The Mental Health Association Gozo Association’s 10th Anniversary Conference attracted hundreds of online delegates and a top speaker line-up of medical experts, with the event opening address given by President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Mental Wellness in Covid Times – was the title of the tenth anniversary conference of the MHAG held last Friday.

The conference delved deeply and comprehensively into the issues specifically affecting Maltese and Gozitan people around Covid-19.

MHAG, in partnership with Queen Mary University of London Malta Campus, brought together medical and academic experts from the fields of psychology, mental health and family therapy with an enthusiastic audience using the interactive opportunity to ask questions directly of the speakers.

The Association said that the speakers presented to delegates from a temporary studio which was set up at the Queen Mary, Malta Campus in Gozo, and remotely online, in a seamless programme that explored multiple facets of mental health issues that have emerged directly from changes to behaviour and circumstances introduced into society since March 2020.

The full conference, including the opening address by President Emeritus H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca can continue to be viewed online as a resource available on both Facebook and YouTube and is available to everyone who would like to learn more about the outcomes, coping strategies, treatments, how to look out for loved ones and friends, a full meditation session, and where to go for more help and information on mental wellbeing.

MHAG explained that the conference offered insight and advice for varied sectors of society including children and the elderly, tackling issues including loneliness, fear and bereavement.President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca opened the conference, saying that, “particularly on this very special occasion of the tenth anniversary of the (Mental Health) Association I’d like to personally thank them and on behalf of all the people they have helped, for the change that they have managed to bring to Gozitans, and to society as a whole with their endeavours in mental health work that they have been doing all through these ten years.”

Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, concluded the conference saying, “this is such an important subject and it’s so important that we spend time talking about it, and thinking about how we are going to help people in these totally unprecedented times.”

“It (Covid) is quite a remarkable experience that none of us have had to deal with before, and so that’s why it’s thrown up so many challenges. The work continues. Our plan is to have monthly events at Queen Mary University of London Malta Campus around issues that matter,” he said.

Professor Warrens continued, “one of the things that is important to us at the University is to be relevant and embedded in the local community that we serve. We want to make a contribution to debate and to health education and health generally in all the countries that we are operating in.”

Pauline Camilleri, President of the Mental Health Association Gozo said, “Mental Health has moved out from the shadows of stigma and into the mainstream consciousness helped in part by the voluntary work of wellbeing organisations such as ours at MHAG.”

“This year marks an important milestone for our work, and the Covid circumstances have thrust upon us the need to proactively demonstrate our resilience on behalf of our community, by finding this new way to deliver our important annual conference,” she said.

Ms Camilleri added that, “we have not been able to gather together in person this year as usual, however we trust and hope that our new digital format has delivered intelligent information, debate and practically usable resources for our clients and audiences among our fellow citizens in Gozo and Malta who have been affected by these extraordinary times.”

Running alongside the conference speaker deliveries the audience thread made for interesting reading summed up at the end by one of the virtual delegates (Bal Jas) who commented, “I feel this conference is so important – we are talking openly about a reality we have all been dealing with for months. It feels like a breath of fresh air. I hope more people can see it and feel more understood and have their anxieties normalised and receive some helpful tips and ideas about how to cope.”

MHAG said that it will be following up the conference with further initiatives aimed at helping the community deal with the added mental health pressures of Covid-19 and which will be announced on the facebook page @MHAGozo.

The date for the next MHAG Annual Conference was also announced as the 22nd of October 2021.

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