#5 Estuar

#5 Estuar

The first mental health agency that we went to was called, Estuar.  They were first established in 1993 in Bucharest then in Cluj in 1997.  Currently they have 70 clients and have 15 activities.  Estuar is a day program for clients who mostly have schizophrenia or depression.  Services are free and they include group activities, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatric counseling, occupational therapy and vocational counseling.  Some of the group activities include: computer, literature, art, work, theater and sport.  There are a total of 9 specialists within the agency. One of the duties of the social worker there is to go into the field to find clients.  As in the U.S. there is a stigma against those with mental illness.  Two of the people we met from Estuar told us that they tried to overcome that with a project on mothers.  They gained a lot more clients and attention after this project was completed.  Estuar only receives a small amount of money from the local authorities.  The rest comes from European projects and donations.  Clients that attend Estuar are there on a volunteer basis and are referred from a commission that determines their eligibility.  This commission is similar to our SSI.  Estuar is the only foundation in Cluj for mental health services.  The local hospital does offer some services.  One important concept they discussed was the role of the family.  Often families are not very supportive.  This is one of their biggest challenges because the clients tend to relapse when they are living in the same environment.  Another point that stood out to me is that Romania they do not have group homes for those with mental health issues.  This was interesting to me because group homes are very popular in the U.S.  

As we were getting ready to leave we were able to meet some of the clients.  They did not know english but they were still excited to talk to us.  This one lady, I do not remember her name wanted to show me her art work.  At Estuar one of the activities is making art.  Once the art is made they showcase it around the building.  If you want you can donate money and choose a piece of work.  This woman showed me a few different paintings that she had done.  It was really nice to see how proud she was and that even though I could not speak the same language as her I was still able to communicate.  I ended up buying a jewelry box for one of my friends that was from Estuar.