Psychosocial Training for Barangay Health Workers

Breaking mental stigma, one barangay at a time.

The problem I am committed to solving is the stigma and shame attached to mental health or psychosocial conditions. This implies the lack of knowledge, skills, and competencies both in the part of the government and the community themselves. 

The solution that I am proposing has three layers: first is psychosocial training (knowledge, skills, diagnostics, and preventive practices) for barangay health workers using the psychosocial community and medical approaches to mental health. In this manner, barangays through their skilled health workers could engage the community in removing fear and stereotypes about mental health conditions. Second is the use of technology (text messaging) so that even barangay health workers in rural areas can participate. Text messaging, in particular, will help report cases of mental health conditions in real time, since there is no tangible data for mental health in the Philippines. Finally is the yearly convention of barangay health representatives and their constituents as a response to the goal of psychosocial-sensitivity.

The solution will change the world in a sense that it will prove that even a developong country, with its goals straight, could invest itself to fighting mental health stereotypes. This initiative will also change the dynamics of the Philippine healthcare system in a sense that using the barangay’s strength— manpower— will change the way we look at health care delivery. Only after this initiative of identifying the faces of mental health could we assert the rights of psychosocials from the ground.

This solution is innovative in a sense that I use one of the most utilized technology— SMS or text messaging— in collecting data from the field. This recognizes the context that most of barangay health workers don’t have access to the internet, or even laptops. 

The text messaging is integral for the solution for its accessibility, ease of use, and real-time connectedness. This also addresses the need to provide a handy tool for barangay health workers in reporting incidents of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, anxiety disorder, and suicide across all ages and social classes, in real time. 

The goal for the next 12 months is designing the transfiguration of the technology to filter out responses according to themes, then a consultation from the barangay healthcare workers themselves. 

While doing this, a pilot training session for barangay healthcare workers in Metro Manila will be conducted. Then feedback will be used to sharpen and contextualize mental health in each locality, including responsible translation.

I believe in the saying “start small, and it will get you somewhere.” 

I will focus on quality of the trainings and the SMS technology themselves over implementing them in a hurry. 

Once the core values and materials of the mental health advocacy turns into sound and ethical practice, that is the most perfect time for me to scale it up.

Through keeping in touch with health workers in barangays, the health and training progrsma will build a sense of trust to the people. I particularly am reaching out to the barangay health workers because they know the twist and turns of the locality. The barangay health workers will become the key persons in disseminating knowledge and collecting data from the ground.

I am just currently in the idea stage.

The population, which includes Philippine society, will be affected in a sense that mental health awareness will be at the forefront in discussing health issues in the country. Giving priority to mental health, in the greatest times of duress, will bring compassion to drug addiction, criminality, and unruly behavior. There will come a time when “weird” or “taboo” behavior will become mental health issues that are treatable by medications and therapy.

First of all, I am a mental health patient myself so it gives me a kind of insider’s view of mental health. Second, because of the suffering from the shame and stigma brought about by my condition, it came to me that I don’t want other people to feel the same self-hatred as I did, simply because me and my family initially lacked knowledge about mental health. Third, I am always willing to extend my social and negotiation skills for the sake of the advocacy. Lastly, I always ground my ideas from the point of view of the stakeholders.

The revenue will come from sponsorships in trainings, and the transactions that are related to the data gathered from the field. Especially from the data, I will hire psychologists and statisticians to summarize findings, and sociologists to consolidate data. Then the published work could be negotiated with interested parties. 

As a future government consultant, I will be hired to implement the project. The money I will earn, I would eventually re-invest in the opportunity. The revenue will also come from sold materials and hand-outs to the government containing essential information about mental health. 

Solve is partnered with MIT, one of the leading institutions  when it comes to technology. I believe that this partnership will bring about a very productive exchange of ideas and networks both from the Philippines and the US.

First is scalabilty. We’re talking about hundreds of barangays in an archipelagic country. I was also supposed to propose an app, but most of the health workers especially in rural barangays don’t have access to the internet, or even smartphones.