MoH handles stress through Counselling Unit

THE Minister of Health emphasised the importance of handling stress effectively among health staff to ensure that healthcare services remain efficient.

Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman yesterday highlighted this during the opening ceremony of the Counselling Unit at Ong Sum Ping Health Centre.

"We live in a world where everything happens quickly. We have to balance our time with responsibilities at home and at work. As human beings, we cannot run away from facing all types of problems," he said.

The minister cited examples of stress-induced problems, such as family, work and financial issues, which could cause stress among individuals and make them feel unhappy and discouraged to work, thus affecting their work performance.

These problems, sometimes, were not given serious attention and acted upon, which could have an adverse impact on the individual, he said.

"According to a study, 43 per cent of adults (in the world) are going through bad effects on health caused by stress," said the minister. The study was taken from a medical journal in the US, according to a senior Ministry of Health (MoH) official.

Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi went on to say that stress was also related to six main causes of death, including heart diseases, cancer, liver problems, accidents, lung diseases and suicides.

The counselling services were also seen as one of the ways to counter the problems faced by an individual in his daily life, and this did not necessarily mean that the individual is inadequate, he said.

The minister explained that counselling sessions were generally conducted to give chances to an individual to work harder towards achieving a comfortable, satisfying and meaningful life.

"Through counselling, it is hoped that the person can get out of his problems to continue and live a fulfilling life," he said.

Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi also reminded the existing counsellors that the future of the new unit lied on the effectiveness of services provided.

Any consistent demands should then prove if the unit was really needed, Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi added.

A total of 44 qualified health officials and staff received certificates for completing the counselling course, which was facilitated by the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

Director of Administration at the Ministry of Health Hj Md Salleh Hj Mohiddin said that RBAF already had an existing counselling unit and that it has the facilities and expertise to facilitate the course.

He said that the establishment of the new unit was an initiative of the ministry to provide professional counselling and guidance services to its staff, which totals more than 6,000.

Nearly 30 clients have voluntarily approached the Counselling Unit since it was established in September 2009.

The Brunei Times