Syllabus for

Crisis Intervention Specialist

Training Program

American Red Cross Psychosocial Support Program

Dr. Joseph O. Prewitt Diaz

Ms. Sujata Bordoloi
Ms. Antara Sen Dave, MSW
Mr. Amin Khoja
2
Index
No. Content Page

1. Contents of the manual……………………………………… 2

2. Goal, Objectives and expected outcomes………………… 3
3. Training program schedule…………………………………. 4
4. The International Humanitarian Law…………………………9
5. Origin of The Red Cross Movement……………………… 13
6. The Emblem………………………………………………… 18
7. IFRC Psychological Support Policy………………………. 19
8. SPHERE guidelines for psychosocial support………… 24
9. Safe School……………………………………………………27
10. Safe Home……………………………………………………. 40
11. Psychological First Aid………………………………………. 59
12. Presentation and Facilitation skills………………………… 63

3
 Goal
Prepare a team of technical personnel to instruct and implement psychosocial
support activities in schools and communities.

Objectives:
1. Elaborate the International Humanitarian Law and the Emblem.
2. Explain origin of the Red Cross movement.
3. Enumerate the SPHERE key indicators and guidelines for psychosocial support.
4. Describe guidelines under IFRC psychosocial support policy addressing psychosocial
support as a crosscutting issue relevant to disaster preparedness and response
programs by Red Cross.
5. Describe the assessment tools for community based psychosocial support.
6. Elaborate the community based psychosocial support interventions in the immediate
response, rehabilitation, reconstruction and preparedness phase.
7. Elaborate the school based psychosocial support interventions.

Expected Outcomes
Participants will be able to
1. Explain the IHL as it relates to human rights and the emblem.
2. Describe the humanitarian work by Red Cross movement under guided by the seven
fundamental principles.
3. Enumerate and explain the five SPHERE guidelines under the Mental and Social
Aspects of Health.
4. Explain the IFRC policy guidelines in relation to the psychosocial support
activities.
5. Implement psychosocial support activities in communities and schools.
6. Carry out Assessment in the community using different psychological support
assessment tools.
7. Conduct training programs for psychological First Aid, Community Facilitators and
teachers.

4
 Chapter 1
The objective of international humanitarian law is to limit the suffering caused by
warfare and to alleviate its effects. Its rules are the result of a delicate balance
between the exigencies of warfare (“military necessity”) on the one hand and the
The
laws of humanity on the other. Humanitarian law is a sensitive matter and it suffers
no tampering. It must be respected in all circumstances, for the sake of the survival International
Humanitarian
of human values and, quite often, for the sheer necessity of protecting life. Each
and every one of us can do something to promote greater understanding of its
main goals and fundamental principles, thereby paving the way for better respect
for them. Better respect for humanitarian law by all States and all parties to armed
conflicts will do much to help create a more humane world. Law
What is International Humanitarian Law?
International humanitarian law is a set of rules, which seek for humanitarian
reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or
are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods
of warfare. International humanitarian law is also known as the law of war or the
law of armed conflict.

International humanitarian law is part of international law, which is the body of rules
governing relations between States. International law is contained in agreements
between States – treaties or conventions –, in customary rules, which consist of
State practice considered by them as legally binding, and in general principles.

International humanitarian law applies to armed conflicts. It does not regulate

whether a State may actually use force; this is governed by an important, but
distinct, part of international law set out in the United Nations Charter.

Where did international humanitarian law

originate?
International humanitarian law is rooted in the rules of ancient civilizations and
religions – warfare has always been subject to certain principles and customs.
Universal codification of international humanitarian law began in the nineteenth
century. Since then, States have agreed to a series of practical rules, based on the
bitter experience of modern warfare. These rules strike a careful balance between
humanitarian concerns and the military requirements of States. As the international
community has grown, an increasing number of States have contributed to the
development of those rules. International humanitarian law forms today a universal
body of law.

5
 Where is international humanitarian law to be
found?
A major part of international humanitarian law is contained in the four Geneva
Conventions of 1949. Nearly every State in the world has agreed to be bound by
them. The Conventions have been developed and supplemented by two further
agreements: the Additional Protocols of 1977 relating to the protection of victims
of armed conflicts.

Other agreements prohibit the use of certain weapons and military tactics and
protect certain categories of people and goods. These agreements include:

Geneva Conventions of 1949 and 1977

There are four Geneva Conventions, signed August 12, 1949, and the two additional
Protocols of June 8, 1977. These treaties are all fully indexed on this site. In
addition, there are many other international treaties, which govern the conduct of
war or establish human rights standards (see more treaties), which are not indexed
here.

