18 September 2013 – Twenty-eight personnel of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco attended on September 14 an eight-hour training course designed to teach lay people methods of assisting a young person who may be in the early stages of developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. 

The course was conducted by Mr. Eddy Alvarez and Ms. Melody Hames of the Mental Health Department of the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System. The names of the personnel were listed as Certified Youth Mental Health First Aiders at the website of Mental Health First Aid USA, available at www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org.

Acknowledging the importance of promoting mental health in the community, the Consulate recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) of San Mateo County.   Majority of the Consulate’s personnel also completed a 12-hour Mental Health First Aid course in 2011 in cooperation with BHRS.  The course was developed in Australia in 2001, with the vision of creating “an empowered community providing support to one another in times of mental health problems and mental health crisis.”

The Consulate expressed its thanks to its partners in the community, specifically Dr. Jei Africa of San Mateo and Mr. Eddy Alvarez of Santa Clara, for making it a pioneer among Philippine foreign service posts on mental health awareness. END