The UAE promotes development and social efforts by providing more support to mental health services for all the community particularly family members, senior Emiratis, people of determination and those categories that have been directly affected by the circumstances imposed by the novel coronavirus-COVID 19 pandemic. As such, the Ministry of Community Development launched sustainable community development initiatives to raise the level of mental health among different groups of society and sustainably.

On this occasion, Moza Al Akraf Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Community Development, said that the “World Mental Health Day, coinciding on 10th October comes this year within the social, family and personal posed by the novel coronavirus-COVID 19 pandemic, reinforcing the need for greater attention to mental health and the provision of appropriate psychosocial support initiatives in the coming months and years, through increased focus and investment in mental health programs that are not less important as other physical and moral support initiatives in society,” said Moza Al-Karf, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Community Development.

Moza Al Suwaidi elaborated that the Ministry of Community Development provides sustainable community and development initiatives to cope with the consequences of the pandemic and mitigate its effects, since the outbreak of the virus by reflecting the principle of family cohesion and community coherence in the face of emerging circumstances; such efforts contributed to further moral, psychological and societal support for the health and preventive efforts embodied by the national field teams “our first line defenders”.

Earlier, the National Happiness and Wellbeing Program during home quarantine period in collaboration with the ‘UAE Volunteers” campaign and ‘volunteers.ae’ platform at the Ministry of Community Development; launched the national psychological campaign “do not worry” for seven weeks with the participation of more than 60 physicians, experts and specialists in psychology and social support; who cooperated voluntarily to provide psychological support to members of the community. The campaign achieved significant community interaction through its components in both Arabic and English; more than 60 live transmission hours covered various topics including psychological care for senior Emiratis, psychological care for children, psychological support for working mothers, and other psychological topic. It also included 16 closed psychological support sessions dedicated to various groups such as those who are in quarantine, working mothers, university students, schools and others. More than 400 members of the community participated in these closed sessions. The National Psychological Support Campaign also included a series of short psychological programs for more than 40 episodes.

The National Psychological Support campaign has achieved a remarkable community interaction with more than one million interactions and more than 2.5 million views; the interaction with the campaign in the UAE and abroad has extended to more than (30) different countries around the world.

The “Psychological Support Line” initiative aimed for promoting mental health in fighting the repercussions of the novel Coronavirus COVID-19, by expanding communication channels with society members by benefiting from elite specialized volunteers in the UAE. The initiative provided psychological support and community counselling services for individuals in collaboration with elite experts, consultants, psychiatric specialists and volunteers, either by phone or e-communication and at the same time maintain full privacy and confidentiality for the caller to make him feel safe giving him advices in facing this global challenge. The initiative is via the toll-free number and WhatsApp 800 (HOPE) i.e. 800-4673.

Since the initiative was launched in May until the end of August, the Psychological Support Line has received (740) calls from Emiratis and residents in need of support; both specialists and volunteers dealt with these cases efficiently. The volunteering team was divided into two groups, the first included (32) specialists, and the second (38) trainee volunteers who received and accepted the incoming cases.

With the launch of the fifth batch of government accelerators on women’s empowerment and leadership in the UAE in partnership with the General Women’s Union, and the directives of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak, President of the General Women’s Union, Supreme Chairperson of the Family Development Foundation, and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Children, the “Unified Family Counselling Portal” was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development and (9) federal and local entities to provide family counselling services, in affiliation of a free unified family counselling platform all over the UAE by 46 family counsellors.

The Ministry enhances its national community and development efforts to achieve stability and family cohesion through its participation in the “Unified Family Counselling Portal” enabling all relevant authorities to work together achieve a better reality and anticipate a better future for social development in the UAE; this reflects the ministry’s keenness to join the portal and provide its full experiences in the context of sharing knowledge and integrating roles for the stability of the family and the happiness of society.

