The institutionalization of mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies in Indonesia

Abstract

The paper probes how Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for emergencies (MHPSS) has been institutionalized in a disaster-prone country. Using Indonesia as a case study, the article lays down the various MHPSS-related institutions and systems (legal frameworks, policies, processes, and programs) that were constituted at different levels of governance in Indonesia as part of its disaster management structures. It examines how these institutions and systems were made to operate in the Central Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) disasters of 2018. Furthermore, factors that facilitated or hindered the effective functioning of the MHPSS system are discussed. The findings of this research are based on secondary data and primary data collected through interviews and focus group discussions with various national and local government and non-government stakeholders involved in disaster response, including field visits in the two provinces. The paper contends that the Indonesian Government has established necessary national disaster management institutions and structures with local counterparts, where MHPSS structures have been integrated. It also discusses crucial intervention programs delivered to survivors of the two provincial disasters, which the paper asserts conform to the integrated support systems prescribed by the IASC that include basic services and security, community and family support (family reunification, psychosocial support, and community rituals) focused non-specialized services (PFA, psychological intervention, and basic mental health care), and specialized services (referral services to clinical and non-clinical service providers). Lastly, the paper argues that a confluence of administrative, logistical, organizational, resource, supply, human resource, and contextual factors have either hindered or facilitated the functionality of the MHPSS systems in place, which explains the varying levels of efficiency of the MHPSS responses in the two provinces.