Global IntegrationCharting Your Course

CISLA—Connecticut College12 November 2014

Dr. Michèle Lewis O’Donnell and Dr. Kelly O’Donnell Consulting Psychologists, Member Care Associates, Inc.

(c) 2014 Kelly and Michele O’Donnell

 

   

Global Integration (GI)

Connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of the core issues facing humanity

and in light of our core values.*

4core *and making a living…

1987Some personal notes on our GI journey

into the trenches, tearooms, and towers

circa 1997

GI Interactions: Three areas of our work-life

• Member Care—staff wellbeing, including international families/transitions, team development, organisational health, and crisis management

• Mental Health—mental wellbeing for all, including consultation and training, social determinants of health

• Sustainable Development—people-planet wellbeing, including crossing sectors and anti-corruption

Global Integration:The United Nations

• But the world is not so happy a place. Billions of people suffer impoverishment, many until the end of their miserable lives…

• Can we really offer justice and freedom from want to a mid-twenty-first-century earth of perhaps nine billion people, one-third of whom may live in squalor and desperation?...

• [Surprises and setbacks] should not deter us from responding as best we can, using our talents to improve this always mixed record of trying “to save generations from the scourge of war,” “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights,” and “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”

• The original Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations had it right. The question is, can we do it? (Paul Kennedy, The    Parliament  of Man:  The Past,  Present,  and Future of the United Nations, 2006, 279, 289)

UN Charter, 1945

We the peoples of the United Nations determined: • to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which

twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, • and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the

dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small,

• and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained,

• and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom…

GAD Disorder?

• Many well-meaning folks who want to get more purposefully involved to help the world have succumbed to what we now describe with a smile as:Globe-all Altruism Disorientation Disorder,

with cognitive and affective overload features.

1. Member Care

Defined:Providing and developing resources to support

the wellbeing and effectiveness of international/national/local staff and their sending organisations. (key is self support, mutual support, and organisational health)

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IFRC• “In the aftermath of a number of disasters in the early 1990s, the necessity and

importance of addressing the psychological needs of victims were amply demonstrated. This led to the establishment of the psychological support programme (PSP) of the International Federation in May 1991….

• However, a series of conflict situations brought to light another category of people psychologically affected by disasters: relief workers. Many Red Cross and Red Crescent delegates who had worked in relief operations (Rwanda and Somalia, for example) came back feeling lost, isolated, depressed and completely exhausted and suffering from nightmares and flashbacks. They often found it difficult to talk about their feelings of helplessness and horror to family, friends and colleagues who could not fully understand what they had been through or were not interested.

• It became increasingly apparent, therefore, that delegates [staff] needed specialized psychological debriefings.” (Psychological Support Programme for Delegates, Psychological Support: Best Practices from Red Cross and Red Crescent Programmes, 2001, p. 18).

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The ‘invisible shield’ of protection disappears

• “…the world community looked forward to an era of greater personal freedom and social progress.

• …[but] superpower stalemate was replaced by a series of nasty ethnic, religious and other conflicts.

• …Civilians became deliberate targets of terror or human pawns in the political endgame

• ….safety was not a ‘luxury’ but a necessary part of continuing the business of saving lives

• …Refugees are most in need of assistance at the very same moment when relief officials are most exposed to personal danger.”

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Short Questionnaire on Stress Based on:

“Relief Worker Burnout Questionnaire” in Coping with Disaster (1999) by John H. Ehrenreich

• Instructions: Rate the following items in terms of how much the symptom was true of you the last month.• 0 = Never 1 = Occasionally 2 = Somewhat often 3 = Frequently 4 = Almost always

