St. Maarten’s 10-Year Mental Health vision built on four core focus areas

GREAT BAY--St. Maarten's 10-year mental health vision and strategic plan, “Stronger Minds, Stronger Communities,” is anchored on four key focus areas that together aim to build a resilient, inclusive, and person-centered mental health system for 2025–2035.

The plan emphasizes:

• Network of Support: linking community help desks, primary care, peer support, and specialist services, while introducing supported housing and reintegration programs.

• Start Well, Stay Well: strengthening prevention and awareness throughout life stages, from schools to workplaces and families.

• Mental Health in All Policies and Sectors: ensuring sound governance, sustainable financing, and updated legislation to protect rights and improve quality of care.

• Learning, Monitoring, and Evaluation: promoting data use, user feedback, and digital tools for continuous improvement.

These pillars form the foundation of the Stronger Minds, Stronger Communities vision, which seeks to make mental health support more accessible, affordable, and effective for all residents.

The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA) received the final draft of the plan this week, developed under the Mental Health Project (MHP)—a program funded through the Trust Fund, implemented by the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) in close cooperation with the Ministry of VSA, and with technical guidance from the Trimbos Institute, a leading Dutch center for mental health and addiction care.

Minister of VSA, Hon. Richinel Brug, expressed appreciation for the collaborative effort behind the document: “This draft vision represents an important milestone. It gives Sint Maarten a clear and inclusive direction for how we want to strengthen mental health care over the next decade. I commend the professionals, stakeholders, and community members who contributed to this process. The Ministry will now review the draft to ensure it fully aligns with our national priorities and the needs of our people.”

The plan was developed through two years of consultations, sounding-board sessions, and a validation workshop with contributions from local professionals and organizations, including the Mental Health Foundation, Turning Point Foundation, White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation, Sint Maarten Medical Center, independent psychologists, general practitioners, Student Support Services Division, SZV, NGOs, community representatives, and persons with lived experience of mental health and substance use challenges.

NRPB Director Claret Connor noted: “The vision was shaped by Sint Maarteners themselves — professionals, community members, and people with lived experience who shared their insights and expertise. With VSA’s leadership and Trimbos’ technical guidance under the Mental Health Project, we are now close to completing a document that will guide implementation in the years ahead.”

The Ministry of VSA will review the draft in the coming weeks before finalizing and formally adopting Stronger Minds, Stronger Communities as Sint Maarten’s official 10-year mental health vision and strategic plan.

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