Rabat – Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (USMBA) in Fez is responding to an increased need for mental health support amid the COVID-19 outbreak by offering remote psychological services to the public via WhatsApp and SMS messaging.
Specialists and professors in the university’s psychology department at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences are spearheading the initiative “in a context marked by the risks of spread of the new coronavirus,” the university announced in a statement.
Those in need of psychological consultation services can reach out to around 20 specialists between 10 a.m. and midnight.
The USMBA service aims to help the public to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and support beneficiaries in managing stress, anxiety, and other psychological pressures experienced as a result of the epidemic and Morocco’s emergency state.
Specialists will provide advice and guidance to users and present parents with problem-solving tools, emotional management strategies, and techniques for discussing the situation with their children.
Mohammed V University launched a similar service in partnership with UNICEF Morocco. The service allows beneficiaries to receive credible information and advice about the COVID-19 pandemic as well as psychological services from volunteer psychologists and educators via WhatsApp.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is also utilizing WhatsApp during the global COVID-19 crisis, launching a service to provide users with credible information on the virus in order to prevent the spread of fake news.
Read also: Morocco’s ‘Allo 300’ COVID-19 Hotline Receives Nearly 10,000 Daily Calls