*****• ___1. Do you tire easily? Do you feel fatigued a lot of the time, even when you have gotten enough sleep?• ___2. Are people annoying you by their demands and stories about their daily activities? Do minor inconveniences

make you irritable or impatient?• ___3. Do you feel increasingly critical, cynical or disenchanted?• ___4. Are you affected by sadness you can’t explain? Are you crying more than usual?• ___5. Are you forgetting appointments, deadlines, personal possessions? Have you become absent-minded?• ___6. Are you seeing close friends and family members less frequently? Do you find yourself wanting to be alone

and avoiding even your close friends?• ___7. Does doing even routine things seem like an effort?• ___8. Are you suffering from physical complaints such as stomach aches, headaches, lingering colds, general aches

and pains?• ___9. Do you feel confused or disoriented when the activity of the day stops?• ___10. Have you lost interest in activities that you previously were interested in or even enjoyed?• ___11. Do you have little enthusiasm for your work? Do you feel negative, futile, or depressed about your work?• ___12. Are you less efficient than you think you should be?• ___13. Are you eating more (or less), smoking more cigarettes, using more alcohol or drugs to cope with your

work?• • Total Score: (Add up scores for items 1-13)•

People are central to the achievement of our mission. (Guiding Principle, PIA )

Principle 7: Health, Safety and Security. The security, good health, and safety of our staff

are a prime responsibility of our organization.• Written policies are available to staff on security, individual health, care and

support, health and safety. Program plans include written assessment of security, travel and health risks specific to the country or region, reviewed at appropriate intervals.

• Before an international assignment, all staff receive health clearance. In addition, they and accompanying dependents receive verbal and written briefing on all risks relevant to the role to be undertaken, and the measures in place to mitigate those risks, including insurance… Briefings are updated when new equipment, procedures, or risks are identified. All staff have a debriefing or exit interview at the end of any contract or assignment. Health checks, personal counseling, and careers advice are available. Managers are trained to ensure these services are provided.

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“…the most stressful events in humanitarian work have to do with the organisational culture, management style and operational objectives of an NGO or agency rather than external security risks or poor environmental factors. Aid workers, basically, have a pretty shrewd idea what they are getting into when they enter this career, and dirty clothes, gunshots at night and lack of electricity do not surprise them. Intra-and inter-agency politics, inconsistent management styles, lack of team work and unclear or conflicting organizational objectives, however, combine to create a background of chronic stress and pressure that over time wears people down and can lead to burnout and even physical collapse.”

John Fawcett,  Stress  and  Trauma  Handbook: Strategies  for  Flourishing  in Demanding Environments (2003, World Vision, p. 6).

2. Global Mental Health

GMH is an international, interdisciplinary, and multi-sectoral domain which promotes human well-being, the right to health, and equity in health for all. It encourages healthy behaviours and lifestyles; is committed to preventing and treating mental, neurological, and substance use conditions; and seeks to improve policies and programs, professional practices and research, advocacy and awareness, and social and environmental factors that affect health and well-being." (GMH--Finding Your Niches and Networks, Psychology International, March 2012)

Hidden Pictures filmhttp://www.hiddenpicturesfilm.com/

(two minute trailer)

World Mental Health Day (1992-2014, 10 October)

• 2014: Living with Schizophrenia• 2013: Mental Health and Older Adults--Note: Hidden Pictures (feature film)• 2012: Depression--Note: I Had a Black Dog (self-help animation, five minutes)• 2011: The Great Push: Investing in Mental Health • 2010: Mental Health and Chronic Physical Illnesses • 2009: Mental Health in Primary Care • 2008: Making Mental Health a Global Priority: Advocacy/Action • 2007: Mental Health in a Changing World: Culture and Diversity • 2006: Building Awareness–Reducing Risk: Mental Illness/Suicide • 2005: Mental and Physical Health Across the Life Span • 2004: The Relationship between Physical and Mental Health • 2003: Emotional/Behavioral Disorders of Children/Adolescents • 2002: The Effects of Trauma/Violence on Children /Adolescents • 2001: Mental Health and Work • 2000: Mental Health and Work • 1999: Mental Health and Ageing • 1998: Mental Health and Human Rights• 1997: Children and Mental Health • 1996: Women and Mental Health • 1995: Mental Health and Youth • 1994: Improving Mental Health Services throughout the World • 1992-1993 (general themes)

