracts shortly.

Tourism workers requiring psychology support services will be able to interact with these and other targeted counsellors via the programme’s website – www.talkyuhmind.com – slated to go live soon.

Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, welcomed the initiative and commended the stakeholder input facilitating its development in a speech delivered by TEF Executive Director, Dr. Carey Wallace.

He said research shows that a significant number of tourism workers globally have been affected by mental health challenges since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing out that “we also noticed that pattern here, in Jamaica.

“There is no doubt that that state of mind would have affected productivity, efficiencies, job satisfaction, and it can manifest in the form of self-harm and harm to others,” Mr. Bartlett added.

He said in recognition of the tourism sector’s importance to Jamaica’s development, the ‘Talk Yuh Mind’ project was created with the goal of implementing concrete solutions to address the growing mental health concerns among local tourism workers.

Mr. Bartlett also assured that the Ministry will continue to offer health and wellness support to the workers through the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

He pointed out that the Tourism Workers Vaccination Initiative, co-chaired by Permanent Secretary Jennifer Griffith and Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) President, Clifton Reader, has been collaborating with public and private stakeholders to streamline and expedite the immunisation of workers

These partners include the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), and tourism sector interests.

“I’m pleased to inform you that the vaccination rate among tourism workers is more than double the national average, with over 70 per cent of our tourism workforce and their families being vaccinated. Our goal is to ensure that all 170,000 tourism employees are vaccinated and protected against the dangers of catching the deadly virus, and this will help with the sector’s full recovery,” Mr. Bartlett informed.

Noting that safety, security and seamlessness underpin the sense of well-being of visitors and the tourism workers interacting with them, Mr. Bartlett emphasised that “it is our responsibility, as a destination, to ensure the well-being of all tourism stakeholders is secure”.

In his remarks, Health and Wellness Network Chairman, Kyle Mais, said the programme’s implementation was timely, given the dislocation COVID-19 has wreaked on the industry, livelihoods, health, “[and] on our minds.

“As we endeavour to recover, there is no better time for the conversation we are having… and, indeed, to expand the discussion that health and wellness is not limited or restricted to just pampering, dieting, exercising. But we must also include the mental, psychological, emotional [aspects], which [are] also a big part of the bigger picture,” he stated.

Consultant Psychiatrist and Therapist, Dr. Wendel Abel, said the initiative was an “excellent [support] programme”.

He noted that despite the global industry being impacted by the pandemic, the local workforce “somehow, managed to have kept services going, and we have to commend them for that”.