User:Subodh (CIS-A2K)/COVID-19 Support towards Mental Health Care and Counselling Services

As part of its ongoing program to support Wikimedians in India during the COVID 19 pandemic, CIS-A2K will provide support with access to counselling services to community members, in order to address mental health concerns resulting from the stress and anxiety of coping with the pandemic The A2K team has been in conversation with the Institute of Psychological Health, who will collaborate with us in providing access to counselling support.

About Institute of Psychological Health

Institute for Psychological Health or ‘IPH’ is a pioneering social enterprise in the field of mental health services in India. Since last more than 30 years from its formation it has been working on its primary objective of ‘Mental Health for All’. For the last 3 decades IPH has strived in

1. providing affordable & quality mental health care facilities / services;
2. reducing stigma towards mental illness;
3. providing opportunities for mental health enhancement; and
4. giving opportunities to the society to participate in the delivery of mental health care.

Thus, IPH has been active not only in the treatment of psychological problems, but also in preventive and developmental areas of mental health. Since 1990, IPH has reached out to more than 85K+ families through its curative, preventive and development-oriented programs and projects on mental health.

Counselling Support

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a number of concerns related to mental health, in India and across the world. In addition to stress and anxiety about the pandemic, there are also challenges of coping with changed livelihood, education and employment conditions, caring for loved ones and dealing with grief and loss. It is imperative in this situation to be aware of and take steps necessary to care for mental health and well-being. These include facilitating open and safe conversations about mental health, and reaching out to a mental health practitioner/counsellor when required.

A2K would endeavor to provide support under this component of the program as follows:

Awareness/Orientation Session on Mental Health and the Pandemic

This session will be organised online and will be open to all Wikimedians in India looking to understand more about mental health concerns that are prevalent at the present time, due to pandemic-related anxiety, stress and trauma. The session would ideally aim to:

• create awareness and sensitisation about mental health in general
• deliberate on the variety of issues faced by people at this particular time
• demystify/address any misgivings/stigma related to mental health issues and counselling/therapy/treatment
• and encourage people to avail counselling services in case they feel the need for the same.

The details of the session will be announced here shortly, with a link to a separate event page.

Application Process

Interested Wikimedians who wish to apply for this support may fill out this application form. These are minimum details required by A2K to process applications and forward them to IPH, and will be collected with the informed consent of the applicants. No personal health related information will be collected; all details will be used only for the stated purposes and not shared with any other third parties.

Counselling Sessions

The list of eligible Wikimedians will be forwarded to IPH by A2K, following which they will reach out to the applicant for an initial history taking and assessment. The applicant will then be assigned a counsellor based on the assessment by IPH, along with a schedule for counselling sessions. A minimum of 1 (assessment) + 2 (counselling) sessions will be conducted by IPH, in the preferred language of the applicant. The further course of the sessions will be decided by the counselor and applicant. In case of additional sessions needed by the applicant and support towards the same, a decision may be taken through discussions with CIS-A2K and IPH, depending on duration and nature of support.

Professional Fees

The expenses on professional fees towards the counselling sessions will be incurred directly by A2K, no payment would be made by the applicant.

Note

The following types of support are out of the scope of this program:

• Pre-existing mental health conditions for which an applicant is presently under treatment, and expenses incurred for the same.
• Support towards long-term (more than 3 months) therapy/counselling/medical treatment etc.
• Expenses incurred for medication (if any) prescribed as part of the counselling sessions.