HM the King Inaugurates and Visits Psychosocial Rehab Center in Ibn Rochd University Hospital, Carried Out by Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity

HM King Mohammed VI on Wednesday inaugurated the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center as part of Casablanca’s Ibn Rochd University Hospital. This solidarity project illustrates, once again, the special interest the Sovereign takes in the promotion of the health sector, in general, and of mental health, in particular. HM the King took the opportunity to visit various components of this center, whose mission is to care for patients with mental disabilities caused by serious and chronic mental illnesses, with a view to reducing the deleterious effects of their disability and promoting their social and professional reintegration. Carried out by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity for an investment of around MAD 10.5 million, this project is part of an action plan led by the Foundation, aiming to support the national medical sector, through the reinforcement of the existing medical offer, the improvement of access to care for the most deprived populations, and the integration of a complementary social approach in the mechanisms of accompaniment of the patients and beneficiaries Adjacent to the Ibn Rochd University Psychiatric Center, this 2,100-square-meter structure has a therapeutic pole with psychology, psychiatry, occupational therapy and functional evaluation rooms, as well as a socio-educational pole with a multipurpose room and workshops for cooking-therapy, plastic arts, pottery, hairdressing-aesthetics and computers. These thematic workshops aim to help patients become aware of their emotions, improve their ability to concentrate, stimulate their imagination and creativity, regain self-confidence, participate in their social and professional integration, identify possible blocks that were previously unidentified, and provide them with a group experience that promotes communication. The new Center, which also houses an administrative center, training rooms, physical and artistic expression rooms, sports facilities, a library, a cafeteria, a laundry room and reception and relaxation areas, allows the patients treated, estimated at more than 1,300 per year, to break with the isolation caused by their mental pathology, as well as to develop their relational abilities, acquire certain professional skills and improve their sense of well-being. In order to fully fulfill its mission, the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center of the Ibn Rochd University Hospital has 5 medical specialists (3 psychiatrists and 2 neuro-psychologists), 7 mental health nurses, as well as a support staff composed of 7 trainers in hairdressing, computer science, cooking, sports, theater, pottery and art therapy. The result of a partnership between the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity and the Ibn Rochd University Hospital in Casablanca, the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center is managed by the Psychiatry Department of the Ibn Rochd University Hospital in collaboration with “The League for Mental Health”, an association specialized in mental health. Currently, 156 people are followed at the said Center. This project comes in addition to the many medical and social initiatives carried out by the Foundation and aimed at reinforcing the mapping of the health care offer in the region, notably through the creation of local medical centers in the Sidi Moumen district and in the new town of Errahma, and “specific” local medical centers in the Sidi Othmane district (level II health center), and in the Moulay Rachid district (medical-psychosocial center).