Today, at Hotel Iliria in Tirana, a consultative meeting was held on the Psychologist’s Manual for Socio-Health Centres, with participants representing various healthcare centres across the country.
The manual is intended to serve as a practical and didactic tool for improving the provision of psychological services in primary care, offering structured approaches to addressing issues such as depression, anxiety, addictions, chronic illnesses, and daily mental health challenges.
The meeting opened with a presentation by Assoc. Prof. Artemis Shehu, who introduced the preliminary structure of the manual. During the group discussions, participants addressed the core themes that will form the backbone of the document, including:
• Identification of the most common psychological situations encountered in Socio-Health Centres
• Algorithms, questionnaires, and assessment tools for practical use
• Suitable formats of psychological counselling and interventions
• Teamwork, interprofessional communication, and case follow-up
• Ways to use the manual in continuous professional training
Psychologists from Tirana, Fier, Shkodër, and Elbasan took part in the meeting, along with representatives of family doctors and nurses, contributing concrete field experiences.
This process represents a key step towards strengthening professional capacities and improving the quality of psychological services provided to citizens, as part of the ongoing reform of primary healthcare in Albania.