The panelists during the Mental Health Matters Roundtable Discussion include Riyan Portuguez (Wellbridge Health Inc.), Pierce Docena (UP Visayas Tacloban College), Mariflor Gatchalian
The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), through its Project K3, in partnership with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid Programme, recently organized a virtual roundtable tackling mental health issues faced by medical frontliners during the pandemic. PDRF is under the shared leadership of PLDT and Smart Chairman Manuel V Pangilinan, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (Prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples).
Entitled “Mental Health Matters,” the online event was attended by over a thousand participants from local government units (LGUs), hospitals, and various sectors from across the country. The discussion addressed the pandemic-induced mental health challenges experienced by medical frontliners such as exceptional stress, extreme workloads, difficult decisions, risks of becoming infected and spreading infection to families and communities, and witnessing deaths of patients.
“Mental health is one of the major problems of this prolonged emergency. This is especially true of our healthcare frontliners who face danger, despair, stress, and difficulties,” said PDRF President Butch Meily. “What we can do is continue to support our medical personnel, nurses, and doctors. Social cohesion, a sense of solidarity, and being able to cope are key to getting us through the pandemic.”
Experts from universities from different regions and the Commission on Human Rights explored possible solutions and shared their best practices to mitigate common mental health challenges for healthcare workers.
PDRF President Butch Meily underscores the importance of driving conversations on mental health awareness, especially amid the pandemic.
Panelists included Riyan Portuguez (Wellbridge Health Inc.), Pierce Docena (UP Visayas Tacloban College), Mariflor Gatchalian (University of Perpetual Help DALTA), and Milagros Maquiling (Differently-Abled Women Network). Dhanika Garcia of MentalHealthPH moderated the discussion, which emphasized the need to normalize dialogue on mental health in society and better equip health workers and individuals to administer Psychological First Aid (PFA) to those in distress.
For their part, PLDT and Smart have supported the community-based mental health programs of various LGUs, including General Santos (GenSan) City, Tarlac and La Union. This includes awareness campaigns on mental health and capacity-building engagements such as the PFA Program.
GenSan, through its Sangguniang Kabataan and Youth Affairs and Development Office, conducted its PFA Program to mobilize the youth to become first aid volunteers, and was joined by five barangays in GenSan, including Barangays Fatima, Labangal, Calumpang, Baluan and Lagao. It was led and facilitated by Riyan Portuguez, more popularly known as “Your Millennial Psychologist”.
Project K3 or Kalinga para sa Kalusugan ng Komunidad is an initiative of PDRF and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid Programme that aims to strengthen the health system capacities of LGUs, hospitals, and communities around the country to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and future disruptions through innovative training and community education.
