As part of an increasing mental health focus on the frontlines of our emergency response programs, we are training health workers and first responders in places such as Puerto Rico and Philippines to better identify, assess and respond to the mental health and psychosocial needs of patients in communities at risk while protecting their own wellbeing in times of crisis.
…that’s the number of people who are currently affected by mental health issues – among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide. One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.
More than 43 million people in the U.S. are living with mental illness, and nearly half go without treatment. In developing countries, the treatment gap rockets sky-high to 90 percent. People with mental illness are twice as likely to be poor and uninsured as compared to the general population.
In Jordan, Americares collaborated with Jordan’s Royal Health Awareness Society to address trauma and loss for Syrian refugees and Jordanians; we added mental health services to an existing chronic disease program, resulting in health improvements.
Kevin found care at one of 88 clinics in the U.S. supported by Americares with a unique program that donates medicine and personal care products to behavioral health centers.
New Program launched following Hurricane Maria to train health workers in Puerto Rico.