Health Ministry Ramps Up Psychosocial Support for Hurricane Victims

Psychosocial support has been ramped up for persons affected by Hurricane Melissa, by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

So far, more than 500 healthcare workers and 3,475 persons in the wider population have been reached.

Making the disclosure, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, said with support from several partners, they have made a very targeted approach to have in the hospitals, the kind of intervention to provide support for doctors and nurses, and also community workers.

Addressing a virtual press briefing on December 10, she said Ministry teams are visiting the most affected communities and that additional teams are being formed to visit high-risk areas.

“We are trying to put these psychosocial teams in, for example, community centres or in churches on a regular basis, maybe once or twice per week, depending on the demand, so that persons who need more than just one visit, that they will be able to bring them back over a three- to five-week period, so that they can get the counselling regularly,” the CMO said.

She noted that the Ministry is seeking to train more than 3,000 persons to be able to deliver more than 200,000 interactions over the coming months.

“We are not targeting just healthcare professionals, we are targeting school teachers, guidance counsellors, security forces, and community workers from the different Ministries,” Dr. Bisasor-McKenzie said.

Other groups of persons involved are church members and community leaders.

“We are targeting these persons and all the persons that deliver services; so, for that basic service, in terms of treating persons with consideration and with dignity and respect, that can happen at the very basic level,” the CMO said.

She pointed out that the effort is about ensuring that persons who are providing services have some basic knowledge and skills, so that they can help persons to get over the hurdles.

Dr. Bisasor-McKenzie noted that a referral system is in place if specialised services are needed.

“We want there to be social consideration in basic services and in security. So, our message, and for the persons that are trained, is to say that wherever we offer services, that we must have some consideration for the persons that we are reaching out to, the persons that we are interacting with, persons that contact us, that we can be able to provide that kind of care for them,” the CMO said.