Psychosocial Care for the Disaster-Affected: Assessing the Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge of Accredited Social Health Activists in Kerala

Abstract

This study is conducted in a time in which growing concerns over the increasing number of disasters of various forms and intensities across the globe due to climate change. The psychological, emotional and psychosocial after-effects of a disaster may persist for extended periods due to the nature and extent of the loss and trauma associated with it. In a country like India, where there is a severe shortage of mental health professionals to cater for the essential mental health needs of the population, providing psychosocial care to the disaster-affected may be an arduous task. The development of a culturally sensitive and community-based psychosocial care system may be one of the best alternatives in this scenario. It has been proven that trained members in a community can play a crucial role in the psychosocial care of the disaster affected. This study was conducted among the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) of Kerala, to know their attitude, knowledge and skills in providing psychosocial care to the disaster affected. Findings indicate that ASHAs have a favourable attitude towards, and average knowledge about psychosocial care and are highly skilled in providing psychosocial care to the disaster affected. Also, there is a significant positive correlation between attitude and skills and knowledge and skills. This finding emphasises the need for incorporating attitude change and knowledge-imparting components in the psychosocial care training programmes. The findings have policy implications in the identification, organisation and training of people within a community to provide effective psychosocial care.