A new education module focused on Disaster Psychiatry is now available on the WPA Education Portal.
Disasters are a frequent and common occurrence right across the globe – making it essential to equip health care professionals with the skills and knowledge necessary to help mitigate the distress of both individuals and the communities that are impacted by them. Every disaster is bound to have mental health consequences and implications, and this is no better demonstrated than by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, it is imperative for all mental health professionals to have mandatory and basic knowledge on ‘disaster psychiatry’.
The WPA Disaster Psychiatry education module covers the basic and essential aspects of Disaster Psychiatry, such as:
The common undercurrents of disasters;
Classification of disasters;
Phases of disasters;
The mental health impact of disasters, such as psychiatric morbidity (the common disorders seen in disaster settings);
Predictors of psychiatric morbidity;
Screening tools for assessing mental health concerns;
The role of the mental health professionals during various phases of disasters; and
The role of resilience and its relationship with disaster management.
The module is presented by Dr Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar, Professor of Psychiatry and the Head of Community Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bengaluru; Dr Suresh Bada Math, Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Forensic Psychiatry, Telemedicine Centre & Unit-5 (Adult Psychiatry); and Dr Santosh Kumar Chaturvedi, a Consultant Psychiatrist and Former Dean, Head of the Department and Senior Professor of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India.
The module is aimed at early career mental health professionals, and includes PowerPoint and video presentations, as well as a short quiz. Resident doctors and students of clinical psychology, psychiatric social work or psychiatric nursing and other mental health professionals will also benefit from this module. It may also help those volunteers who are interested to serve in the area of mental health.
The module can be accessed HERE
Author: WPA Education Coordinator