Psychosocial support services extended to four Typhoon Yolanda affected barangays

Psychosocial support services were recently rendered to more than 200 residents of four barangays in north Cebu that were devastated by Typhoon Yolanda. Trainings for community health workers were also conducted.

The services were rendered by the Visayas Primary Health Care Services in Barangays Tindog and Dalingding Sur, Medellin, and Barangays Paypay and Dalingding Norte, Daanbantayan. 

The program is part of a 15-month project, “Community – Led Disaster Preparedness and Resiliency: Grassroots’ Alternative in the Face of Climate Change,” which is implemented in the four barangays by the Women’s Resource Center of the Visayas (WRCV) based in Cebu City. The project proponent is the Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes, Inc. (PNFSP). It is funded by the Terre des Hommes International Federation (TDH). 

The project aims to ensure that the four barangays have fully recovered from the main impacts of the typhoon, restored their livelihood and established safety and disaster prevention, response and recovery mechanisms and achieved their basic rights to food for their children and families through livelihood assistance and food security alternatives. 

As part of the rehabilitation process, the VPHCS conducted a series of psychosocial sessions in October and November for more than 500 adults and children who were affected by Typhoon Yolanda. Teams of nurses, psychologists and trained health care givers conducted lectures on disaster orientation and preparedness followed by in-depth stress debriefing sessions and trauma healing to small groups of residents. During the sessions, the residents who were all survivors of Typhoon Yolanda ventilated and shared their experiences on Yolanda which were then processed by the psychosocial team so that they were relieved of their fears and stress and resolved to face future life’s challenges.

VPHCS staff nurse Tardy Guardiario 

explains about disaster preparedness in Paypay.

WRCV Executive director Leny Ocasiones talks with women 

in Dalingding Norte during the psychosocial session on Oct. 4.

VPHCS staff nurse Pearl Templado explains about 

why typhoons occur in the Philippines during 

the disaster orientation in Dalingding Norte on Oct. 4.

Psychologist Gilbert Carredo facilitates 

a psychosocial session in Dalingding Sur.

Children and the youth also had play and art therapy to express their feelings and experiences during the typhoon. 

Play therapy for children in Tindog.

Children engage in art therapy in Dailingding Sur.

Gilbert Carredo with youth in Paypay.

Youth in play therapy in Paypay.

Trainings for 22 community health workers were also conducted.

During the first training on “Health disaster preparedness and mental health orientation” on Oct. 25-26, the CHWs were able to understand disaster risk reduction and preparedness and management. Disaster mapping of their particular barangays was also done in order to pinpoint the specific disasters, particularly typhoons, that they are vulnerable to and how to address them. The CHWs were also taught the health measures related with disaster preparedness and management. 

VPHCS staff Luz Carreon with health workers 

making disaster maps in the training 

on disaster preparedness on Oct. 25-26.

Furthermore, the CHWs were taught the basic elements of mental health problems resulting from disasters as exemplified by Typhoon Yolanda and how to deal with people with such problems, particularly how to do simple stress debriefing. After the training, the CHWs were thankful of the knowledge and skills that they learned that will enable them to help their community members. 

Community health workers pose after the training on Oct. 25-26.

The second training, “Local health workers training on facilitation using the tool of psychological processing,” was conducted on November 15-16. The 22 CHWs were taught about Community Resiliency Model (CRM), a type of simple wellness, teaching, learning and communication skills that can be used to treat persons experiencing stress or psychological trauma. Through discussions, exercises workshops and practicum, the CHWs were taught how to handle persons in times of stress including the psychological effects of disasters. 

Trained community health workers present their body map, 

a part of the skill of resourcing in community resiliency model.

Community health workers do a practicum 

on community resiliency model skills.

With the trainings on psychosocial processing facilitation, the CHWs will be equipped to facilitate simple psycho-social processing for adults and children and undertake community activities on health disaster preparedness, especially on awareness -raising on the health effects of disasters and activities to build individual and collective coping strategies.

The participants were thankful for the new skills they learned which they can use to help and teach others, facilitate the resolution of simple problems, help families, as well as refer persons who may need special psychosocial counseling and treatment to psychiatrists and psychologists. 

Community health workers pose after the training on Nov. 15 - 16.

The CHWs were all members of the people’s organizations which were organized by the WRCV as an offshoot of the relief efforts immediately after the typhoon. 

Psychosocial support services for survivors of Typhoon Yolanda in Northern Cebu

The Visayas Primary Health Care Services, Inc. (VPHCS) conducted a series of psychosocial support services missions in February and March in 20 barangays in nine municipalities and one city in Cebu which were affected by Typhoon Yolanda. 

