The Mental Health and Substance Use Unit is organizing activities to support English and Dutch speaking Caribbean countries and territories in their MHPSS response to COVID 19. They are supported in their activities by two Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) specialists deployed by the MHPSS Surge mechanism. Individual needs assessments were conducted with countries in the region to identify priority and shared needs. This showed support was requested to strengthen in-country capacity in intersectional MHPSS coordination and mental health integration.
To support this identified need the team developed a series of webinars related to MHPSS coordination. The series consists of 5 webinars that focus on; an introduction to MHPSS coordination, different steps in MHPSS coordination, developing Terms of Reference and a workplan for MHPSS coordination, developing an mhGAP operational manual and self-care. In between webinars the MHPSS consultants provide on demand support on coordination and mental health integration.
Up till now 355 people registered for the webinars from 26 countries and territories mainly from the Health sector, but with participants from the Education, Social, Protection and Disaster Management sectors as well.
The registered participants mainly work for government organizations, with representatives from academic, UN and private organizations as well
The webinars cover technical content presented by MHPSS experts and include a country case study related to the topic so that participants’ can learn from the country’s experience. Poll questions are asked to gather insight into the participants’ background and experience and to tailor the content of the webinar to this. All webinars end with a Q&A and discussion by the panelist. The first three webinars were attended by over 90 people each. Participants were interactive and interesting challenges in their respective contexts with regards to MHPSS coordination were discussed. The evaluations of the webinars were very positive. Some quotes from the evaluation form are:
‘ I love the presentations from other countries - they are extremely useful in putting things into context’
‘It is tailor to a wide cross section of individuals, professionals, as well as organizations’
‘The questions asked in the polls were very thought provoking and relevant in tackling the current issues we face in our world. This helped the presentation of the content to be more applicable and relatable’
‘The presentations were good!!!’