DOH launches Wellness Movement

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Health with the support of the World Health Organization and the Australian Government recently launched “The Wellness Movement.”

This is an initiative that aims to support over 3,000 healthcare workers across the Philippines in improving their mental health and well-being.

DOH said that based on the global report of the WHO in October 2022, 23 percent to 46 percent of healthcare workers reported symptoms of anxiety, 20 percent to 37 percent experienced depressive symptoms, while 41 percent to 52 percent experienced burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DOH’s Wellness Movement draws on practical behavioural approaches to improve the well-being of healthcare workers at their workplace and beyond.

This initiative is in line with the country’s Mental Health Act, which recommends integrating strategies promoting health in the workplace.

“Creating a mental-health positive culture in our workplaces is integral to the flourishing of not only our healthcare workers as they fulfill their role as healers, but also the cultivation of relationships among their families and friends, as they bring home healthy habits for mental health and wellness,” said DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary, Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, in a statement.

The Wellness Movement was kicked off with an on-site launch at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) on January 16. It will be followed by various virtual roll-outs of community pods in 30 public and private hospitals all over Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu PSM said that Australia’s support to the Philippines’ mental health and psychosocial services through Project BRAVE (Building COVID-safe Responses And Voices for Equity) is part of their larger assistance on mental health wellness in the country.

“At the onset of the pandemic, we built on our partnerships with DOH, WHO and other UN agencies to identify sustainable solutions to these challenges and deliver practical support to health workers,” the ambassador said.

DOH added that another important component of The Wellness Movement is to promote an organizational culture that is supportive, responsive, and empowering to its employees.

Dr. Graham Harrison, officer-in-charge, Office of the WHO Representative to the Philippines, said that workplaces can be places of both opportunity and risk for mental health.

Harrison added that with a profession and vocation as demanding as saving lives and caring for people, healthcare workers have been at risk of tremendous and chronic stress even before the pandemic.

“This innovative work with the DOH and the Australian Government is a start to explore and implement practical and scalable ways to improve the wellness and resilience of the country’s healthcare workforce at the individual and organizational levels,” Harrison further said. — GMR (FREEMAN)