A Nakuru based lobby has commenced training of county health officials and community health volunteers under a programme dubbed ‘Problem Management Plus’(PM+).
The training is being undertaken by Dignity (Danish Institute Against Torture) in partnership with Midrift Human Rights Network (Midrift Hurinet).
The nine-days training exercise is aimed at equipping the health officials and community health volunteers with skills that will enable them to offer psychological help for adults in communities exposed to adversity.
Addressing journalists on Friday during the training, senior researcher and Psychologist Jessica Lambert from Dignity said the training was prompted by research carried out in Naivasha’s Karagita as well as Rhonda informal settlement in Nakuru West Sub-County.
According to Jessica, the study that was carried out revealed several gaps in terms of addressing the psychological problems that emanate from gender-based violence (GBV) against women and girls.
She noted that women and girls who have undergone GBV have developed anxiety and depression hence affecting the ability to function well in the society, hence the need for a solution on the same.
“We conducted a study that revealed that women who have experienced GBV have had problems in society leading to them not even to function well and this is what informed this training for the health officials,” said Jessica.
This is the first training and according to Ms Jessica, the overall goal of the project is to strengthen the access to healing for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Nakuru and Naivasha through community-based psycho-social Intervention.
On her part, Ms Gitte Ronde from Dignity said the Problem Management Plus programme which is an invention of World Health Organisation (WHO) is a focused approach where a community counsellor sits face to face with the client, unlike the normal therapies.
The clients are taught different strategies to apply to their lives as a way of addressing the psychological problems they are facing.
Among the strategies clients are taught is stress management, practical problems as well as tackling emotional problems.
“This is a client-focused approach to address the client’s psychological problems,” said Gitte.
The approach has already been evaluated in similar communities in Nairobi.
Ms Jane Josiah from Midrift Hurinet who is also in charge of the programme said the training is paramount as it will help in addressing the challenges in the society.
She noted that phase two of the pilot project will go a long way in ensuring access to services for psychosocial support for survivors of GBV.
According to Ms Jane, after the pilot, there shall be a roll-out of the major project in Nakuru County in 2020.
The workshop will see 30 community counsellors from Naivasha and Nakuru West sub-counties receive the training.