Thirty trained psychologists have been sent to Apam in the Central Region to provide clinical assistance to survivors and families impacted by the Apam drowning.
The one-week exercise is an initiative by the Ministry of Gender, Children and State Protection (MoGCSP), the Ghana Psychological Association (GPA), and the Mental Health Authority to assist survivors and affected families in coping with anxiety, panic, and depression brought about by the disaster.
Community psychologists, behavioral psychologists, and social psychologists, as well as psychiatrists and mental health nurses, were among the 30 specialists dispatched to the town.
Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the exercise was a follow-up to previous government gestures to console and offer the requisite assistance to survivors and affected families to resolve the incident, speaking at a short ceremony held at Apam to formally begin the operation.
On Wednesday, March 10, the government offered GHS36,000 to the impacted households, among other items.
Ms. Safo stated that the government was mindful of the difficulties that the impacted parents and families had faced, and that the team of psychiatrists would provide the requisite therapeutic assistance to the affected families to help them recover.
She encouraged the bereaved families to remain strong and to seek strength and support from God.
President of GPA, Dr. Collins Badu Agyemang, expressed hope that the engagement would provide some relief to the survivors and their families, allowing them to better handle the situation.
He noted that as an Association of Psychiatrists and members of the Mental Health fraternity, he was mindful of the psychosocial, physical, and even economic effects that disasters inflict on survivors and families, and that it was also important that those people be provided with the required resources to help them deal with their loss and grief.
He said the Association had previously provided such assistance to victims of disasters such as the Melcom tragedy, the June 3rd fire-flood disaster, the Atomic gas blast disaster, and the integration of seven insolvent banks into the now CBG, which he stated had provided relief to those impacted.
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“People are emotional beings, and crisis management, grief, and bereavement counselling will help them cope with negative emotions including hopelessness, terror, anxiety, and depression. People in crisis can be impacted by both direct and indirect losses “Added he.
Dr. Agyemang encouraged disaster management organizations, especially the National Disaster Management Organization, to provide psychiatric resources in the provision of aid to disaster victims in order to help them cope with the mental distress caused by such events.
“In emergency recovery, we ignore the psychosocial and mental health ramifications. If psychologists are used as part of NADMO’s emergency management plan, the organization will be extremely successful “Added he.
Madam Caroline Reindorf Amissah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, spoke on behalf of Professor Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, and said that while the affected families had received some assistance and comfort from members of the public, it was critical that they get psychological help to cope with the emotional aspects.
Nana Essel Botchway, Queenmother of Apam, praised the government for its unwavering support for the victims’ families and the community at large.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
