Integrative Behavioral Health (IBH) Model at the Intersections of the Philippine Mental Health Law, Education, and Policy: For COVID-19 Recovery and Beyond

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of Philippine citizens. The authors propose the Integrative Behavioral Health (IBH) model to help facilitate the country’s eventual recovery from a health psychology perspective. Findings were integrated from a faculty consultation from a private university’s psychology department, a literature review, and a survey of students who are learning online. The survey results revealed that living with family members negatively correlated with readiness to learn online, r = -.37, p < .05. Further research is needed. Furthermore, combining themes gathered from the consultation, literature review, and variables used from the survey served as anchor words for the IBH model: 1. Emancipatory Education; 2) Filipino Psychology; 3) Contextualization; 4.) Philippine Mental Health Law; 5). Symptom Science; and 6) Social Determinants of Health (SDH). The constructs were implemented into an online health psychology course. The proposed curriculum design provides for an effective mental health response towards post-pandemic recovery.

Creation and Validation of the Filipino Student Depression Inventory

“…Multiple authors (Cortez et al, 2016;Hermannsdottir, 2016;Kuroki, 2015;Reyes et al, 2020) have asserted that kapwa remains significantly important in the maintenance of mental health among Filipino individuals. Kapwa suggests that individual Filipinos do not navigate through life alone, but rather together in a shared identity, and this interconnection of shared identity is a rich resource for all Filipinos who live within its expression (Billones et al, 2021). The salience of this social interconnection has been shown to be imperative among Filipino youth when addressing mental health issues (Reyes et al, 2020; see also David et al, 2017).…”