By Stephanie Murphy
The Canadian Red Cross is known for providing emergency medical care after international disasters. What tends to be less known are the other kinds of support the Red Cross provides to those who may not be physically injured, but still require assistance.
According to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), psychosocial support (PSS) is “a process of facilitating resilience” that helps individuals, families and communities “bounce back from the impact of crises and . . . deal with such events in the future.” It focuses on helping individuals overcome issues associated with a disaster, and works to prevent these issues from becoming long-term problems.
It’s important to note that PSS is not counselling, but rather involves listening to individuals, ensuring their basic needs are met and referring them to any additional support. Val Heerema, a Canadian Red Cross aid worker trained in PSS, explains that “psychosocial support is extremely important because trauma sets in after a disaster. While you’re not engaging in any counselling, you’re helping people cope to a certain extent and referring them to other resources.”
Support for vulnerable populations can be severely limited during or after a disaster. Another Canadian Red Cross PSS aid worker, Luis Guerra, says it’s important to focus on the vulnerable, such as children, the poor and the elderly, who often suffer the most in disasters. They might not have knowledge of the resources available to them, or a support system to ensure they’re okay.
Both Val and Luis have experience providing PSS, having worked in Sierra Leone following the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and in Germany at a refugee camp in fall 2015. Val also worked in a refugee camp in Greece this winter and Luis recently went to help in Ecuador following the earthquake this April.
Depending on the crisis, PSS can consist of any number of activities. In Sierra Leone, Val’s work included helping keep track of safe and dignified burials, following up to ensure that patients were properly transported home and referred for further medical care if needed, as well as ensuring that the emotional needs of patients were met. Luis travelled to the capital, Freetown, and helped train Red Cross workers in PSS and psychological first aid.
The refugee camp Val worked at in Germany was a transition camp, meaning a large part of her duty was to assess basic needs and help refugees understand their next steps and the resources available to help them. She also worked with Restoring Family Links and the United Nation High Commission for Refugees to connect individuals who had been separated from loved ones. In Greece, Val provided the medical team with information on PSS.
In Ecuador, Luis’s work largely involved children. He found that the stress and fear that parents felt was transmitted to their children, so he worked on creating “safe spaces” for them. These were places where children could do a variety of activities – painting, storytelling, dancing, singing, playing sports – to help them forget about the traumatic experiences they’d had. Luis would also simply talk to the children to ensure their basic needs were being met and find out what might be causing them stress.
Luis says the key to PSS is “listening in a non-judgemental manner.” When a crisis occurs, the chaotic environment that arises means that basic necessities often fall by the wayside. Listening to an individual, ensuring their basic needs are met, and assessing if they might need further assistance helps the community as a whole to recover from a crisis. PSS aid workers are an integral part of an emergency response and help individuals and communities move forward after disaster strikes.