CEBU CITY, Philippines— In times like this when a deadly virus is spreading all throughout the world quickly, everyone should be looking out for one another— especially those frontline workers.
Read: Our heartfelt “thank you” to our brave front liners
They are considered to be one of the bravest people on Earth today for not just simply doing their job in ensuring safety to everyone, but also risking their health, not to mention their mental health.
That is why a group of professionals here created a Facebook page that will cater to the mental needs help of frontliners for free.
One of the volunteers, Doctor Sherryl Muli-Abellanosa, who is also the founder of KAUBAN, the first mental health support group in the Visayas and Mindanao, told CDN Digital how USC Mental Health Support for COVID-19 Frontliners came to be.
“USC Online Mental Health Support for COVID-19 Frontliners was created in response to the request of Cebu Crisis Assistance Team which particularly asked our assistance in catering to their mental health needs since they are getting stressed out due the current COVID- 19 crisis. Our team is composed of volunteers coming from different professions: Clinical Psychology, Political Science, Nursing among whom are licensed individuals and Clinical Psychology masters students from the University of San Carlos,” said Abellanosa.
The team’s goal is to provide a venue for frontliners to process their emotional needs through supportive communication and psychoeducation.
“I created the page last night (March 16) after talking to Ms. Brenette Abrenica, the chair of USC Political Science Department who has been very much supportive of this advocacy. I also got a go signal from Fr. Rogelio Bag-ao, SVD the current SVD Provincial Superior and at the same time the Director of USC Community Extension Services for which this initiative falls under,” she added.
The team is composed of 12 volunteers to date they are a mix of USC employees and masteral students for clinical psychology.
Frontliners can send them a personal message through their page from early in the morning up to midnight.
“Responding to COVID-19 can take an emotional toll on our frontliners, hence, the need for this support,” said Abellanosa. /bmjo