Convention I
For the Amelioration of the Condition of wounded and sick members of Armed Forces
at Field. It sets forth the protections for members of the armed forces who become
wounded or sick.

Convention II
For the Amelioration of the Condition of Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members
of Armed Forces at Sea. It Extends protection to wounded, sick and shipwrecked
members of naval forces.

Convention III
Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva. It lists the rights of prisoners
of war.

Convention IV
Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva. Deals with the
protection of the civilian population in times of war.

Protocol I
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the
Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts. Extend protections to victims
of wars against racist regimes and wars of self-determination.

Protocol II
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the

6
Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts. Extends protection to
victims of internal conflicts in which an armed opposition controls enough territory
to enable them to carry out sustained military operations.

In what circumstances do the international humanitarian laws

apply?
International humanitarian law applies only to armed conflict; it does not cover
internal tensions or disturbances such as isolated acts of violence. The law
applies only once a conflict has begun, and then equally to all sides regardless
of who started the fighting. International humanitarian law distinguishes between
international and non-international armed conflict.

International armed conflicts are those in which at least two States are involved.
They are subject to a wide range of rules, including those set out in the four
Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I.

Non-international armed conflicts are those restricted to the territory of a single

State, involving either regular armed forces fighting groups of armed dissidents,
or armed groups fighting each other. A more limited range of rules apply to
internal armed conflicts and are laid down in Article 3 common to the four Geneva
Conventions as well as in Additional Protocol II. It is important to differentiate
between international humanitarian law and human rights law. While some of their
rules are similar, these two bodies of History of law have developed separately
and are contained in different treaties. In particular, human rights law – unlike
international humanitarian law – applies in peacetime, and many of its provisions
may be suspended during an armed conflict.

International humanitarian law covers two areas:

• The protection of those who are not, or no longer, taking part in fighting
• Restrictions on the means of warfare – in particular weapons
• And the methods of warfare, such as military tactics

What is “protection”? International humanitarian law protects those who do

not take part in the fighting, such as civilians and medical and religious military
personnel. It also protects those who have ceased to take part, such as wounded,
shipwrecked and sick combatants, and prisoners of war. These categories of person
are entitled to respect for their lives and for their physical and mental integrity.
They also enjoy legal guarantees. They must be protected and treated humanely in
all circumstances, with no adverse distinction. More specifically, it is forbidden to
kill or wound an enemy who surrenders or is unable to fight, the sick and wounded
must be collected and cared for by the party in whose power they find themselves.
Medical personnel, supplies, hospitals and ambulances must all be protected. There
are also detailed rules governing the conditions of detention for prisoners of war
and the way in which civilians are to be treated when under the authority of an
enemy’s power. This includes the provision of food, shelter and medical care, and
the right to exchange messages with their families. The law sets out a number of
7
 clearly recognizable symbols, which can be used to identify protected people, places
and objects. The main emblems are the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and the symbols
identifying cultural property and civil defense facilities.

What restrictions are there on weapons and tactics?

International humanitarian law prohibits all means and methods of warfare which:
• Fail to discriminate between those taking part in the fighting and those, such
as civilians, who are not, the purpose being to protect the civilian population,
individual civilians and civilian property
• Cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering
• Cause severe or long-term damage to the environment. Humanitarian law has
therefore banned the use of many weapons, including exploding bullets, chemical
and biological weapons, blinding laser weapons and anti-personnel mines

Is international humanitarian law actually complied with?

Sadly, there are countless examples of violation of international humanitarian law.
Increasingly, the victims of war are civilians. However, there are important cases
where international humanitarian law has made a difference in protecting civilians,
prisoners, the sick and the wounded, and in restricting the use of barbaric weapons.
Given that this body of law applies during times of extreme violence, implementing
the law will always be a matter of great difficulty and striving for effective
compliance remains as urgent as ever.

What should be done to implement the law?

Measures must be taken to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
States have an obligation to teach its rules to their armed forces and the general
public. They must prevent violations or punish them if these nevertheless occur. In
particular, they must enact laws to punish the most serious violations of the Geneva
Conventions and Additional Protocols, which are regarded as war crimes. The States
must also pass laws protecting the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems. Measures
have also been taken at an international level; tribunals have been created to
punish acts committed in two recent conflicts (the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda).
An international criminal court, with the responsibility of repressing inter alias war
crimes, was created by the 1998 Rome Statute. Whether as individuals or through
governments and various organizations, we can all make an important contribution
to compliance with international humanitarian law.

