One of those who get hit is mother of two Laila Elisabeth Rusti. – For a long time I have been afraid of opening the door when the doorbell rings. I’m terrified there’s a priest outside with a death message, Laila Elisabeth Rusti tells. She is the mother of a girl who struggles with addiction and mental health problems. Several times a month, Rusti goes to the guidance center of the Norwegian Sanitary Women’s Association in Bodø. Here she gets advice on how to handle feelings and everyday life at work and as a mother of other children. Feelings such as shame, fear and insecurity are part of everyday life. ASSESSMENT: Laila Elisabeth Rusti believes that the guidance center is absolutely decisive for her success in dealing with the situation as a mother. There is no other offer for relatives in Bodø, where she lives, she says Photo: Private – You think you are alone in having these problems, but at the center I meet other relatives who are in the same situation, and these meetings give me so a lot of strength. This is the only offer I can get here in Bodø, there is nothing equivalent for relatives, says Rusti. Ho took the message that the government has cut support for the Norwegian Sanitetskvinners association very hard. Now she fears that her center will disappear. The guidance center for the Sanitetskvinnenne has been run since 1974. In recent years, the government support has been between NOK 15-18 million annually. The refusal of support came as a surprise to the organisation. FURIOUS: Malin Stensønes, secretary general of the Norwegian Women’s Sanitary Association, is furious over the government’s cut in state aid. The government does not keep what it promises to invest in mental health and substance abuse, she believes. Photo: Anne Cecilie Remen / news Upset – We received no warning that the sanitary women would not support running a bereaved centre, says Malin Stensønes, secretary general of the Norwegian Women’s Sanitary Association. State support has made up half of the centre’s basic funding in recent years. Several thousand relatives use the centre, both young children, young people and adults are users. – The consequence is a severe erosion of the offer to the relatives. This affects those who struggle the most, and especially all young people and children. The cut is not in line with the fact that the government says it is focusing on mental health and substance abuse, says Stensønes. A HAND TO HOLD: The Counseling Center is a low-threshold offer for relatives of mentally ill and drug addicts. Both children, young people and adults get help to deal with difficult feelings. Photo: Norwegian Sanitetkvinners forening In the Ministry of Health, State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng said that the government prioritizes pure user organizations when awarding support. The consequence is that over 60 organizations among the 73 applicants were now refused in 2023. – A rule change has been made which means that it is now primarily user and related organizations that receive support from the schemes they have applied for in the past, says Bekeng. In addition, there are more applicants than before for other schemes, and the project for Sanitetskvinnenne did not reach here either. – There has been greater competition to get support, says Bekeng. – Doesn’t that show that the need is also increasing? – Yes, there is an obvious need and the government has increased spending on this, and the government will look more into this in an escalation plan for mental health, says Bekeng. WILL ASK FOR ANSWERS: Liberal leader Guri Melby wants answers from Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol about why the guidance center for Sanitetskvinnenne and others no longer receives state support. Photo: Torstein Bøe Report a disaster The center run by the Sanitetskvinnenne is a low-threshold offer. It does not require a referral from a doctor or psychologist and the offer is free. The sanitary women run a total of 15 such centres. In addition, they offer advice by telephone and on digital platforms. Left-wing leader Guri Melby reacts strongly to the government’s cut in services for relatives in addiction and psychiatry. She will ask Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) for an answer to this in the Storting. The party announces a fight in the Storting to get funds in place in the revised national budget both for Sanitetskvinnenne and for other similar offers. – This is a predicted disaster. We already warned about this last autumn with the restructuring of the subsidy scheme. This is bad for the sanitary women and everyone else who makes an invaluable voluntary effort for our society. And it is a complete crisis for the relatives of drug addicts and the mentally ill who are now losing a unique offer built up stone by stone over many years, says Melby. In Bodø, Laila Elisabeth Rusti has received help to learn to deal with fear. She is upset about the cut in the correctional centre. – This does not depend on grip, and this shows that the government does not understand what it is like to be a relative. Without this center I would not be able to work, and would be on sick leave myself. It is a bad use of society’s resources to close down a guidance center that works so well, says Rusti.
ttn-69
– Demolishing services for the mentally ill and their relatives – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
