Stories from the Centre is now available in English

Stories from the Centre is a brochure published by the Agency for Quality and Accreditation in Healthcare in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AKAZ). It has now been translated into English, thanks to its excellent reception by the professional and general public in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The brochure contains reportage from mental health centres across the Federation of BiH. It is available in PDF format and can be downloaded HERE.

The stories retold by its author Almir Panjeta present the work of the centres through the lives of their users, managers and staff and their unselfish dedication to each other. The brochure was launched during the opening ceremony of the FBiH Healthcare Quality Week 2018.

“When I set off in June to visit the mental health centres, I embarked on a journey into the unknown. I returned enriched by vital experience, however. In the centres, I met their dedicated staff, but also the users, who are involved as equals in everything. I talked with many of them, and they told me their life stories, which, however hard and traumatic they have been, nonetheless contain a positive message, a message of hope,” says Almir Panjeta.

AKAZ Director Dr Ahmed Novo stresses the importance of the brochure for the fight against stigma and that the purpose behind publishing and distributing it is to get the anti-stigma message across to as large a public as possible:

“The stories come from the mental health centres and they are about patients, but also healthcare workers, affected by processes of social marginalisation. It is our hope that, by publishing and distributing this brochure, we can help spread the anti-stigmatisation message as widely as possible and help put the focus of attention and public interest on people who need mental health support or who work in the area, as that is where it should be,” says Dr Novo, Director of AKAZ and editor of the brochure.

The Mental Health Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina is supported by the Swiss government and implemented by the XY Association, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the Republika Srpska.