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WHO / MENTAL HEALTH GUIDELINES
STORY: WHO / MENTAL HEALTH GUIDELINES
TRT: 2.31
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS; NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 2 AUGUST 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RECENT – PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior of Palais des Nations
2 AUGUST 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mark van Ommeren, Scientist, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO:
“The big message from WHO is that these disorders are common, they’re disabling and they are usually untreated and this requires an enormous amount of action and resources.”
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mark van Ommeren, Scientist, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO:
“The protocol is written for non-specialized health workers, which means nurses, doctors, health officers who are not specialized in mental health. That’s important because they are the people who are out there all around the world providing health care. Most countries have very few psychologists and psychiatrists and if they have them these are usually in the capital. There’re usually very few of them and there are way too few of them to make mental health care widely available.”
6. Cutaway, podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mark van Ommeren, Scientist, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO:
“Non-specialized health workers, like primary health care workers, can provide a lot of the basic care. One of the things they can do after trauma is provide
something that’s called psychological first aid which involves listening to people, asking for their needs and concerns, strengthening their social supports, and protecting them from further harm, discouraging them from making rash decisions in a moment when something really bad happens.”
8. Cutaway, journalist
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mark van Ommeren, Scientist, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO:
“One of the messages from these guidelines is that, different from other areas of mental health, most of the care is psychological. Medicines play a relatively small role here. In particular there’s a very popular treatment, benzodiazepines, anti-anxiety drugs, which doctors all around the world like to give to people for sleeping better, for anxiety, but those are actually unhelpful so we’re making a recommendation against them.”
10. Cutaway, briefing room
New clinical protocols and guidelines on how to give appropriate mental health care to adults and children who have experienced trauma and loss have been released by the World Health Organization (WHO), in conjunction with the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR. The guidelines will enable primary health care workers to offer basic psychosocial support to people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress and bereavement.
Mark van Ommeren, Scientist at WHO’s Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse said the protocol was written for non-specialized health workers, including nurses, doctors, health officers who are not specialized in mental health. He pointed out “That’s important because they are the people who are out there all around the world providing health care.”
Ommeren explained that most countries had very few psychologists and psychiatrists, He said, “There’re usually very few of them and there are way too few of them to make mental health care widely available.”
The guidelines are part of WHO’s Mental Health Global Action Programme and are designed to give non-specialized health workers and primary health care workers enough information to provide ‘psychological first aid’, stress management, and to help people to identify and strengthen positive coping methods and social supports.
Ommeren said that “One of the messages from these guidelines is that, different from other areas of mental health, most of the care is psychological.”
He added that medicines played a “relatively small role here”. He noted that the very popular treatment with benzodiazepines and anti-anxiety drugs which doctors all around the world liked to give to people for sleeping better, and for anxiety, were actually unhelpful so, he added “we’re making a recommendation against them.”
The new protocol and guidelines have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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