Mental Health

This summary is part of a research project carried out between March and October 2006 in support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of The Communication Initiative (The CI)'s partners.

According to Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) The Association for Training and Research for Mental Health (ACISAM) was established in 1986 - at the height of El Salvador’s civil war - to treat and prevent mental illnesses related to the conflict. Since the peace agreement in 1992, ACISAM has changed focus from clinical intervention to prevention. As a result, ACISAM launched an ICT project that aims to facilitate communication in rural communities about the impact and issues relating to post war-trauma, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). ACISAM believes that these traumas directly and indirectly affect social cohesion through detrimental behaviours and perceptions. The author notes that ACISAM’s intent is to illustrate their belief in the important connection between mental health and communication in order to facilitate a greater dialogue within communities. ACISAM is achieving their goals by encouraging the production of local radio and television programming by community members. This case study, however, is exclusive to the community video project and includes a variety of information (albeit limited) from the process of advocacy, to community responses.

As a first step in approaching a community, ACISAM reaches out to the local government and presents its goals and objectives, with the intent of having the local government sign an agreement in support of its activities. The second step is to assess the needs and requirements of the project and those of the intended user-groups. This step is intended to ensure the effectiveness of the project and to identify those who are the most vulnerable; some of those identified are subsequently chosen for participation in the first community video. The third step is to identify a core group of individuals (typically youth 15 to 28 years old) who have shown interest and commitment to the project for specialised training.
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The author notes that the community groups addressed by ACISAM often do not recognise their own needs in communicating their mental health issues, as these issues do not typically manifest in public. Consequently, when ACISAM approaches a community, members are often reluctant to participate. This reluctance is quickly overcome when the pilot projects’ positive results are experienced and the community embraces their need to participate. Typically the youth are the first to embrace the project as they are more resilient to the effects of PTSD; consequently, they are viewed as the best potential groups for production and as the most likely to mobilise for positive community change.

The ACISAM communication project uses a two pronged media approach: the first is the “Community Sound” project, which broadcasts community-based recorded messages through a public announcement loudspeaker system mounted strategically throughout the community; the other media approach is the “Community Television” project, which centres around community members and issues-based video broadcasts to the public.

The authors note that the biggest difficulty ACISAM has encountered is local power struggles between inter- and intra-community groups. To overcome this problem, ACISAM demands that users only produce material that fosters and promotes understanding of others in the community. However, it is noted that this rule is difficult to enforce, as there is a very fine line between propaganda and information promoting knowledge and understanding.

The availability of funding is also problematic. ACISAM has managed to procure the initial equipment through unspecified international funding agencies and through subsequent sales of communications services (offering documentaries and other video services) to various NGOs. Although the goal is to attain self-sufficiency at the community level, a lack of production equipment, in particular editing equipment, limits the participant communities’ ability to produce additional material. The communities in the programme are aware that they should be striving to attain their own equipment, which is often available through local funding and commercial partnerships. For example, in one village a local sugar mill provided video equipment in exchange for a video about the mill.

ACISAM wishes to transition to digital equipment, but presently the cost associated with purchasing equipment and training staff is a barrier.

Title: Mental Health Video, ACISAM El Salvador
Year: 2001
Publication: Danida ICT site: Good ICT Practices
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