Philippine lawmakers were urged to pass a measure that will institutionalize the delivery of telepsychiatry services for Overseas Filipino Employees (OFWs), a gaggle of researchers funded by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) said on Thursday.
A proposed law would mandate various government agencies to implement comprehensive national telepsychiatry services for OFWs, as advisable by a study led by the Davao Medical School Foundation Inc. (DMSFI).
Dr. Maria Angelica C. Plata, a research faculty member at DMSFI, said some recommendations from the study include the designation by the Department of Health (DOH) of a national telepsychiatric referral system. Under this method, repatriated OFWs could proceed their sessions at OFW hospitals, the National Center for Mental Health, or regional facilities near their hometowns after completing initial sessions within the resource centers abroad.
“After they arrive here, hopefully there’ll already be an inventory showing where they will proceed—ideally at a primary care center, especially for those from Mindanao and Visayas, where they will follow up,” Ms. Plata told BusinessWorld in Filipino on the sidelines of PCHRD’s Talakayang HeaRT Beat press conference.
Institutionalizing this system could also provide clearer guidelines on where OFWs can call or connect and the way they might be referred to the suitable facilities, Roston R. Plata, DMSFI’s part-time instructor, said.
To make telepsychiatry services sustainable, Mr. Plata advisable including the service within the mental health package of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
He said that the federal government should consider the skilled fees of psychiatrists on the business level, which range from P3,000 to P6,000, to encourage participation in this system.
“In the event that they adopt this, it’ll be great, so psychiatrists may have the motivation to work with the federal government,” Mr. Plata told BusinessWorld.
If institutionalized through law, this system plans to prioritize distressed OFWs at overseas Migrant Employees Resource Centers.
If proven successful, it may very well be expanded to cover all OFWs who need mental health support, he said.
Other recommendations of the study include encouraging the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to integrate mental health services of their dealings abroad and allowing the procurement of psychotropic medications at Philippine embassies.
The study also advisable that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Migrant Employees (DMW) establish dedicated infrastructure in overseas resource centers to function hubs for delivering telepsychiatry services.
DMSFI’s lead study, called Advocating National Disclosure to Integrate Telepsychiatry in Policies and Programs for Overseas Filipino Project (ANDITO), was funded through PCHRD’s grant program. The research was based on focus group discussions with key government agencies reminiscent of DOH, DFA, and the Department of Migrant Employees to coordinate efforts supporting OFWs’ mental health.
The study also drew on an earlier telepsychiatric study conducted from 2020 to 2022 in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which found high service satisfaction rates of 4.77 out of 5, indicating strong acceptance of telepsychiatry amongst OFWs.
As of this writing, Mr. Plata said they’re still gathering support to get lawmakers’ attention on their study, with the goal of eventually enacting it either as a separate law or as a provision in the present Mental Health Act. — Edg Adrian A. Eva