GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of the sustained burden the COVID-19 pandemic poses on the mental health of frontline workers, inviting them to share their stories and strategies to better manage and cope with this added challenge.

The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department from the Sint Maarten Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is calling on frontline health workers to participate in the campaign and share their strategies that could help other workers in the region, the Americas and around the world.

The campaign “Mental Health Now – Tell Your Story,” will collect written and video stories from healthcare workers in the Americas through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (www.twitter.com/opsoms; www.facebook.com/pahowho; www.instagram.com/opsoms), which will be compiled and disseminated through PAHO’s website and social media channels until the end of the year 2021.

The story selection will be based on specific criteria, aiming to portray the breadth of the effects of the pandemic and display the diversity of the Americas.

The pandemic has affected the mental health of not only healthcare workers but also many other populations in the Americas, as they faced personal bereavement, news about illness and death, job losses, economic and social crises, domestic violence, school closures and persistent widespread misinformation.