Nurses, social workers in Oman provided training to ease COVID fears of children

Nurses, social workers in Oman provided training to ease COVID fears of children

Muscat: Nurses, social workers, and school counsellors have been provided mental health training to help ease the worries around COVID-19 that children who come to them will have. The training, which will also help those who deal with adolescents and adults, is being provided by UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Social Development. 60 workers will be provided these tools during the three-month course. At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Oman's Ministry of Health quickly established a toll-free national mental health hotline, with the aim of making mental health support easily accessible to all. The ministry developed a training programme for psychologists and social workers on remote support to adults, and approached UNICEF to develop a training package tailored towards children, adolescents and their parents. "The mental health and wellbeing of whole societies have been severely impacted by this crisis – and young people and their parents are particularly vulnerable," said UNICEF Oman Representative Lana Al Wreikat. "Good mental health must be front and centre of every country's response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are proud to support the Government of Oman in achieving this." "This