Comfort for Kids in the Time of Ebola : Mental Health Liberia
The 2014-2015 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Liberia resulted in over 10,000 cases and 5,000 deaths. Recognizing the importance of addressing children’s trauma, the Ebola recovery and restoration trust fund (EERTF) funded the implementati...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/409071523526805205/Mental-health-Liberia-comfort-for-kids-in-the-time-of-Ebola http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29683 |
| Summary: | The 2014-2015 outbreak of Ebola virus
disease (EVD) in Liberia resulted in over 10,000 cases and
5,000 deaths. Recognizing the importance of addressing
children’s trauma, the Ebola recovery and restoration trust
fund (EERTF) funded the implementation of a Comfort for kids
(C4K) program which encourages psychological healing, and
promotes resilience in children who have experienced a
crisis or disaster. The C4K program in Liberia was
implemented between January 2015 and December 2016 in
fifteen townships in Montserrado County through a
collaboration between Mercy Corps Liberia, the World Bank’s
Liberian health task team, and the government of Liberia.
C4K primarily centers on the My Story workbook and
associated classroom activities, which provide children with
the opportunity to express their emotions about their
experiences through drawing, writing, and facilitated
discussion. C4K also provides capacity building for parents,
teachers, and other caretakers on how to identify and more
effectively respond to children’s trauma responses and to
support their recovery. C4K is a low-risk intervention which
is implemented in conjunction with referral pathways to more
intensive mental health support in the event of severe
mental or emotional distress. The successful implementation
of this program has been a contributing factor in increasing
the resilience, psychosocial health and well-being of
EVD-affected children aged six to thirteen, in project
target areas. |
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