On the June 19th, 2015, the KDI School hosted a video conference on Psychological First Aid (pfa). It featured national and government officials from ministries and agencies, policy makers from different video conference sites; Philippines (Manila), Thailand (Bangkok), Indonesia ( Jakarta), Korea (Sejong), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) by WebEx and Tokyo Development Learning Center (tdlc ). The conference was jointly organized by the World Bank tdlc and the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health. Dr. Shekhar Saxena, WHO, started his speech highlighting that the goal of PFA is to provide a learning opportunity for policy makers and other agents to learn basics of PFA in order to raise awareness on importance to integrate mental health and psychosocial perspectives as well as to develop capacity for them to provide safe support in crisis situations.

Ms. Makiko Ishida, Assistant Professor at University of Tokyo, pointed out the importance of Psychological First Aid (PFA) as mainly for mutual support for resiliency after crisis. she started with a question, “What comes to your mind when you hear the word ''psychological first aid''?” She emphasized on the importance of taking care of oneself, your team (colleagues, family) and those around you. She described PFA as humane, supportive and practical assistance to fellow human beings who recently suffered exposure to serious stressors, and involves; non-intrusive practical care and support, assessing needs and concerns, helping people by addressing basic needs, listening, comforting people and helping them to feel calm and protecting them from further harm. PFA gives a framework for supporting people in ways that respect their dignity, culture and abilities and covers both social and psychological support.

Ms. Ryoko Ohtaki, Associate Researcher, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, National Information Center of Disaster Mental Health in Japan, elaborated that people do better over the long term when they feel safe and have access to social and emotional support. She emphasized on the importance of knowledge during crisis as people have different reactions to an event and should be preferential consideration on who need more advanced support, when and where, in order to protect the dignity and confidentiality of people.

She outlined four action principles; Prepare, Look, Listen and Link. One has to be aware of preparation, available service and support, safety and security. In the second principle, one needs to look and observe for safety of people with obvious basic needs, and those with serious distress reactions. Third principle involves listening which is very critical. she stressed the need to make contact with people who may need support, ask their needs and concerns, and help them feel calm. On the last principle, she emphasized the importance of linking people to access of basic needs and services, coping with problems, and connecting people together with loved ones.

In conclusion, they introduced different role play learning points which depicted real life situations and gave each group in different conditions to practice the four principles and take the necessary action which made the learning interesting and enriching. The practice covered natural disaster, violence and displacement and a case of an accident.

By Leah Chepkoske Waweru (2014 MDP, Kenya)