DAVAO CITY (PIA) — The Mental Health Unit of the Department of Health (DOH) has been capacitating healthcare workers in rural health units (RHUs) across Davao region to make mental health services accessible to the communities.
“Because our ways forward when it comes to mental health is it to be able to more accessible sa ating community kaya nagcapacitate tayo ng ating doctors and nurses and our RHUs,” Dr. Junelle B. Burgos, DOH-XI Mental Health Unit program head said.
(Because our way forward when it comes to mental health is to make our mental health services accessible to our community. That’s why we capacitate our doctors and nurses and our RUHs.)
During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on July 2, Burgos revealed that they have already reached 100 percent in training the healthcare workers in every local government unit (LGUs) in the region.
With this development, he added, “We are confident to say that we can actually do diagnosis and mental health services at the level of our primary care providers.”
Alongside capacitating healthcare workers, Burgos said that they are also training peer facilitators in every province in the region to serve as support groups, especially among adolescents, where mental health problems are seen as prevalent.
“Kasi usually itong adolescent natin, we have seen that what they needed actually was just somebody to listen to them… Kaya kami nag train ng peer facilitators sa ting mga provinces,” he explained.
(Because it’s usually our adolescents, we have seen that what they needed actually was just somebody to listen to them… That’s why we trained peer facilitators in the provinces.)
Also, he said that part of training is establishing referral systems and networks, saying, “Para alam din nila kanino lalapit (So that they know who to approach) if ever that they see that our adolescents would need to have referred to our higher facilities.”
Moreover, Burgos said that psychotropic medications under the Medicine Access Program for Mental Health (MAPMH) have been distributed to RHUs in the provinces in the region.
“Si central office nagpoprocure ng medications – mga psychotropic medications, binababa na sa atin, and then we allocate that to our provinces para makatulong doon sa ating RHUs na nangangailangan ng mga psychotropic medications para sa ating service users,” he explained.
(The central office procured medications – psychotropic medications, which were given to us, and then we allocated that to our provinces to help our RHUs who need psychotropic medications for their patients.)
Meanwhile, Burgos said that the crisis hotline with the National Commission of Mental Health (NCMH) has been providing a 24/7 helpline for open communication between mental health professionals and those with mental health concerns and suicidal tendencies.
Education campaign, especially on suicide prevention, was strengthened. For instance, Dr. Burgos said that they have partnered with education sectors to conduct a series of seminars with students in different schools in the region.
Burgos revealed that as of 2024, schizophrenia is the prevailing mental health condition in the region, comprising 52 percent of their patients.
This is followed by depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and bipolar and other related disorders.
Although there are patients who are seeking medical interventions, Burgos emphasized that there are still a lot of unreported cases, especially those without physical manifestations. (ASO/PIA XI)
