5 July 2016 — The revised edition of a book which has been the staple of training community health and social workers for the past three decades was launched this July by the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA).

The book, Transforming Lives: Mental Health Care of the Community, was unveiled by co-authors Dr. Lourdes Ladrido-Ignacio and Dr. Anselmo Tronco on 5 July 2016 at the Calderon Hall of the UP College of Medicine. The event was attended by health professionals, community workers, nongovernment organizations, and government agencies.

Change in perspective inspired the authors to revise the training materials and update the concepts of health and illness, particularly mental health. This book clarifies further the skills in mental health care that general health workers are expected to acquire.

Dr. Tronco, Chair of the PGH Department of Psychiatry (PGHDP) and a former student of Dr. Ignacio, said the latest edition comes with three major revisions: (1) among the four dimensions presented in the book, it recognizes the importance of spirituality in man’s life; (2) a simplified checklist for trainees that will help identify the mental health problems they will be expected to attend to; and (3) the interconnectedness between the individual and his community as a necessity in the process of care.

Dr. Ignacio, PGHDP Professor Emeritus and PPA founding president, shared that writing the book had reaffirmed her commitment to continue serving the country. “When I finished my residency and fellowship in the United States, I had the big opportunity to earn dollars, buy a Jaguar, etc., [but] I dared not do that. I dared not to take my exams in the U.S. I dared to come home and held on to the idea that I can probably still succeed personally and professionally, practicing psychiatry in the Philippines,” said Dr. Ignacio.

Dr. Ignacio was recently conferred the UP Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award. According to her, being in UP is home and producing something that might make a difference in the world gives her satisfaction. “It’s not so much the whole material luxury, but it really is the luxury of the spirit with which you are going to involve truly your own self. Not only the professional point of view but the personal point of view, touching base with what has not yet been touched, reaching those who have not yet been reached, and somehow receiving the kind of thankfulness that you probably would not have imagined,” she added.

“I represent one of the not so young but not so old psychiatrists who strongly believe that mental health will be central in the transformation of the world,” Dr. Tronco said, stating his strong advocacy for creating programs for the families of the mentally ill.

“The language here seems to apply directly to the Filipino victims of disaster, [but] it can well be a language that can be used to help those beyond our shores,” he stated.

Published in 2000, the earlier book, Mental Health Care in the Community, had been used for decades to provide psychosocial care in many communities that do not have access to this kind of care. The book has reached other countries and was translated into 4 languages – Mongolian, Khmer, Bahasa-Indonesia, and Vietnamese. It has been the main reference material in training health and social workers in the community.

“The people in the field would tell us that one of the best things that they could think of right away when all else fails is that there is spiritual life, their prayers. They’re looking into the cosmic being,” Dr. Ignacio claimed.

Praises and Reviews

Dr. Jaime Montoya, Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Health, Research, and Development, admitted that reading the book made him understand mental psychiatry more than how he understood it when he was in medical school. He also praised the book’s bravery in including ‘spirituality’ which is considered ‘unscientific’ in the broad understanding of health.

“In the Philippines, it is a reality that we have to accept that we are a deeply spiritual people. We don’t want to admit it but in our own small time, we are, in fact, spiritual,” said Dr. Montoya.

Dr. Tranco on why they included spirituality in the concept of health: “It was time to put something that will create and steer another way of looking at health. We do not really know how to go about making people competent and responding to spirituality, we just have it.”

Other prominent figures in the field of medicine, mental health, and community work also attended the launch and had their copies signed. UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla termed the book as a “constant reminder to the university to care more for the disabled.”

“The reputation of the university is measured not only by the people it produces, not only the faculty and the students it graduates, but also the outputs – publications, books, and products. We are confident that the contents of this book are not only for the Philippines but for the rest of the world,” Dr. Padilla said proudly.

According to her, this book will prepare our communities for more disasters and the challenges of the world. The Chancellor explained that she got in touch with the organizing committee of a forthcoming international conference to invite the authors to present the thoughts of this book to the international academic medical community.

Dr. Corali Dimacali, UPCM Associate Dean for Academic Development, hopes that this book will serve as a guide to health workers in restoring order in the communities after chaos. “As a nation in the earthquake belt, prone to typhoons and floods, an important and often missed aspect of relief efforts is maintaining the mental health and well-being of the persons and communities affected by such disasters,” she explained that mental health and mental wealth are necessary to hasten recovery and rebuilding of community when such calamities happen.

Rainer Guetler, Christoffel-Blindenmission Regional Director, shared that as stigma and poverty prevents many Filipinos to reach out to psychiatrists, books such as this one helps reach those communities.

Lucita Lazo, President of the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation-Philippines (WAPR-Phils), also praised the book saying that, “the authors have addressed the fundamental problems. What we now need to do is make the most out of this book.”

“Precious few have had the courage to write on the challenges of undertakings in the much-needed mental health services and care in the community,” a letter from PPA President, Dr. Fareda Flores read.

The book is made available in braille to allow access to the differently abled. Published by the PPA, copies are available at the PGHDP, 554-8400 loc. 2436 and Medical Center Manila (Rm. 318, Clinic of Dr. Ignacio), and WAPRPhils. (525-1767 or 0922-8826949; ask for Ms. Jane Torres). It is also available on Amazon and Flipside. To request for Braille versions, please contact WAPR-Phils.

Anne Marie D. Alto | Published in UP Manila Newsletter July – August 2016