RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Mental health has emerged as an important public health concern in recent years. With a high proportion of children and adolescents affected by mental disorders, it is important to ensure that they are provided with proper care and treatment. With the goal of sharing the activities and good practices on child and adolescent mental health promotion, care, and treatment in Japan and the Philippines, the National Center for Global Health and Medicine conducted a training program on the promotion of mental health focused on treatment and care in Japan and the Philippines in September and November 2019. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: The training program comprised of a series of lectures, site visits, and round table discussions in Japan and the Philippines. The lectures and site visits focused on the current situation of child and adolescent psychiatry, diagnosis of childhood mental disorders, abuse, health financing for mental disorders, pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, and disaster child psychiatry in both countries. Round table discussions provided an opportunity to explore the similarities and differences between the two countries in terms of the themes discussed during the lectures.The training program identified the need to collaborate with other professionals to improve the diagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents and to increase the workforce capable of addressing mental health issues among children and adolescents. It also emphasized the importance of cooperation between government efforts during and after disasters to ensure that affected children and their families are provided with the care and support that they need.
RESUMO
The experience of disaster work in Infanta, Quezon, Philippines after the mudslide disaster in November 2004 resulted in a multitude of inquiries from parents regarding what effects of disaster they should watch out for in their children, which they felt they needed to know. Objectives: This psychoeducationnal program hopes to teach parents how to recognize the reactions of their children to disaster; structure appropriate psychosocial interventions for their children's reaction to disaster; and determine when to refer their children to mental health professionals. Methods: The psychoeducational training was held for one day attended by 23 parents from several barangays in Infanta, Quezon. Teaching methods used were: lectures , open forum and small group activities for the structuring of psychosocial interventions based on the children's symptoms. Results: The discussion provided parents with important awareness regarding the particular needs of children following a disaster. They were able to design their own psychosocial interventions for the identified symptomatic children in their families and the community. Conclusion: Parents tend to overlook the internal sufferings of children from the experience of disaster as they become preoccupied with their own stresses. Thus, parents should be made aware of the effects and the common responses of children and adolescents to disaster and provide intervention for them.
