4 universities with free mental health plan

Unemployment, confinement and lack of resources, which came with the health emergency, left pictures of anxiety and depression among dozens of families. At least that is what the universities of Azuay and Cañar believe, which have undertaken, in the midst of the pandemic, free help programs.

Both the University of Azuay, the Catholic University of Cuenca, the University of Cuenca, as well as the National University of Education in Cañar established psychological support plans for children, adults and older adults.

Initially, in the case of the Catholic University, a psychological help channel was established for the doctors who had to deal with the saturation in the Cuenca hospitals.

However, the quarantines and the aftermath of the health emergency in the labor and economic spheres led the institution to will expand their free services.

Along the same path followed a group of psychology students and professionals from the Azuay, Catholic and State universities, who came together in the campaign "We are all one" to serve people at no cost.

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“We are with this care program because it has been required even more with the pandemic. We handle family, art, dialogue therapies…. Right now the strongest issue is the lack of employment and depression, ”he told El Mercurio. jonathan oaks, who leads the free program.

So far, for the care that takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 09:00 to 12:00, at the UNE facilities (President Córdova and Borrero), there are 120 volunteers, who rotate to help to people who need to be heard and who need guidance.

attention to students

The National University of Education It is one of the latest institutions that have joined to provide psychological services. In the first instance, from the University Welfare department, they have decided to start with their own students, teachers and administrative staff.

The objective, first, is that the mental health of the families, which are linked to the university, is well, and, second, that there is no dropout among the students

“Above all we have considered that our students are between quintiles 1 and 2 of poverty, we have implemented social assistance. The reality of the students is different due to the approach they had, due to group work, it is another type of coexistence that is not due to the pandemic,” said Mario Dután, director of University Welfare at UNAE.  

In addition to economic needs, the team led by Dután identified that the students were frustrated because they did not have the technological material to follow the virtual classes. This limited their development towards professionalization.

Faced with this reality, psychologists have been encouraging families, as well as individuals, to be attentive to their mental health and to consider asking for help.

"We are that dirty handkerchief that cleans the window so that they can see the panorama better because we must remember that human beings need to always be heard," added Jonathan Robles. (I)