06-03-2024 13:17
40 representatives of medical and non-medical staff from all 12 prisons in the country underwent a 5-day training program, prepared in accordance with the Strategy for the provision of medical care in prisons in Bulgaria.
The event took place in Sofia, in the period 19-23 February this year, in the framework of activity 2.4.3 ‘Training programme for medical and non-medical staff, including a training module for the prevention of BURN OUT syndrome’ of Pre-defined Project 2 under the project ‘Increasing the capacity of prison staff, building a pilot prison linked to a training centre and improving the rehabilitation of prisoners’ (PDP 2) under the Justice Programme, Programme Area 19 ‘Correctional Services and Pre-trial Detention’ of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014 — 2021.
During the training, an overview of the legislation in the provision of medical care and medical services in places of deprivation of liberty was given and information on the risk of tuberculosis infection, preventive activities and screening in places of deprivation of liberty was provided.
The presentations included in the training module on prevention of BURN OUT syndrome were of interest as the participants were introduced to stress and professional burnout, treatment options and therapy methods. Spain's experience on the subject was also presented. Self-harm and suicide in correctional services and Suicide Prevention Protocols were among other topics discussed by the trainees.
Guests and experts of the training were Andres Bascones Perez-Fragero — psychologist at the prison in the town of. Sevilla, Spain, international expert on Activity 2.4.3, Dr. Zahari Zarkov, Director of the Directorate for Mental Health and Addiction Prevention at the National Centre for Public Health and Analysis, external expert on Activity 2.4.3 and Chief Inspector Rositsa Dimitrachkova — Head of the Sector for Medical Services in Detention Facilities at DGEP. The event was opened by Daniela Peycheva from the International Cooperation and Staff Training Department at the DGEP, and as an observer of the activity the World Health Organization's consultant for Bulgaria Nela Vamporova-Peters welcomed the participants.