Through the CARICOM–Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) agreement, the CARICOM Youth Mental Health (Psychological) First Aid Programme is strengthening the capacity of young people and youth workers to respond effectively to mental health challenges.
Launched in August 2024 with more than 60 youth leaders, directors, officers, and workers, the programme continued in 2025 with key initiatives, including capacity-building sessions. Programme Manager for Youth Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Michele Small-Bartley, noted that the initiative “equips youth workers and leaders with practical skills to recognise emotional distress, provide immediate support, and connect peers to professional care, especially in disaster-prone and high-risk contexts.”
Programme Facilitator Professor Wendel Abel underscored the programme’s impact, highlighting its pivotal role in preparing Caribbean youth to provide emotional support during times of crisis:
“This programme on psychological first aid was designed to empower young people with the ability to offer meaningful support during challenging circumstances, providing not only practical assistance, but also a compassionate presence that helps restore stability and hope.”
WHY YOUTH?
According to the United Nations, the Caribbean and Latin America are home to 106 million young people aged 15 to 24 years, representing 20% of the population and marking the largest youth cohort in the Region’s history. Professor Abel noted that this demographic reality was a key reason to prioritise youth in the programme. Their unique ability to provide effective peer counselling reinforced the focus.
He provides further insight below:
FILLING GAPS IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Professor Abel emphasised that the programme seeks to address gaps in mental health services across the Region by engaging both young people and community members in its design and delivery.
He explains more below:
Impact on the Community: Provision of Crisis counselling in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa
Professor Abel highlighted that one of the programme’s tangible outcomes was the delivery of psychological first aid, both individually and in group settings, by trained participants to young people affected by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. He stressed that the programme’s lasting impact will be the continued mobilisation of trained personnel to provide psychological support in communities facing natural disasters and other crises.
He explains below.
CARIBBEAN YOUNG PEOPLE ARE COMMITTED
Professor Abel expressed deep admiration for the programme’s graduates, commending their dedication to advancing youth mental health across the Region. He noted that a tangible outcome of this commitment has been young people applying the skills and knowledge gained to provide grief support and counselling to their peers, both in the workplace and at home.
Listen below:
CARICOM will host a refresher training exercise in June 2026 for programme alumni and incoming recruits.
