Working Group on Volunteering
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About
Welcome to the new The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Volunteering Working Group (WG)!
Listen to Dr Roger M. K. Ng and Sophia Thomson as they invite you to join in enhancing partnerships between member organisations so that skills and knowledge can be shared at minimal cost to those in need.
Please see key documents below for how to join the programme.
Terms of Reference
The WPA Volunteering WG has been convened by the WPA President to carry out work related to the President’s 2020-2023 Action Plan, particularly capacity building. The WG started its work in December 2020 and will continue with the activities until the end of the triennium after which the WG’s existence may be continued should this be considered helpful to WPA’s programme.
WPA member societies are invited to consider the key documents about how the Volunteering platform works, including the roles and responsibilities of both host organisations and visiting trainers.
Out of gallery
The planned outcomes for the WPA Volunteering Programme include:
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Improved implementation of volunteering work in different countries through support for:
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Education and promotion of volunteering among WPA member societies and early career psychiatrists
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Online volunteering through digital platforms
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In-person volunteering to countries with issues of mental health capacities through the member societies and zonal representatives
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Guidelines on best practices in volunteering for host and recipient member societies as well as the volunteers
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Identification of countries willing to participate and available resources to support agreed partnership working
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Dissemination of educational material through publications, webinars, symposia, workshops, including online training
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Support in other areas of the 2020-2023 Action Plan including child, adolescent and youth mental health, medical student training and education, partnership with other organisations and capacity building.
Members
Working Group Leadership Team
Chair: Dr. Roger M. K. Ng
Deputy chair: Sophia Thomson
MBBS, MRCPsych, FRACP
Key Documents
WPA member societies are invited to consider the key documents about how the volunteer platform works, including the roles and responsibilities of both host organisations and visiting trainers. This includes:
The process to join the Volunteer Working Group is illustrated here:
News and Social Media Feed
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Jacques van Hoof, Marc H.M. Hermans, Roger M.K. Ng. Psychiatric volunteering in low- and middle-income countries: what have we learned from history? WCP20 e-poster. ID 1298.
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Jacques van Hoof, Margaret I. Ojeahere, Catherine Muburi, Roger M.K. Ng. New vistas in psychiatric volunteering in low- and middle-income countries. WCP20 e-poster. ID 1349.
Resources & Publications
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Jacques van Hoof, Sy Rato, Cor Sennef. Mental health care in Cambodia: history, status and a personal report. MT BULLETIN OF NVTG 2020, Vol. 58, Iss. 4, 12-14.
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Royal College of Psychiatrists 2020 International Strategy https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/members/international-divisions/rcpsych-international-strategy.pdf
News from our Working Groups
