The mental rehabilitation centre is located in Kandal province’s Kandal Stung district. FACEBOOK
The criteria for Cambodians eligible to receive treatment and care at the mental rehabilitation centre in Kandal province has been expanded, with a senior official urging municipal and provincial authorities to send eligible residents to the facility.
The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) said the centre, located in the province’s Kandal Stung district, has issued new guidelines expanding its criteria of eligibility such that anyone who exhibits violent behaviour or otherwise threaten the safety of their families and communities can now be accepted as a patient.
Admission has been extended to those who are currently residing with family. Previously, only the homeless and those who were unable to afford care were eligible for treatment.
The ministry’s Social Welfare Department issued the new guidelines on the reception and care of patients at the centre on February 7.
It said the guidelines were developed to illustrate the procedures and mechanisms for receiving care, as well as for management of cases, accommodation and rehabilitation.
Touch Channy, head of the ministry’s General Department of Technical Affairs, said that though the principle of admission and care for the mentally ill was not new, it is only recently that the criteria has been expanded.
“We already had this policy when it was implemented during the opening of the centre. It was a little narrow then, but the latest principle is more open,” he said.
Authorities in all municipalities and provinces will now be able to send constituents with psychiatric disorders to the rehabilitation centre. However, they must be fully registered by filling in an identification form.
The new guidelines require certified documents issued by the ministry and local authority, a certificate from municipal and provincial social affairs departments, and a certificate from a registered psychiatrist.
The rehabilitation centre was officially inaugurated in early September 2019, the first such facility in Cambodia. It is estimated that around 80 people are currently staying there.