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Global Mental Health

Evidence-Based Practice in Low Resource Countries

10 October 2013, Geneva

WHO Collaborating Centre on Mental Health of the University of Geneva, Department of Psychiatry

Overview: Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020

VisionA world in which mental health is valued, promoted, and protected, mental disorders are prevented and persons affected by these disorders are able to

exercise the full range of human rights and to access high-quality, culturally appropriate health and social care in a timely way to promote recovery, all in order to attain the highest possible level of health and participate fully in society and at work free from stigmatization and discrimination.

Cross-cutting Principles

Universal health coverage

Regardless of age, sex, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity or sexual

orientation, and following the principle of equity, persons with mental

disorders should be able to access, without the risk of impoverishing

themselves, essential health and social services that enable them to achieve recovery and the highest attainable

standard of health.

Human rights

Mental health strategies, actions and interventions for treatment, prevention and promotion must be

compliant with the Convention on the Rights

of Persons with Disabilities and other international

and regional human rights instruments.

Evidence-based practice

Mental health strategies and interventions for treatment, prevention and promotion

need to be based on scientific evidence and/or best

practice, taking cultural considerations into account.

Life course approach

Policies, plans, and services for mental health need to take

account of health and social needs at all stages

of the life course, including infancy,

childhood, adolescence, adulthood and older age.

Multisectoral approach

A comprehensive and coordinated response for mental health requires partnership with multiple public sectors such as

health, education, employment, judicial, housing, social and

other relevant sectors as well as the private sector, as appropriate

to the country situation.

Empowerment of persons with mental

disorders and psychosocial disabilities

Persons with mental disorders and psychosocial disabilities should be

empowered and involved in mental health advocacy, policy, planning,

legislation, service provision, monitoring, research and evaluation.

GoalTo promote mental well-being, prevent mental disorders, provide care, enhance recovery, promote human rights

and reduce the mortality, morbidity and disability for persons with mental disorders

Objectives and Targets

1. To strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health

Global target 1.1: 80% of countries will have developed or updated their policy/plan for mental health in line with international and regional human rights instruments (by the year 2020).

Global target 1.2: 50% of countries will have developed or updated their law for mental health in line with international and regional human rights instruments (by the year 2020).

2. To provide comprehensive, integrated and responsive mental health and social care services in community-based settings

Global target 2: Service coverage for severe mental disorders will have increased by 20% (by the year 2020).

3. To implement strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health

Global target 3.1: 80% of countries will have at least two functioning national, multisectoral mental health promotion and prevention programmes (by the year 2020). 

Global target 3.2: The rate of suicide in countries will be reduced by 10% (by the year 2020).

4. To strengthen information systems, evidence and research for mental health

Global target 4: 80% of countries will be routinely collecting and reporting at least a core set of mental health indicators every two years through their national health and social information systems (by the year 2020).

3. Sustainable Development

We are right in the middle, as the world community and spearheaded by the United Nations, of formalizing the Post 2015 Agenda for sustainable development. What will be the goals, targets, and indicators that will be agreed upon in late 2015 and which will take us to 2030? The recent Open Working Groups Outcome Document from July 2014 is the main reference point for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are emerging. This important document builds upon many previous efforts, especially the lessons learned from the Millennium Development Goals (2002-current) and the commitments made in the Rio +20 Declaration on Sustainable Development: The Future We Want (June 2012, available in six languages).

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)“In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together at United Nations Headquarters in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets - with a deadline of 2015 - that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals.” www.un.org/millenniumgoals

Question: What are the eight MDGs?End Poverty and Hunger Universal Education Gender Equality Child Health Maternal Health Combat HIV/AIDS Environmental Sustainability Global Partnership

• The United Nations is a 20th-century organization facing a 21st-century challenge as an institution with impressive achievements but also haunting failures, one that mirrors not just the world’s hopes but its inequalities and disagreements, and most important, one that has changed but needs to change further….

