(FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said it expanded its coverage of the Wellness Movement for medical frontliners to 7,200 more healthcare workers.
The DOH, in a statement, said the movement supports doctors, nurses, and allied health staff in adopting wellness behaviors to fortify their well-being, providing gadgets which facilitate the incorporation of wellness behaviors such as grounding, breathing exercises, and gratitude exercises, during critical moments of their day.
The movement also establishes digital and in-person community support groups for healthcare professionals.
“The Wellness Movement fits right into two points of the 8-point action agenda of the Department and aligns seamlessly with our endeavor to provide a humanistic approach in the work that we do – the Kapakanan at karapatan ng manggagawang pangkalusugan (Welfare and rights of healthcare workers) and Ginhawa ng isip at damdamin (Comfort of mind and feelings),” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa during the the program’s launch at the UP College of Medicine.
Herbosa said that the Wellness Movement began in five pilot hospitals in 2020, but has since expanded over 50 hospitals.
Herbosa further explained that the program’s success has resulted in an improvement in medical workers’ mental health — which he said was brought about by the positive hospital environments created for all employees.