8
Henri Dunant, founder of Red Cross Chapter 2
Jean Henri Dunant was born in Geneva on
8 May 1828. His character and education
impelled him to help the distressed and
the unfortunate and to be concerned about
Origin of the
social work. In 1853, he was appointed as
an accountant to a subsidiary company in Red Cross
Movement
Algeria, which entailed a certain amount
of traveling. On 24 June 1859, Dunant
arrived at Solferino where he witnessed one
of the fiercest battles of the nineteenth
century. The Battle of Solferino lasted
for more than 15 hours and more than
40,000 were wounded. Dunant was filled
with horror and pity as he viewed the
appalling spectacle of human suffering.
With the help of the villagers at Castilian,
he worked tirelessly, without sleep for
three days, giving comfort and whatever
medical care he could to the injured men.

Back at Geneva, Dunant was haunted by visions of the terrible battle and he
devoted all his strength to ensure that the terrible sufferings he had witnessed
never occurred again.

In 1862, Dunant wrote and published a book entitled “A Memory of Solferino”, in

which he put forward his ideas to foster the creation, in every country, of a society
for the relief of the military wounded and capable of helping the army medical
services to carry out their tasks.

Birth of Red Cross

Gustave Moynier, a prominent lawyer in Geneva and president of the city’s ‘Society
of Public Welfare’, showed immediate interest in Dunant’s ideas. Moynier lost no
time in setting up the Permanent International Committee of Relief of the Wounded,
which was later known as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Delegates
from sixteen countries met at Geneva from 26 to 29 October 1863 and agreed to
approve the resolutions of the Geneva Committee. It was decided that the States
foster the creation in their own territories, of inter-related private societies to
complement the work of military medical services. Relief workers and their medical
equipment were to be protected by a distinctive emblem, a red cross on a white
background.

In August 1864, the Swiss government convened at Geneva, a Diplomatic Conference

9
 bringing together representatives from twelve States. The First Geneva Convention
was signed on 22 August 1864 by the representatives, with others soon to follow.
Until then war and law were considered irreconcilable, but the First Geneva
Convention showed that law could operate even in wartime to impose certain
humanitarian rules.

Development of the Red Cross

The founders of the Red Cross set the task of fostering the creation of National
Societies. By 1874, twenty-two national societies were setup in European countries
and soon the Red Cross movement spread to other continents.

The three components of the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement are:
• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

The activities of the different components, aim to prevent and alleviate human
suffering.

The Seville Agreement of 1997 determines the allocation of responsibility among

the components:
i. ICRC - protects and assists persons affected by armed conflict and co-ordinates
international support from other components of the movement within the conflict
territories
ii. National Societies - protects and assists all vulnerable persons (conflict-related or
not) within their own territory
iii. Federation - Co-ordinates international movement support for natural, technological
and other non-conflict related disaster and assists national societies with their
capacities in both conflict and non-conflict situations

1. International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)

The ICRC is an independent Geneva-based organization active worldwide, mandated
by Geneva Conventions, to protect and assist persons affected by armed conflicts,
including internally displaced persons and refugees. It is the promoter and guardian
of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). It works closely with national societies.

a. What does it do?

i. Mandate for its work
ii. Protection and assistance of persons affected by armed conflict
iii. Activities for refugees as civilians
iv. Dissemination of IHL (i.e. prevention)
v. Examples of protection activities of relevance to civilians/refugees

10
vi. Assistance activities of relevance to civilians/refugees
vii.Restoration of family links (also for victims of natural disaster and displacement)

b. How does it carry out these activities?

i. Distinctive identity
ii. All victims approach (common to whole movement)
iii. Working with National Societies (e.g. can provide expertise on certain detention
issues for NS, working with detained migrants and asylum seekers)
iv. Co-ordination with external actors such as UNHCR

2. National Societies:
Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies were founded under the first Geneva
Convention as independent voluntary bodies with a mandate to assist the military
establishment of their country to protect and assist the war wounded. This mandate
was later extended by the States Parties to the Geneva Conventions to include to
protection and assistance of all vulnerable people within the territory, regardless of
status - this includes refugees and other displaced and persons on the move.

National societies are:

- Auxiliary to but independent of the authorities of a state
- Accessible to vulnerable populations
- Able to advocate on behalf of and thus protect vulnerable populations
- A possible conduit for NGO messages to government
- Mandated under international humanitarian law
- Having authority (legal base) to advocate on behalf of vulnerable people
- National entities but supported internationally by the two Geneva-based institutions
and their sister societies
- An extensive local network
- Part of an international network
- Credible
- Accessible to vulnerable but otherwise inaccessible populations
- Having longevity - they are around before, during and after a disaster
- Having Strength/resources
- Capacitated to act in concert with a sister society

National Societies are independent from each other and carry on a variety of
interventions, but all have four core areas:
• Promotion of humanitarian values and Fundamental Principles
• Disaster response and disaster preparedness
• Health and care in the community
• Long history of working with refugees and displaced.