The Ministry of Community Development promoted efforts in the field of psychological support to family and society through “Taaluf” family counselling initiative in light of the repercussions of novel coronavirus-COVID 19 to achieve the reality of a “stable and connected family”, by enabling both Emiratis and residents to communicate through interactive channels at hand, making it easier to provide family guidance and free counselling services to its applicants “remotely”, whether by telephone or e-mail, in addition to the “Taaluf Live” episodes that are broadcasted weekly through the Ministry’s Instagram account, to all members of the community whether Emiratis and residents in various fields to promote family stability and community cohesion.

During the first half of 2020 in conjunction with the novel coronavirus-COVID 19 pandemic, home quarantine conditions and social distancing, the Ministry provided more than (282) family counselling services, more than (84%) of which were “remotely” by telephone or e-mail, as well as dozens of inquiries and consultations received through “Taaluf Live” episodes which are answered directly by experienced and competent consultants.

The Ministry of Community Development also promoted its communication with senior Emiratis, by launching “We are Your Family” initiative and providing them with the necessary social support during their home quarantine at COVID 19 pandemic. The initiative focused on phone communication and visual phone applications as an alternative to home visits that were a main focus of the initiative before taking the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus-COVID 19. Through this initiative, both staff and volunteers seek to create an atmosphere of familiarity with senior Emiratis in their places of residence and reassure their psychological and social health conditions reflecting the introduction of the ministry’s initiatives with a proactive vision.

Since the beginning of this year to the end of August, about (63) volunteers, along with a number of employees of the Social Development Centers of the Ministry of Community Development nationwide, conducted 12,789 calls to senior Emiratis all over the UAE as part of the “We Are Your Family” phone remote initiative, to promote communication with senior Emiratis and provide them with the necessary social support during their home quarantine.

Last June, the Ministry of Community Development launched the social summer platform which included (63) interactive programs with the participation of 5,688 participants over six weeks to present six specialized hubs such as: agricultural hub, industrial hub, social hub, sports hub, recycling hub and 50-challenge hub targeting all the family members especially children and people of determination from four years old to the end of the education and rehabilitation stages.

The summer community platform followed the exceptional circumstances by providing children with quality interactive programs remotely, thereby enhancing social distancing in order to maintain the safety of the participants. The idea of these programs revolves around innovative projects through which they can take advantage of their leisure time during the summer vacation period for all age groups, focusing on students, senior Emiratis, parents and even young people and girls and enabling each family to select from a range of projects and initiatives to enter competitions, which will bring positive psychological, social and cognitive returns to the family in general and to children in particular who need more psychological and interactive care due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ministry of Community Development has provided psychological, social and rehabilitation support to the people of determination remotely as well as supporting initiatives and guidelines that strengthen and support the efforts of teachers and parents in distance rehabilitation remotely such as the “Home Schooling Guide for people with intellectual disabilities and autism”, the “Remote Intervention Guide for Children with Disabilities and Developmental Delays in Early Childhood Stages”, in addition to an integrated program for parents (psychological aid bag – rest assured) to relieve the pressures faced by their children, training educational and therapeutic staff working in the people of determination centers on the basics of distance learning for people of determination, and early remote intervention for the families of children with disabilities and developmental delays.

The Welfare and Rehabilitation Department for People of Determination at the Ministry of Community Development has also launched a series of initiatives during the past period, such as: “Thank you our first line defenders”, home schooling guide, and “My Family with Me” smart application. The Ministry was able to conduct a study on (1808) people of determination and parents to find out the impact of “home quarantine on these categories, in addition to the activities of “Me and My Sibling” activities that included summer programs and activities, implemented by the Ministry for the people of determination with a virtual vision remotely and included a range of incentive options for the inclusion and rehabilitation of each people of determination remotely, according to his age, educational and rehabilitation needs.

The Ministry participated in the translation of 31 news briefings in sign language to support the provision of information to people with hearing impairment, it also implemented four sign language training courses, and launched the program “Me and My Sibling” remotely with initiatives targeting people of determination and their families in order to support their mental health.

The Ministry has supported the people of determination mentally through “Mashagel” project for rehabilitation and remote employment, where the people of determination managed to conduct 8000 bracelets of determination and manufacture 195 cans since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The people of determination also achieved a new innovation “mask holder”; all these achievements are one of the most important initiatives aimed at promoting positive mental health with the thought of productivity.