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Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has illustrated the wide range of preventative measures and responsive strategies of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). LMICs have implemented lessons learned from previous periods of epidemics and uncertainties. Rwanda's pre-existing decentral...

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Autores principales: Louis, Elizabeth Farrah, Eugene, Dominique, Ingabire, Willy Chrysostome, Isano, Sandra, Blanc, Judite
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8828737/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35153844
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.589526
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author Louis, Elizabeth Farrah
Eugene, Dominique
Ingabire, Willy Chrysostome
Isano, Sandra
Blanc, Judite
author_facet Louis, Elizabeth Farrah
Eugene, Dominique
Ingabire, Willy Chrysostome
Isano, Sandra
Blanc, Judite
author_sort Louis, Elizabeth Farrah
collection PubMed
description The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has illustrated the wide range of preventative measures and responsive strategies of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). LMICs have implemented lessons learned from previous periods of epidemics and uncertainties. Rwanda's pre-existing decentralized healthcare and mental health system which are in response to the mental health distress from the 1994 genocide, continues to be a formidable system that collaborate and combine efforts to address people's mental health needs. COVID-19 has heightened or exacerbated people's mental health within the country. Rwandans have been exposed to and endured adversities, yet their cultural forms of resilience serve as a mental health protective factor to also overcome COVID-19. Nonetheless, Rwanda has engaged in interventions targeting public safety, social and economic protection that specifically address vulnerable communitie's mental health needs. Lessons from preparedness for the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic has contributed to Rwanda's organization and approach to combating COVID-19. Policies and best practices that were enacted during the EVD outbreak have guided Rwanda's response within the healthcare and mental health system. Coincidentally, this outbreak emerged during the 26th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Although for the first-time post genocide, Rwanda was not able to engage in public traditional forms of collective mourning and community healing, evidence of Rwandan's resilient spirit is demonstrated. Community resilience has been defined by Magis [401] as the “existence, development and engagement of community resources by community members to thrive in an environment characterized by change, uncertainty, unpredictability and surprise.”. Referring to this definition, community resilience has been an interwoven into the cultural framework that guided Rwandans in past challenges and continues to be evident now. Rwanda's resilience throughout this pandemic remains through ongoing psychoeducation, community awareness of mental health concerns, collective messages of highlighting mental health support, and solidarity. The global community can gain knowledge from Rwanda's learned lessons of their past which has positioned itself to stand on its resilient values in times of uncertainty such as COVID-19 and endeavor to overcome through national cohesion.
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spelling pubmed-88287372022-02-11 Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic Louis, Elizabeth Farrah Eugene, Dominique Ingabire, Willy Chrysostome Isano, Sandra Blanc, Judite Front Psychiatry Psychiatry The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has illustrated the wide range of preventative measures and responsive strategies of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). LMICs have implemented lessons learned from previous periods of epidemics and uncertainties. Rwanda's pre-existing decentralized healthcare and mental health system which are in response to the mental health distress from the 1994 genocide, continues to be a formidable system that collaborate and combine efforts to address people's mental health needs. COVID-19 has heightened or exacerbated people's mental health within the country. Rwandans have been exposed to and endured adversities, yet their cultural forms of resilience serve as a mental health protective factor to also overcome COVID-19. Nonetheless, Rwanda has engaged in interventions targeting public safety, social and economic protection that specifically address vulnerable communitie's mental health needs. Lessons from preparedness for the Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic has contributed to Rwanda's organization and approach to combating COVID-19. Policies and best practices that were enacted during the EVD outbreak have guided Rwanda's response within the healthcare and mental health system. Coincidentally, this outbreak emerged during the 26th commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Although for the first-time post genocide, Rwanda was not able to engage in public traditional forms of collective mourning and community healing, evidence of Rwandan's resilient spirit is demonstrated. Community resilience has been defined by Magis [401] as the “existence, development and engagement of community resources by community members to thrive in an environment characterized by change, uncertainty, unpredictability and surprise.”. Referring to this definition, community resilience has been an interwoven into the cultural framework that guided Rwandans in past challenges and continues to be evident now. Rwanda's resilience throughout this pandemic remains through ongoing psychoeducation, community awareness of mental health concerns, collective messages of highlighting mental health support, and solidarity. The global community can gain knowledge from Rwanda's learned lessons of their past which has positioned itself to stand on its resilient values in times of uncertainty such as COVID-19 and endeavor to overcome through national cohesion. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC8828737/ /pubmed/35153844 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.589526 Text en Copyright © 2022 Louis, Eugene, Ingabire, Isano and Blanc. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Louis, Elizabeth Farrah
Eugene, Dominique
Ingabire, Willy Chrysostome
Isano, Sandra
Blanc, Judite
Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
title Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
title_full Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
title_fullStr Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
title_short Rwanda's Resiliency During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
title_sort rwanda's resiliency during the coronavirus disease pandemic
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8828737/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35153844
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.589526
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