Training Module on the Right to Mental Health for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) TOUCHING AND BEHAVIOR • What are the usual customs around touching people? • Is it all right to hold someone’s hand or touch their shoulder? • Are there special things to consider in terms of behavior around the elderly, children, women, or others? BELIEFS AND RELIGION • Who are the different ethnic and religious groups among the affected people? • What beliefs or practices are important to the people affected? • How might they understand or explain what has happened? PFA and COVID-19 In giving PFA through the phone or other virtual platforms, it is essential to have adequate and inclusive support coming from your own agency or department. Only trained PFA providers should be included in the pool of responders, with adequate supervision of a senior mental health professional, if possible. The same principle applies to face-to-face PFA but with some degrees of difference such as the confidentiality of the conversation using phones or virtual. During the height of the first lockdown in the Philippines, the National Center for Mental Health implemented its Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) program using PFA through phone calls to quarantined OFWs and health care workers from different hospitals who have tested positive for COVID, have been exposed to COVID, and were suffering from signs and symptoms of burnout. In general, planning for a virtual PFA is essential. Since most of the clients are referred by specific agencies, informed consent should be asked from the clients and must be voluntary on their part. The needed referral agencies if further and higher mental health intervention is needed should be available onhand as part of the PFA provider training. The PFA provider should have direct and official information regarding the virus, including the latest guidelines set by the DOH and the IATF. Other Emergency Response Measures PFA is part of a broader response to large humanitarian emergencies (IASC, 2007). When hundreds or thousands of people are affected, different types of emergency response measures take place, such as search-and-rescue operations, emergency health care, shelter, food distribution, and family tracing and child protection activities. Often, it is challenging for aid workers and volunteers to know what services are available and where. This is true during mass disasters and in places which don’t already have a functioning infrastructure for health and other services. 9