Leading Disaster Psychological Support, Making Significant Contributions to Community Mental Health Recovery

The Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center, an institution entrusted by Daejeon Metropolitan City, has been honored with the Minister of Interior and Safety Award for its significant contributions to national disaster management. This recognition is a testament to the center's devoted efforts in promoting psychological stability and mental health recovery for citizens during disasters, clearly demonstrating its profound impact on improving community mental health.

This award proves the Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center's exceptional capability in establishing and operating disaster psychological support systems. The center has been at the forefront of providing psychological counseling and trauma recovery support to victims, their families, and the general public at disaster sites, embracing those suffering. Notably, it has swiftly responded to major disasters in the Daejeon area, such as the Ojeong-dong explosion and the Giseong-dong flood, providing systematic psychological support activities. This is particularly meaningful as it goes beyond one-time support, offering practical assistance to minimize psychological after-effects from disasters and enable the community to return to daily life quickly.

 
The Importance of Disaster Psychological Support and the Role of the Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center

Disasters occur unpredictably, causing not only casualties and property damage but also severe psychological shock and trauma to survivors and witnesses. These psychological after-effects, if prolonged, can lead to various mental health issues such as depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), negatively impacting individuals' quality of life and the stability of society as a whole. Therefore, during disasters, psychological first aid and continuous psychological support are recognized as being as crucial as physical recovery in the disaster recovery process.

The Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center recognized the importance of disaster psychological support early on and has responded proactively. The center helps stabilize the psychological state of victims through immediate on-site response during disasters, and if necessary, provides support to connect them with psychiatric specialists for in-depth counseling and treatment. Furthermore, even after disasters, it performs the role of helping victims overcome trauma and return as healthy members of society through continuous monitoring and follow-up care. In addition, it spares no effort to advance the disaster psychological support system by developing and operating customized psychological support programs for each type of disaster, and by fostering specialized personnel in disaster psychological support.

 
Diverse Efforts for Community Mental Health Promotion

Beyond disaster psychological support activities, the Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center consistently promotes various initiatives to improve citizens' mental health. The center focuses on early detection of high-risk mental health groups to ensure appropriate intervention before mental illness develops. To achieve this, it strengthens cooperation with related community organizations and operates mental health screening and counseling programs for citizens. Moreover, it actively conducts education and campaigns to improve mental health awareness, contributing to resolving social prejudice against mental illness and creating an environment where individuals with mental illness can receive treatment without discrimination and live as members of society.

In addition, the center operates recovery support programs for citizens suffering from mental illness, helping them become independent and successfully reintegrate into society. Through various programs such as vocational rehabilitation, social skills training, and housing support, it helps individuals with mental illness regain control over their lives and lead meaningful lives. These efforts are essential foundations for improving citizens' mental health and, furthermore, for creating a healthy and happy community.

 
Enhancing Citizen Accessibility and Future Plans

The Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center operates various communication channels to ensure citizens can easily access mental health information and programs. Through its website, it provides diverse information such as program guides, mental health information, and self-diagnosis tools. It also strengthens real-time communication and information provision through Facebook 'Ma-eum Channel' and KakaoTalk Channel 'Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center.' This significantly contributes to lowering the barrier to mental health services by allowing citizens to obtain necessary mental health information and request expert help anytime, anywhere.

Jung Tae-young, Director General of Daejeon City's Sports and Health Bureau, stated, "This award is a result of the Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center's efforts to care for citizens' minds in response to disasters being externally recognized. We will continue to strengthen cooperation with the community to solidify the disaster psychological support system and do our best to promote citizens' mental health." The Daejeon Mental Health and Welfare Center plans to establish a more practical psychological support system to help citizens regain psychological stability and return to their daily lives in disaster situations. This will be an important cornerstone not only for disaster recovery but also for improving citizens' quality of life and building a strong community that is resilient to any disaster.