18 September, 2020- The Office of Subregional Program Coordination for the Caribbean (SPC), of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations (CANPA), jointly hosted a new session of the webinar series "Creating Caribbean Communities of Purpose: Stronger Together when we Look, Listen and Link.”
The webinar featured the launch of the second edition of the PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health (VCPH) Virtual Course on Psychological First Aid (PFA) and introduction to the guiding principles of “Look, Listen, and Link,” presented by Dr. Claudina Cayetano, PAHO Regional Advisor on Mental Health. It also included a panel on “Experiences from the field: How PFA can impact practice,” with participation from Dr. Alonzo-Ash, of the Ministry of Public Health of Guyana; Dr Angela Gordon Stair, of the Jamaica Red Cross; and Wendy Fernander, MHPSS focal point person for The Bahamas.
“Psychological First Aid (PFA) in disaster management in the Caribbean. Second Edition” is a twelve-hour self-paced training which aims to equip lay persons with the tools to appropriately provide the initial response to individuals experiencing psychological distress secondary to crisis situations. The course includes special considerations for how to utilize PFA skills in ways that are safe for both the helper and the person who is in distress during an outbreak of disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.