The counseling team includes lecturers at the nursing school and experienced nurses.
The school established the crisis center when the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic, Dean of the University of Indonesia Nursing School, Agus Setiawan, said in a statement on Friday.
"We created a special team to educate people on COVID-19 transmission, prevention, and symptoms, along with issues around mental health during a pandemic," he revealed.
The center, he continued, has served at least 19 people. Its educational program is being carried out online and includes infographics and video posts on social media.
Consultation and counseling are also being carried out online. People can register themselves with the Crisis Center's Hotline via the Whatsapp number +6281383115786.
"Consultation and counseling are being provided for free, and cover physical concerns, guides to treatments at home, guides to home isolation, and mental health consultation for public and medical workers," Setiawan said.
There are a number of tasks being carried out by the center, including educating the public on health, providing consultation and counseling services, and recruiting volunteers for the medical and general division to help hospitals and the Athlete's Village Emergency Hospital, as well as briefing volunteers.
Meanwhile, the University's Deputy Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Abdul Haris, said that the establishment of the Nursing School's COVID-19 Crisis Center serves as concrete evidence that University of Indonesia is among the varsities that have contributed significantly to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when it comes to the people of Depok city and surrounding areas.
The Crisis Center Team will actively contact surrounding community members who have registered and monitor their condition on a regular basis, and a referral team will connect them with the nearest health service, if necessary.
Education and consultation services at the Crisis Center have been made possible with the support of the UI Community Service and Empowerment Directorate.
Furthermore, chairwoman of the Education and Consultation Center of the Crisis Center, Dessie Wanda, revealed that she had received complaints about the workload of nurses and other health workers in the field, as well as concerns surrounding the stigma against them when they return home or to their dormitories.
"For this reason, we hope that this service can ease the burden, stress, or anxiety of nurses and health workers on duty, and of course also improve people's understanding of COVID-19. In addition counseling and consultation services are being provided to prevent stress and anxiety due to this pandemic situation, especially for health workers," she averred. (INE)
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Translator: Feru Lantara/Aria Cindyara
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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