FPH UI Online Seminar Discusses Prisoners and Mental Health

Wednesday, 21 June 2023, the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Universitas Indonesia (UI) again held an Online Seminar (Semol) entitled “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right: Prisoners and Mental Health”. Semol is collaborating with Mental Health as a form of aging towards World Mental Health Day 2023. “This topic of mental health is very interesting and is indeed being widely discussed. The hope is that today’s online seminar can add insight and benefit the community,” said Dr. Ir. Asih Setiarini, M.Sc., Deputy Dean for Education, Research and Student Affairs FPH UI in her remarks.

Based on 2018 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data, the prevalence of mental problems and disorders in the Indonesian population has reached 10%. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 8 risk factors for mental disorders, namely overcrowding, various forms of violence, loneliness, lack of privacy, lack of activity, isolation from social life, uncertainty about the future, and inadequate facilities. Therefore, a mental health service mechanism is needed for prisoners because they still have the right to receive health services according to standards,” said dr. Herbet Sidabutar, Sp.KJ from the Directorate of Mental Health, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia as the keynote speaker.

Drs. Elly Yuzar, M.H., Director of Health Care and Rehabilitation at the Directorate General of Prisoners, then presented material on “Inmate Mental Health: Potential, Challenges, and Implementation”. According to him, mental disorders in prisoners that are not resolved can hinder the goals of the prison itself. However, the presence of mental disorders can hinder the achievement of these goals. Mental health services are needed in prisons, starting from promotive, preventive, curative, to rehabilitative services,” said Drs. Elly.

The biggest challenge in providing mental health services in prisons is the lack of human resources in quantity and quality. “There are still many officers who do not understand and are aware of this mental health problem. Possible solutions include making regulations, strengthening, and increasing the capacity of officers, and building partnership networks with health service providers and NGOs,” concluded Drs. Elly Yuzar.

In line with what dr. Herbert and Drs. Elly, Dr. Tono Rustiano, M.M., as a representative from the National Social Security Council, then presented material on “Social Security for Mental Health in the Context of Correctional Institutions”. Dr. Tono explained the legal basis for health services, starting from the 1945 Constitution, Law no. 40 of 2004 concerning the National Social Security System, Perpres no. 82 of 2018 concerning Health Insurance, and various other laws and regulations. “From this we can see that the government is obliged to fulfill and cover the health services of prisoners, including mental disorders. But the problem is, none of the recipients of this service are from the convict category. Health services for prisoners are not in accordance with what is stated in the law,” said Dr. Tono. Dr. Tono emphasized that there must be more detailed regulations, flowcharts, and mechanisms for health services so that the rights of convicts can be fulfilled.

Nur Ihsanti Amalia, S.Psi., CPC., Co-Founder of Mental Health then discussed a lot about the problems of mental health services in prisons and the handling efforts that have been carried out by Sehat Jiwa. Mental health education efforts in prisons focus on two things, namely increasing the awareness and self-capacity of correctional officers regarding mental health and creating modules that can be a guide for officers in providing mental health services,” said Nur Ihsanti. Nur Ihsanti also emphasized that collaboration between various parties is the key to creating prisons that are friendly to mental health issues.

“FPH UI, especially the Department of Health and Behavioral Science Education (PKIP) will always be ready to make various efforts to address mental health problems in Indonesia, one of the things we do is to open discussions on this topic,” concluded Dr. Dian Ayubi, SKM., M.QIH., Head of the FPH UI PKIP Department. (WR)