Bhopal: Don’t Neglect Emotional Wellbeing of Children in Covid Times, say Experts of SOS Children’s Villages of India have highlighted the need to strengthen the emotional wellbeing of children and adolescents in the stressful times of the ongoing pandemic which may leave a lasting imprint on their lives.
On World Mental Health Day occasion Senior Psychiatrist Dr RN Sahu along with team of psychiatrist and psychologist has organized Workshop cum Medical checkup camp at SOS Children Village Khajurikalan for resident special need children and their care taker. On this occasion, Dr Sahu has shared that children suffering from intellectual disability, autism and cerebral palsy faced difficulty in sharing their emotional feeling with other due to their physical and mental limitation. In present stressful situation we all need to more emphasize on emotional wellbeing which is an important part of mental health but it is compromised in their formative years by factors related to the immediate environment in which the children are brought up, their family or issues with their own personality.
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, SOS Children’s Villages has introduced an Emotional Aid programme for children called EmoAid in association with renowned parenting and emotional wellbeing coach Dr Shilpa Gupta.
Said Sumanta Kar, Senior Deputy National Director, SOS Children’s Villages of India, “We have close to 7,000 children living in our 32 Villages across the country. We directly outreach more than 17,000 children through Family Strengthening Programme. Emotional well-being of children under our care is an absolute priority for us. For this, we have developed several modules like for resilience building, positive youth development and a new child entry programme, since children coming to our villages have already undergone some form of trauma. There is also a programme for emotional wellbeing of SOS Mothers, as mental health of care givers is equally important. Now, in association with Dr. Shilpa Gupta, we have introduced an online programme called EmoAid to provide Emotional First Aid to children and SOS Mothers. It involves online workshops to learn practical tools and techniques for enhancing one’s emotional health and prevent the escalation of emotional concerns. The programme will build the emotional capacity of our children.”
