Through an in-depth 2-day training, Albanian prison staff were capacitated to better respond to incidents of suicide and self-harm in prisons.
On 21-22 February 2022, 25 professionals, coming from the Tirana women prison “Ali Demi”, Durres prison (special facility for prisoners with mental health disorders) and Lezha prison (section responsible for psychiatric forensic patients), gathered in Tirana for a training which focused on early detection of suicidal tendencies amongst prisoners and undertaking measures to prevent them from self-harming.
To respond to beneficiaries needs, the training largely focused on the discussion of the current practices in Albanian prisons, especially concerning those prison facilities where prisoners with mental health disorders are accommodated. As a result, participants increased their knowledge of relevant Council of Europe standards and enhanced their skills related to immediate reaction to incidents and development of multidisciplinary treatment plans. The cooperation between security staff and rehabilitation staff, the role of case-managers and the necessity of operational protocols were among the topics covered at the training.
This activity was organised within the scope of the action “Enhancing the protection of human rights of prisoners in Albania”, as a part of joint initiative of the European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.