Rania Saraireh
Amman – Yesterday, the Ministry of Health launched the “Better Work-Jordan” program, in partnership with the General Union for Workers/Women in the Textile and Apparel Industry, and Mental Health Services at the Union’s office in Al Dhaleel Industrial Area in Zarqa Governorate.
The Director of the Directorate of Persons with Disabilities and Mental Health at the Ministry, Malak Al-Aoury, inaugurated the clinic, which provides free services to Jordanian and migrant workers in the clothing industry.
The clinic, which was established within the framework of a memorandum of understanding signed by the program with the Syndicate, treats psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, personality disorder, psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and interpersonal conflicts.
“By addressing mental health issues and creating healthy work environments for all workers, this achievement shows the commitment of the program and the union to improve mental health in the workplace,” Al-Auri said at the opening ceremony, which was attended by representatives of the Jordanian Association of Apparel and Textile Exporters, and the managements of garment factories.
These services are provided by a specialized psychiatrist and a social worker, including providing each visitor with a treatment plan that contributes to improving the psychological state, and the program, furnishing and equipping the clinic with the support of 4 clothing factories in the sector, and within the framework of his mental health project, which he launched in 2021 to promote the mental health of workers. .
The project focuses on women and migrant workers, as the two categories constitute the majority of the workforce and face psychological pressures.
The project takes two main approaches to achieve its objectives: raising awareness of mental health institutionally and individually; Develop and implement a mental health policy, on the capacities of factories to develop a system for identifying, managing and referring mental health cases.
An evaluation paper entitled “Assessing knowledge, perceptions and attitudes related to mental health in the garment industry in Jordan” stressed the need to include the national action plan for mental health and addiction, and to address the issues faced by expatriate workers of both sexes in Jordan, related to mental health and well-being, and focus on health diseases. mental health and suicide cases, and stressing the involvement of stakeholders from the sector in the national task force operating within the national health action plan.
The evaluation, which was recently prepared by the Better Work Program, called for increasing the knowledge of most stakeholders about the additional provisions related to mental health in the collective bargaining agreement, and increasing inspection by the Ministry of Labor, to ensure that factories adhere to work regulations and provide decent working conditions.
He demanded the establishment of a system to support procedures related to expatriate workers, and arranging to make the hotline available in all languages for its members, to deliver complaints, recommending the development of factory protocols, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, to deal with suicide cases in the sector, including: prevention, and post-incident response Nationally – labor embassies The expatriate, and the establishment of shelters in the embassies of her country, or the arrangement of shelters, to ensure that there is a safe place for those who face abuse, harassment, threats or intimidation, or legal procedures with factories, to stay there until the problem is resolved.
The assessment showed that expatriate workers face many causes of psychological stress during: migration, relocation and integration, and their vulnerability to this varies, according to individual weaknesses, coping strategies, long working hours, and other conditions that may contribute to poor mental and physical health, and it must be taken into account that this employment , own thoughts and behaviors about it and asking for help.
He pointed out that previous years witnessed cases and suicide attempts, due to some extent to the economic uncertainty faced by workers, and the pressures associated with moving away from the family and concern for their safety, which raised concerns at the level of the sector as a whole, with our realization that these problems affect workers, and the lack of ownership Adequate knowledge of the reasons for this happening, and what needs to be done to support efforts to improve mental health and put an end to this tragedy.
The Better Work Program implemented a mental health project, within the framework of which this evaluation came, to study the degree of knowledge, perceptions and behaviors of workers and stakeholders in the sector regarding mental health. So that they showed lower levels of knowledge than those of stakeholders, and workers showed the greatest amount of knowledge on this issue and they are Jordanian workers, especially females.
The majority of those assessed answered that severe psychological stress resulting from significant life events can cause mental health problems, while there were diverse opinions as to whether biological or spiritual factors could cause mental health problems. While some expatriates, especially those from India and Bangladesh, believe that spiritual factors such as cursing or touching cause mental health problems.
“The lack of knowledge about mental health problems and causes is problematic; Because it affects the way management and employees interpret the diagnosis of their problems, and thus provide the correct course of treatment for workers, and it also affects their desire and response to requesting or accepting the correct treatment.