<p><strong><em>Dr.
Yetunde Onajin is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Nature’s
Crest Home and Rehabilitation Centre,  ;a halfway home and a multi-health
facility set up principally to provide rehabilitation services for the mentally
and behaviorally challenged individuals in the society. She speaks to Isaac
Ngumah in this interview about the mission and prospects of her rehabilitation
centre</em></strong></p>



<p><strong>What is
the focus of your Centre?</strong></p>



<p>Our
services are focused on rehabilitation, recovery, support and promoting
well-being. ; These include but not
limited to comprehensive mental health assessments, referral to mental health
facilities for additional support, medication management and compliance,
motivational Psychotherapy (one to one / group therapy), anxiety management,
care planning and training for after and ongoing care management, support to
discontinue  ;substance abuse/become abstinent,
community based detoxification, advice and education in relation to risk of
using, drugs/alcohol/medication, relapse prevention, improve psychological
health and wellbeing, minimize psychological distress, enable people to live
their lives to their fullest, potential  ;training and capacity building.</p>



<p><strong>How did
it begin?</strong></p>



<p>After I
graduated from the University of Ibadan Hospital I joined the Lagos State
Health Management Board, did internship with the General Hospital, Lagos. I did
my Youth Service at National Orthopedic.  ;Thereafter, ;I joined then General
Hospital, Ikeja which is now the Lagos State Teaching Hospital. After a while,
I  ;went into private hospital management.
I established and managed ; Optima Clinic
and Children Hospital.  ;I later relocated
abroad and worked at different health and social management levels in various
councils. When I retired, I returned to Nigeria and established Nature’s Crest
Home and Rehabilitation Centre. As a medical student going through medical
postings, I have always had empathy for people who are mentally challenged
because a lot of them do not ask for it. They just found themselves in that
situation. But there are some who actually asked for it by abusing psychoactive
substances.</p>



<p><strong>What
inspired you to go into this business?</strong></p>



<p>As I
was retiring, I realized that there was a need for people who are mentally
challenged to have a lot of supports. Initially I was thinking of the elderly
but because of the challenges that mental health entails I opted to supported
the mentally challenged individuals. I found out that there are lots of
supports available for the elderly from their children and family members.  ;They can arrange for support workers or
caregivers to take care of them as well as employ maids. But for people who are
mentally challenged, they are even though mostly often loved by their family
members, they are ill equipped and ill prepared to manage them without
specialist support. ;So, we decided to have a home where we can continue to
rehabilitate patients after being discharged from the hospital. This entails
real rehabilitation and in that process, the family members are free to visit
to see the way we relate to them and family membered are assuredas their loved
ones are discharged home.</p>



<p><strong>How
many residents have benefitted from this service?</strong></p>



<p>We opened in October 2013. That makes us six years old in the business. In those six years, we have rehabilitated well over 150 people both people who are psychologically challenged and are those who are abusing substances . The job here is a team work of dedicated professionals and it is multi-disciplinary. We engage the services of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists; physicians, occupational therapist, social workers, trained psychiatric nurses, caregiversand crucial support workers. What we do is holistic and it takes care of all their needs both psychologically and mentally. We are the first private rehabilitation Centre which embraces psychodrama. We organize various vocational trainings and assist residents to return to schooling and higher education.</p>



<p><strong>What
are your challenges so far?</strong></p>



<p>Challenges
are much and in various degrees.  ;We are an NGO that encourages parents to
donate little from what they have. So, we complement their contributions. We
are not a registered charity organization. Some parents realize the need to
support us and we appreciate their efforts. Technically, we need to increase
the capacity of our electricity and facilities. We are working on alternative
power supply.</p>



<p><strong>Do
patients exhibit uncontrollable aggression?</strong></p>



<p>Not
exactly. Before they get to our Centre, they have already been treated in
hospital. They come here for rehabilitation. So they do not project much
aggression to us. Cases of violence or aggressiveness are rare. However,
occasionally, they may be agitated and there are ways and manners we deal with
such situations when it arises. In this, we do not have anybody chained down or
detained. ; There are modern ways of dealing with a person who is challenged
without having to restrain him physically and that is what we do here. However,
everybody has a purpose in life. The mentally challenged have dreams and
aspirations. So, we make them understand that these dreams and aspirations must
be achieved and that when they key into the program here they have hope for the
future.</p>



<p><strong>Were
there objections from your family ;when you wanted to start?</strong></p>



<p>When I
wanted to go into it, my husband felt ;I didn’t need to do it. He was
concerned about my age at 62 and risks. ; I told him it is about my
passion. ;I saw it as a calling and as my own ministry. ;So I was able
to convince him that he didn’t need to worry about my age and likely violence.
All my family members have been convinced that am absolutely safe with what I
am doing. They actually love it. They are hundredpercent in support. They
contribute their own quota.</p>



<p><strong>Any ;support
from individuals and the government?</strong></p>



<p>A
family donated money to expand and modernize our kitchen. ; Some families. my churchand a  ;former resident donated bags of rice, beans,
cartons of table water, packs of noodles ;
and other food items. For government, we wrote the  ; Lagos State Ministry
of Health. As of the time we wrote in 2013, we wanted partnership with us. We
wanted them to ;see what we are doing and what we are hoping to achieve and
roll it over their local government council. We attended various meeting and
conferences but it is on the table for final decision.</p>



<p><strong>Are you
stigmatized for being involved with mentally challenged people?</strong></p>



<p>Everywhere
in the world except the developing countries, stigmatization of mentally
challenged people is not as it used to be. Those days, they isolate them in
asylum. People paid money to visit them like they go to the zoo to visit
animals. But over time, they realized it was a wrong thing to do and they
introduced hospitals and with time, they became part of the community. That’s
what we are proposing. Everywhere in the world, mental health is no longer a
big deal because they know when you are under amelioration and you become ;stable,
you can hold even the highest job in any organization.  ;So, that’s what we
are trying to promote here. We reintegrate back into the community so that the
community can see that it is not a big deal to have a mental health challenge.</p>



<p><strong>Do
their loved ones visit them?</strong></p>



<p>Yes,
they do visit them. I am so glad that despite the challenges of their children,
parents never give up. We do send them home for what we call parole. They go
and spend time at home with their family members. They come back and we do the
final therapy and we discharge them finally and they are reintegrated into the
system again.</p>



<p> ;<strong>What
kind of dream do you have for Nigeria?</strong></p>



<p>My
dream for Nigeria is where people who have challenges are not stigmatized;
where they have equal opportunities.</p>



<p><strong>How can
the government be of assistance to you?</strong></p>



<p>They can visit us and see what we are doing. They should study what we are doing and roll it over to the local government councils, so that mental health care becomes more accessible to the people.</p>



<p><strong>How did
you source for support when you started?</strong></p>



<p>I
raised loans from abroad.</p>

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