The Regional Hospital will open the Mental Health Hospitalization Unit for children and adolescents in January.

In January, the Regional University Hospital of Málaga will open the Brief Hospitalization Unit for Child and Adolescent Mental Health on the ground floor of the Guadalmedina building, with the addition of 24 new professionals, as announced last Friday by the Health, Presidency, and Emergency Minister, Antonio Sanz, who participated in a discussion organized by SUR with the collaboration of the Official College of Physicians.

The renovation works of the Guadalmedina building were awarded at the end of September 2023 to Insbesa de Fomentos y Servicios for 455,597.52 euros, VAT included, after seven companies submitted bids. The work was completed in just over six months and, since then and for almost two years, the infrastructure has been closed pending the incorporation of psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, nursing staff specialized in mental health, auxiliary nursing care technicians, administrative staff, and orderlies required by the unit, whose human resources were confirmed by the minister last Friday, resolving the situation that had caused several union protests.

The unit will have five rooms, between six and ten beds, for the admission of children and young people with mental health issues, so the works have cost more than 455,000 euros

The intervention itself consisted of making the floor more open to accommodate a total of five patient rooms (between six and ten beds), the nursing control and lounge rooms, the dining room, an office, a storage room, a treatment and workshop room, as well as support areas. This new infrastructure in the Guadalmedina building is shared with the Eating Disorder Unit (UTCA). In total, it covers 602.66 square meters, with a usable area of 339 square meters.

Attention to Acute Crises

This type of unit provides intensive care for acute crises, offering comprehensive psychiatric and psychological treatment to adolescents with severe decompensations who cannot be treated on an outpatient basis only, including clinical evaluation, medication, and individual and group psychotherapy.

Additionally, there are brief and supervised stays, so patients can be hospitalized from one to three weeks in a full hospitalization regime, with continuous supervision, with the aim of stabilizing the minor and reducing clinical risks such as self-harm or disruptive behaviors.

Finally, multidisciplinary intervention and family support are emphasized. A specialized team coordinates the treatment, includes therapeutic workshops and occupational activities, and works together with families to facilitate understanding of the disorder and the social and school reintegration of the adolescent after discharge.

Mental disorders in children and adolescents skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic due to isolation and a drop in socialization

Numerous scientific studies have warned that, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health problems in children and adolescents have skyrocketed. For instance, a report by Save the Children at the end of 2021 indicated that these children suffer fear, unhappiness, and anxiety, with mental disorders in Andalusia increasing from 1.7% in 2017 to 3.7% at the time of the study’s publication in children and adolescents aged four to 14 years, while behavioral disorders have grown from 3.2% to 6.3%. Employment is three times higher (10%) in Andalusian families without employment after the Covid-19 crisis. Moreover, children living in low-income households in the region are five times more likely (14%) to suffer mental or behavioral disorders than those living in high-income households.

The closure of schools, the isolation of children, changes in daily life, and uncertainty among family members and acquaintances, as well as the drop in socialization, are some of the causes of this increase in mental health issues among the child and youth population.

Commitment to Mental Health

The president of the Junta, Juanma Moreno, has repeatedly emphasized his government's commitment to mental health, its prevention, and early detection. In fact, last June he stated that his goal is for all provinces to have Child and Adolescent Mental Health Hospitalization Units.

The minister himself, Antonio Sanz, acknowledged on November 13 that "mental health problems have significantly increased in recent years, becoming a major concern for public health," leading to an increase in staff and infrastructure dedicated to this task, as well as the reestablishment of the General Directorate of Mental Health in Andalusia.

Healthcare boosts specialized nursing with 69 new additions to the public service

The staff has been reinforced with 353 hires, reaching a total of 3,000 professionals distributed across 153 devices. Additionally, the minister assured, 69 specialist nurses will be incorporated, while 53 new clinical psychologists in Primary Care are already in the system during this legislature. In fact, in 2024, 9,000 appointments and 1,400 users were attended in health center consultations for this reason.

Andalusia now has 27 Clinical Management Units for Mental Health and 79 Community Mental Health Units.