• The single greatest problem facing the United Nations is that there is no single greatest problem; rather there are a dozen different ones each day clamoring for attention. Some, like the crisis in Lebanon, the Palestinian situation and the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, are obvious and trying.

• Others we call “problems without passports”— issues that cross all frontiers uninvited, like climate change, drug trafficking, human rights, terrorism, epidemic diseases, and refugee movements.

• Their solutions, too, can recognize no frontiers because no one country or group of countries, however rich or powerful, can tackle them alone.

Shashi Tharoor, The Good for Something United Nations, Newsweek, September 4, 2006

Sustainable Development:An Example

• Like a Death SentenceHuman Rights Watch, Oct 2012http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/10/02/death-sentence-0

Sustainable Development Goals:Suggestions

• Review the short overview on the UN's Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.

• Review the 17 proposed SDGs and the 169 targets in the Open Working Groups Outcome Document.

Note:• Central to the upcoming SDGs is the need for a coordinated, massive effort to

eradicate poverty in all its forms, prioritizing both people and the planet, and doing so by integrating the SDG’s social, economic, and environmental dimensions (see also the Executive Summary in State of the Least Developed Countries 2014, focusing on poverty eradication and the SDGs).

• How the world community agrees upon and accomplishes the upcoming SDGs (underpinned by the desire for justice and equity for all) is still being negotiated and debated.

Proposed SDGs• Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere• Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture• Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages• Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all• Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls• Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all• Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all• Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and

decent work for all• Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster

innovation• Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries• Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable• Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns• Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts• Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development• Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests,

combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss• Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for

all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels• Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable

development

The Age of Sustainable DevelopmentEarth Institute, Columbia University

Click here to access the five minute overview of the course by Jefferey Sachs.

4. Charting your course: a. Issues

Pursue your passions

What issues matter to you the most? What are you passionate about? What are you naturally motivated to learn more about?

Take it further by exploring what is happening in these areas within other sectors. Be prepared to expand your “experiential boundaries,” knowing that it can be a bit uncomfortable but also rewarding. It may take time and effort to significantly connect and contribute. Don’t go alone but get involved with others. Find compatible colleagues with similar interests and key groups and networks in which you can be part.

Charting your course:b. InvolvementsTrek through terrain

What types and levels of involvement are realistic for you? Here is a “continuum of involvement.”

Informed----------Included----------Immersed

The continuum begins with more minor involvement in a sector, such as reading the quarterly magazines from a human resources organization about things like staff selection and people management (informed). 

It then proceeds to a midpoint and the inclusion of a sector or parts of a sector in one’s work such as travel health resources for preventing road traffic accidents and malarial infections (included).

The end of the continuum could involve becoming a recognized part of another sector such as working part time as a human rights advocate in a nongovernmental organization or developing culturally relevant psychosocial support for victims of gender violence (immersed). 

Charting your course:c. Influences

Get a grid

What has influenced your desire and ability to cross sectors? List 3-5 items for each of the six categories below.

• Principles/Beliefs• Documents/Materials• Organizations/Groups• People/Models• Milestones/Gravestones• Other• Charting a Future Course

Charting your course in GI

• Keep  in  the  forefront  the opportunities    for  “selfless moral struggle” in partnering with others (Patel et al. 2011, p. 90) and the “duty and choice to risk one’s owns rights  and well-being”  on  behalf  of  fellow  humans    (O’Donnell,  2011,  p. 187).  Develop  your  personal  character  and  professional competence as a responsible global citizen. Connect with a caravan for your GI journey in the service of humanity. 

(adapted from GMH: A Resource Primer for Exploring the Domain, 2012)

Global Integration (GI)

Connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of the core issues facing humanity

and in light of our core values.*

4core *and making a living…

.

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.

But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief,

it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

(photo courtesy/(c) IRIN)

Global IntegrationCharting your Course

Thank you!Michèle and Kelly

MCAresorces@gmail.comwww.membercareassociates.org