$1M Grant from Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund Expands Project HOPE’s Mental Health & Resilience Trainings for Health Care Workers Globally
Project HOPE’s global Mental Health and Resilience Training for Health Care Workers has been granted $1 million from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund. Launching this month, Project HOPE will implement the mental health resilience training on five continents in some of the most vulnerable countries and communities.
Washington, DC, USA (21 May 2021) — Project HOPE’s global Mental Health and Resilience Training for Healthcare Workers has been granted $1M from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund. Launching this month, Project HOPE will implement the mental health resilience training on five continents in some of the most vulnerable countries and communities.
As the COVID-19 pandemic surges worldwide, Project HOPE is addressing the needs of healthcare workers. Focused on the mental health crisis accompanying healthcare workers’ response to the global health emergency, Project HOPE’s Mental Health and Resilience Training for Healthcare Workers program will serve 51,000 healthcare workers. 1,000 workers will participate in initial training sessions, and each trainee will subsequently cascade the training to reach 50,000 participants. The program will be translated into multiple languages, with the long-term goal of providing training during natural disasters and humanitarian crises, giving health workers a critical lifeline when needed most.
“By better equipping local health workers, we are supporting the stability and capacity of local health systems to respond to the health needs of their community and vulnerable populations,” said Tom Cotter, director of emergency response and preparedness at Project HOPE. “As COVID-19 and the shadow pandemics it has caused take an extraordinary toll on health workers, mental health and resilience should be at the center of global efforts to combat and mitigate the physical and emotional toll.”
Project HOPE has been responding to the COVID-19 outbreak since late January 2020. Building on the success of a COVID-19 Training for Health Workers program, and a COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy Training currently underway across Africa, the Mental Health and Resilience Trainings for Healthcare Workers will address one of the greatest but least-discussed shadow pandemics of COVID-19: its impact on health workers’ mental wellness. Originally piloted in Indonesia and the Dominican Republic, the Mental Health and Resilience Training for Health Workers will now expand internationally. The mental health and resilience training program is based on “The Healing, Education, Resilience & Opportunity for New York’s Frontline Workers (HERO-NY)” train-the-trainer series originally developed by New York City Health and Hospitals (NYC H+H) to meet the needs of healthcare workers in New York.
“The spread of the novel coronavirus has been a global challenge affecting all countries at different levels,” said Rawan Hamadeh, project coordinator leading Project HOPE’s mental health programs. “After successfully piloting this project in Indonesia and the Dominican Republic, we will now operate in a diversity of geographic communities to reach healthcare workers and provide them with the needed help to cope with all the stress and challenges they are facing in their daily job.”
Project HOPE will target 20* countries for Mental Health and Resilience Training implementation, and intends to add countries beyond the initial set as needs arise and feasible.
###
About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP)
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s mission is to leverage the power of philanthropy to mobilize a full range of resources that strengthen the ability of communities to withstand disasters and recover equitably when they occur. CDP manages domestic and international Disaster Funds on behalf of corporations, foundations and individuals through targeted, holistic and localized grantmaking. For more information, visit: http://disasterphilanthropy.org, call (202) 464-2018 or tweet us @funds4disaster.
About Project HOPE
Founded in 1958, Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian organization operating in more than 25 countries around the world. We work side-by-side with local health systems to save lives and improve health. With the mission to place power in the hands of local health workers to save lives around the world, we work at the epicenter of today’s greatest health challenges, including pandemic preparedness and response, infectious and chronic diseases, disasters and health crises, maternal, neonatal and child health and the policies that impact how health care is delivered. For more information on Project HOPE and our work, visit www.ProjectHOPE.org and follow us on Twitter @ProjectHOPEOrg.
*Mental Health & Resilience Trainings Target Regions:
Americas:
Bahamas
U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands)
Honduras
Ecuador
Colombia
Brazil
Mexico
Asia:
Philippines
Nepal
India
Bangladesh
Lebanon
Europe:
North Macedonia
Kosovo
Albania
Africa:
Egypt
Ethiopia
South Africa
Namibia
