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March 22, 2010
January’s earthquake did more than damage buildings, crush bodies, and destroy infrastructure-it profoundly impacted the hearts and minds of the Haitian people and drastically increased the need for mental health care and services.
The New York Times last week painted a dire picture of mental health institutions in post-quake Port-au-Prince, emphasizing the need to incorporate psychiatrics into the primary healthcare system throughout the country. Child psychiatrist Dr. Lynne Jones from one of our partner organizations, the International Medical Corps (IMC), is quoted in the article. IMC has chosen the Hope for Haiti Clinic at the Don Bosco Camp in Carrefour to centralize their weekly mental health training sessions, held each Thursday afternoon.
See her comments here: In Haiti, Mental Health System Is in Collapse.
Two weeks before the Times article, Hope for Haiti was addressing this issue at a workshop with Haitian mental health experts in Les Cayes. The group of local psychologists, social workers, educators, and counselors is called VAPS, the Volunteers for Psycho-Social Support, and their goal is to help individuals, families, and communities cope with the mental fallout of the quake. By conducting regular psychiatric consultations at local healthcare facilities, the group aids patients who lost limbs, parents who lost children, and families who’ve been torn apart. They’re also training teachers in local schools to identify post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and serve as role models for vulnerable students.
Our student nursing team from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania met with 8 VAPS members to learn their story, ask questions, share best practices, and brainstorm activities and options for collaboration. The 6 senior year nursing students and their professors, Dr. Patty Hannon and Dr. Corinna Dotter, learned how these Haitian professionals are selflessly applying their passion and skills to bring consolation to survivors and families in need. More importantly, they witnessed firsthand that although the aftershocks have stopped, the quake’s tremors continue to reverberate deeply in the national psyche.
Photos by: Lee Cohen