Today's Edition
AHMED ABDELAZIZ (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi Health Services Company's (SEHA) dedicated mental health platform SAKINA has announced six new initiatives and programmes to be launched in 2026. These efforts will focus on children and adolescent students, aiming to enhance the mental health services across the Emirate.
The initiatives will include new Child and Adolescent Inpatient Units, School Mental Health, Digital Wellness Clinic, Virtual Solutions: Pura, Mental Health Youth Ambassador, and Autism and Neurodiversity Care.
Child & Adolescent Inpatient Units
Speaking to Aletihad, Dr. Nahida Nayaz Ahmed, Chief Medical Officer of SEHA's SAKINA, said that the new initiatives aim to enhance child and adolescent mental health services across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
"On the top of the list is the launch of child and adolescent mental inpatient services in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. This will include the emirate's first state-of-the-art inpatient mental health facility for children aged 12 to 18, scheduled to be launched by January 2026," she said.
Dr Nahida noted that talks are ongoing with Abu Dhabi Department of Health to establish a partial hospitalisation programme in the Emirate.
"This will serve as a good intermediate approach to transition patients from acute and subacute state of mental illness to living with sustained remission in the community," she said.
School Mental Health
She noted that the school mental health programme aims to address issues such as bullying or peer pressure and academic anxiety, which often lead children to adopt unhealthy coping mechanisms, including disorderly eating, social withdrawal and excessive use of social media.
"To address this, we have taken additional steps to integrate mental health screening into school mental health programmes, where we screen, educate, and ensure timely access to care," Dr Nahida said.
"Education plays a foundational role in shaping mental health awareness. The habits, beliefs, and behaviours learned early in school often influence how individuals understand and manage their mental well-being throughout life," she added.
Digital Wellness Clinic
Dr. Nahida emphasised the urgent need to address excessive social media use, which she described as a growing concern among youth.
"We must focus on the overuse of social media, which unfortunately contains a great deal of misinformation. This misinformation steers people away from healthy lifestyle practices and appropriate mental health care."
She added that social media has contributed to "an epidemic of loneliness," leading to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and social anxiety, particularly among young people who are losing the ability to interact socially in person.
Mid next year, SAKINA will launch its Digital Wellness clinic, geared towards educating children and adolescents on healthy use of technology.
"We will train children, parents, and teachers on appropriate social media use, and teach them how to cope with online bullying and the stress associated with constant digital presence," she said.
Virtual Solutions: PuraPura, SAKINA's digital platform, offers seamless access to psychiatric care, allowing users to consult licensed mental health experts for assessments, medication refills, and psychological counselling.
"We are shifting our approach. Mental health services have traditionally been delivered in clinics, but with lifestyle and environmental changes, especially the rise in digital engagement, we have taken steps to provide care through our mobile app. Pura ensures individuals can reach us with full discretion, confidentiality, and comfort from home."
Mental Health Youth Ambassadors
The soon to be launched SAKINA's Youth Ambassador Programme, which Dr Nahida described as a "culturally sensitive Mental health first aid", aims to educate high school and university students.
"Our goal is to empower the youth to better understand mental health challenges experienced within their groups and become champions for better mental health practices."
Autism and Neurodiversity Care
Regarding its neurodiversity care portfolio, Dr Nahida said that SAKINA hosts "one-stop-shop" centres designed to meet the comprehensive needs of neurodiverse families.
These centres provide psychological assessments and treatments, alongside health interventions such as applied behavioural therapy, Speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and dietetic services.
"In 2026, we plan to expand the scope to include a metabolic clinic, genetic counselling, educational and academic support. Plans are underway to expand these services to remote areas of the Western region," she said.
