Half a year into the outbreak of COVID-19, Cameroon decided to take stock and learn if its response to the pandemic supported people’s psychological wellbeing. As the virus spread, it consumed increasingly more of the country’s resources, thus reorganizing social, economic and cultural activities in a new, emergency setting. And prolonged periods of uncertainty tend to take their toll on people’s lives. Committed to integrated health care, Cameroon initiated an assessment of psychological care during the COVID-19 response. The assessment suggested several areas of improvement and Cameroon and WHO teamed up to address them.
New strategy paves the way for integrated care
In the first step and with WHO support, Cameroon developed the National Mental Health Strategy that set the framework for improvements in psychological care. In the second step, the strategy informed creation of other documents, like guidelines for mental health of children and adolescents, simplified guide on mental health care and mental illness care algorithms. All these documents offered handy and reliable support to health workers when deciding on best interventions. And since April 2020, data on these and other psychological interventions have been continuously collected by a data management tool. They are now one click away, making it easier for the Ministry of Health to coordinate resources and care for everyone in need.
Caring for those who care
From the onset of the pandemic, demands on health workers have been growing: from containing the virus, over maintaining lifesaving health services, to ensuring mental resilience along the way. With this in mind, WHO supported the stronger involvement of mental health professionals at all levels of health care. The National Public Health Emergency Operation Centre was a first institution to form a psychological care team. A recruitment of 27 psychologists and 36 nurses followed across the country. WHO organized trainings for the newly employed staff as well as for more than 1 500 further psychological care specialists. Focused on mental health and psychosocial support during the pandemic, the trainings were soon after extended to include health workers of other specializations, together with 300 social workers, 120 investigators and 30 journalists.
Spread the word
Equipping journalists with psychological care skills proved especially helpful, as they moved ahead to create and translate mental health communication to simple and compelling posters, picture boxes and leaflets. As the message spread, it reached and informed more people about mental health support, including those living in remote areas. But Cameroon and WHO did not stop there. They partnered with the Red Cross to launch a toll free helpline for psychological care, and supported a local NGO to provide psychosocial support to victims of physical violence perpetrated by armed groups in the southwest part of Cameroon.
As the virus evolves and the world sustains in a bid to ensure equitable access to immunization, the end of the pandemic remains unpredictable. Whenever the time comes, Cameroon’s investment in psychological care have already impacted people’s lives and its effects will go a long way.
Photographs & visuals
- WHO presents mental health activities as part of the COVID-19 response to the Minster of Health of Cameroon / WHO Office in Cameroon
- Team of the Director of Mental Health and WHO provide psychosocial assistance and distribute food / WHO Office in Cameroon
- WHO supports journalists in understanding psychological and mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic / WHO Office in Cameroon
Photo caption: Training for journalists on psycho-social support.
Photo credit: Michel Ndjab
Disclaimer: This image was taken during a time of no community transmission of COVID-19. Community transmission is defined as the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases, or by increasing positive tests through sentinel samples (routine systematic testing of respiratory samples from established laboratories). Preventative measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing should be used to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
