Community Counselor - Effectiveness

Effectiveness

Focus group evaluations were conducted 8 months and 16 months after the training. The study elicited the long-term effects of the training from core groups of community counselors, including the knowledge and attitudes, the effect of the training upon the trainees with regard to counseling skills acquisition, and the role the trainees played in the community immediately after the training and at the time of evaluation. The core groups consisted of teachers, health inspectors, youth leaders, and nursing personnel from the education and health departments at the district level. They included those who had undergone ADEPT’s community counselor training as well as those who did not.

Several post training benefits of the training were elicited. All those who had undergone training felt that the training had a positive impact on the quality of ameliorative assistance provided by them immediately after the tsunami, when compared to the assistance given by their colleagues and peers who had not been trained.. Many felt they could cope better both personally and professionally. They felt that the training enhanced their skills in interpersonal relationships and helped them to be more insightful in their work. The major points that were repeatedly mentioned by the majority of participants of the training include the following:

• A capacity to reach out to communities better than in the past.
• The confidence that they could translate learning into practice.
• A distinct difference between those who had been trained and those who had not. While those who had been trained coped well with post tsunami daily life crisis, those who had not floundered.
• Personal benefit as they ventilated during the training, rendering their own healing process much faster.
• The internal transformation produced by engaging the adults in re constructive activities.
• The acquired ability to train co-workers on psycho-social intervention
• The benefits of “venting” their feelings and sharing their experience with other community counselors during the post training contact programs, that helped them cope with the stress that came with handling grief-stricken survivors.
• The perceptible sharpening of innate qualities that are a natural part of any individual such as listening skills, use of questions, even reflective silences

All participants felt that the duration of the training in the opinion was adequate for the work done. The study also indicated that even 16 months after the Tsunami those who had not undergone ADEPT’s training were unable to cope with crises that they were faced with such as the Tamilnadu floods, the bird flu scare etc., while those who were trained could narrate in depth how they handled those affected. More than half of the trainees felt competent to identify and refer cases they were unable to handle to experts and several who were from the Public health department were aware of the services available and frequently referred them to experts.

The participants felt that while the training provided guidelines without in-depth training in techniques, this helped them innovate and develop their own tools of practice as they went along. One recurring comment that came from the focus groups was that healing and transformation for adults was helped immensely and in some cases expedited by their continued involvement in physical aspects of reconstruction. The respondents requested reading material or training in areas not covered by the contents of training such as techniques to handle the guilt of survivors. The depth of the grief experienced by the older person who survived while younger members of the family perished was something most of them felt unable to cope with. They also expressed the need for further refresher courses which would incorporate more depth knowledge in areas related to child psychology, grief counseling, counseling the elderly etc. This indicates a recognition of the value of training by the participants.

Dr. Gauthamadas followed through by bring out a manual for Community Counselors in March 2005 which has been well received. There have been requests by several organizations (including the UNDP) for their reference and use in the field. ADEPT has gone in for a third reprint of the manual to meet the growing demand for the manual.

The contents’ of ADEPT’s training can be said to have been validated by the manual distributed to the schools by the Department of Education in April 2005 which laid out guidelines that were in keeping with the framework laid out in ADEPT’s training sessions. Conclusion

Dr. Gautham’s model has been to train volunteers from within the community in psycho social care through individuals who have been care workers for their community. In doing so, ADEPT successfully utilized the strong interconnectedness of individuals within the affected community.