VPHCS staff Irish Grace Ramirez discusses 

about disasters in Malbago, Daanbantayan. February 16.

The missions sites were as follows, namely: Barangays Kampinganon, Lipayran and Patao in Bantayan, Barangays Kaungkod, San Agustin, Bonacan in Madridejos, Barangays Bateria, Malbago and Tominhao in Daanbantayan, Barangays Bitoon, Langub and Hagdan in Kinatarcan island, Sta.Fe., Barangay Tambungan in San Remegio, Barangays Pulambato and Gairan in Bogo City, and Barangays Cagcagan, Northern Poblacion, Puertobellow, Kawit and San Juan in Camotes Island.

 A children's play therapy in Lipayran, Bantayan, February 23.

 In Lipayran, Bantayan, Feb.23

In Camotes, March 2.

The weekly missions started in February 8 and shall last until end of April.

The services are part of the rehabilitation project, Building Resilient Communities In Facing Natural Calamities – Phase I, implemented by the Central Visayas Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) with the support of the Action Aid.

The six-month project aims to provide relief, housing materials, livelihood assistance, and rehabilitation services to families in the 20 barangays that were affected by the typhoon. It also aims to organize people’s organizations that shall become resilient in facing future calamities including formation of working committees on disaster preparedness. 

The psychosocial missions of the VPHCS are part of the rehabilitation services for the affected families.

VPHCS volunteer Pearl Templado 

in a psychosocial session, Camotes, March 2.

Each psychosocial intervention started with a disaster education which mainly consisted of information regarding the scientific explanation of the occurrence of earthquakes, typhoons, landslides, and floods and other calamities, and basic information on disaster preparedness and management. This information would not only increase knowledge of the affected communities but would also ease their tensions as they can now explain scientifically the causes of disasters. Even the basic knowledge on what to do during disasters is a form of healing for the affected communities. 

After the lecture on disaster education, discussion on the “Impact and reaction to trauma” was held which deepened the different effects that typhoon Yolanda had on the people, including economic losses, emotional, social, mental, behavioral and physical ailments. This was followed by a discussion on the “Five steps for psychosocial support” which outlines the five role of a psychosocial caregiver in the community, namely: active listening, relive and regrieve, recreation, rebuild and referral. 

Mothers in Camotes island share their stories, March 3.

After the forum, a pre-test was conducted on the assessment of the feelings during the disaster and a post-test of the feelings felt at present. The two tests were filled up by all the survivors that would identify those who needed psychosocial therapy.

This was then followed by stress debriefing through group therapy. Here, the residents were grouped into groups of 10 to 20. Each group had a therapist who facilitated the survivors to express their experiences and their feelings before and during the typhoon, and how these affected them . They narrated their flashbacks of what happened during the typhoon. They shared symptoms they had after the disaster that included headaches, difficulty of sleeping, feelings of anxiety, irritability, inability to concentrate, lack of appetite, depression, nervousness, symptoms of numbness of feet, pounding of the heart, and stomach problems. 

The residents said they didn’t expect Typhoon Yolanda to be that strong. There was extreme fear that another typhoon would occur again which could even be stronger than Yolanda. 

They also answered the facilitators’ questions on what they did to conquer their fears, what keeps them to move on with life and what are their coping mechanisms. It was heart warming that the people clinched to their hopes with the consolation of being still alive. 

Most of them said that they need to move on since they have families, and that their peoples’ organization was actively looking after the welfare of the members, especially in the orderly management of relief operations being extended by many civic and charitable organizations. 

Residents in Bogo City pose 

with the psychosocial team, February 23.

Many also said that they have attributed their strength in their conviction and belief that there was still the existence of God and this faith would alleviate their emotional and psychological burden. 

At the end of each session, the facilitator identified those who really needed psychosocial and psychiatric treatment for them to fully recover from their trauma.

The children had psychosocial activities. In play therapy, the facilitator engaged groups of children in play in order to draw out their feelings of fear and anger. The facilitator then processed the emotions expressed during the play. In art therapy, the children expressed their feelings through drawings after which the facilitator processed the projections of the children. The children enjoyed their play and art therapy as they shared their drawings to everyone. They also shared experiences during the disaster. The team didn’t see any abnormal behaviour during their play and drawing sessions. 

Two follow-up psychosocial sessions were expected to be held per barangay after the initial session, in order to ensure full recovery of the affected individuals.