A recent study conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) has indicated that around 3.6 million Filipinos found themselves battling mental disorders during the pandemic.
Due to the increasing number of mental health cases in the Philippines, two leaders in the country’s health and personal care industries, PhilCare and Johnson & Johnson Philippines Inc. (JJPI), are collaborating to make psychological first aid (PFA) accessible to more Filipinos.
Look, listen, and link
PFA is about comforting someone who might be in distress, and helping them feel safe and calm by applying three basic action principles—look, listen, and link.
To look is to assess the situation of the individual seeking help; to listen is to pay active attention to what they’re experiencing and helping them find solutions to their problem; and to link is to address their basic needs like food, water, and medicine, or to connect them to loved ones or to social support when needed.
PFA can be helpful to people coping with everyday stress and challenges. These people could include health-care workers and social welfare responders, Covid-19 survivors, families who just lost loved one, adults who feel alone, and those with vulnerabilities like mental health and substance abuse problems.
“Learning PFA and understanding reactions to crises empowers all of us as helpers,” said Dr. Edgardo Juan Tolentino, former president of the Philippine Psychiatric Association, during the recently held online forum Let’s Talk About Psychological First Aid organized by PhilCare and JJPI.
Dr. Tolentino added that PFA is not anything far from physical first aid where you “put a band aid on the shallow wound of an individual, but if the wound is deeper and you can’t control the bleeding, you may have to call the ambulance or bring the person to the Emergency Room.”
“The goal of PFA is to provide safety, calm and comfort, and connectedness to a person. As well as to promote self-empowerment by giving them back their sense of control,” Dr. Tolentino said.
Through this joint effort—PFA training, facilitated by JJPI—will be incorporated into PhilCare’s Mindscapes program for mental wellness.
This will allow PhilCare’s mental health professionals to use PFA to treat their patients battling anxiety and depression brought on by the pandemic, economic uncertainties, or personal issues.
Mindscapes provides customizable and scalable programs to companies that wish to support their employees’ mental wellness journey.
PhilCare also created three pre-paid plans to make mental health counseling more accessible and affordable to Filipinos.