Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for COVID-19

Featuring: Dr. Ron Waldman, George Washington University; Dr. Peter Ventevogel, UNHCR; Dr. Fahmy Hanna, WHO; Dr. Florence Baingana; Deborah Magdalena, MHPSS Working Group; Mahmuda Mahmuda, UNHCR Cox’s Bazar || Theme: How MHPSS issues in COVID-19 pandemic settings can be addressed, with field examples from COVID-19 and Ebola outbreaks.

“Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for COVID-10,” the fourth webinar in the COVID-19 and Humanitarian Settings weekly series, took place yesterday (Wednesday, April 22, 2020).

The webinar recording is now available:

Discussion topics will be posted in READY’s community discussion forum.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures have profound effects on the mental health and emotional well-being of people all over the world. In humanitarian settings, the pandemic leads to increased demand for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions, and strains existing MHPSS programming. In this webinar, Drs. Peter Ventevogel, Fahmy Hanna, and Florence Baingana explore how MHPSS issues in pandemic settings can be addressed, drawing upon field examples from COVID-19 and past outbreaks, including the West Africa Ebola epidemic.

Moderator: Dr. Ron Waldman, Professor, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

Expert Speakers:

  • Dr. Peter Ventevogel, Senior Mental Health Officer, Public Health Section, Division of Resilience and Solutions, UNHCR
  • Dr. Fahmy Hanna, Technical Officer, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO
  • Dr. Florence Baingana, Technical Consultant, Mental Health Policy, Planning and Programming

With field experience from:

  • Deborah Magdalena, Coordinator Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Working Group, Maiduguri, Nigeria
  • Mahmuda Mahmuda Assistant Psychosocial & Mental Health Officer, UNHCR Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
United States Agency for International Development Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, Save the Children, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, UK Med, EcoHealth Alliance, Mercy Malaysia

This website is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). READY is led by Save the Children in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, UK-Med, EcoHealth Alliance, and Mercy Malaysia. Site contents are the responsibility of READY and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.