In some states their activities are regulated by national law or by specific agreements
with the authorities. Has the largest volunteer based humanitarian organization in

11
 the world with100 million volunteers/members and 295,000 paid staff working
through 183 societies (plus 10 others in formation).

National Societies carry out:

- Protection activities (e.g. tracing and restoring family links)
- Humanitarian and social activities for refugees and asylum seekers
- Reception
- Legal and psychological counseling
- Material and medical assistance
- Integration and return
- Advocacy - often quietly using their privileged relationship with government

3. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies (IFRC):
Its secretariat is based in Geneva and is the membership organization for national
societies. Its role includes:

- The co-ordination of international movement support in non-conflict situations

- Responding to the needs of about 3.5 million refugees each year
- Capacity building of National Societies
- Representation in international forum

On the basis of Strategy 2010, a 10-year strategy plan agreed by National Societies,
the Federation supports National Societies in the following 4 core areas:
- Promotion of humanitarian values and the Fundamental Principles
- Disaster responses
- Disaster preparedness
- Health and care in the community

The seven Fundamental Principles

P ro c l a i me d i n V ie n na i n 1 9 6 5 , t he s e v e n F u nda me nt a l P r i nc i p l e s
bond together the National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, The
International Committee of the Red Cross, The International Federation of
the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. They guarantee the continuity
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and its humanitarian work.

Humanity: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire
to bring assistance without discrimination, to the wounded on the battlefield,
endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate

12
human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health,
and to ensure respect for the human beings. It promotes mutual understanding,
friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples.

Impartiality: It makes no discrimination on basis of nationality, race, religious

beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours to relieve the suffering of
individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most
urgent cases of distress.

Neutrality: In order to continue having the confidence of all, the Movement may
not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political,
racial, religious or ideological nature.

Independence: The Movement is independent. The National Societies, while

auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the
laws of their respective countries must always maintain their autonomy, so that
they may be able to at all times, act in accordance with the principles of the
Movement.

Voluntary. Service: It is a voluntary relief movement, not prompted in any manner

by desire for gain or profit.

Unity: There can be only one Red Cross or one Red Crescent Society in any one
country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout
its territory.

13
 Universality: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all
Societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties, in helping
each other, is worldwide.

The conduct of activities is further governed and developed by the Statutes of the
Movement, the resolutions and decisions of the International Conference of the
Red Cross, Red Crescent, and Council of Delegates. It is also governed by the Code
of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-
Governmental Organizations in Disaster Relief. This is signed by the components of
the Movement and 226 Non government organisations.

The EMBLEM

The Emblem is a Red Cross or Red Crescent on a white background.

• It Is a symbol of protection (protective use)

• And of the membership of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
(indicative use)

• In times of armed conflict it is the visible sign of the protection, conferred by the
Geneva Conventions, on the victims and on those who come to their aid

• In peacetime, it shows that a person or object is linked to the International Red

Cross and Red Crescent Movement, of which the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) is the founding body

• Hence the emblem is also a symbol of the Movement's seven Fundamental

Principles:
• Humanity
• Impartiality
• Neutrality
• Independence
• Voluntary service
• Unity
• Universality
14
Introduction: Chapter 4
Critical events, such as disasters, conflicts, wars, accidents and epidemics, bring
with them social and psychological consequences that often undermine people’s
ability to carry on with their lives. Psychological wounds heal slowly and are often IFRC
Psychological
unrecognized and untreated after crises. Therefore, addressing the psychological as
well as the physical needs of populations affected by crises, restoring their capacity
to cope with it, has become a prominent concern in international humanitarian
assistance. The need for this approach is supported by research findings, that
people closest to disasters, manmade or natural, are more at risk of physical and
psychological disorders, harmed mental functioning, and antisocial behaviour.
Support Policy
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (the
International Federation) has been a pioneer in the development of psychological
support programmes. In the process, a Federation Reference Centre for Psychological
Support was established in 1993 and has since been a partner in the development
of psychological support activities and in assisting National Societies in providing
an essential service; psychological support to people in need. The International
Federation addresses three target groups who suffer from a variety of psychological
reactions and need support:

a) The victims and other people affected by the event

b) Volunteers and staff engaged in disaster response
c) And expatriate delegates

Psychological support is seen as a crosscutting issue, relevant both in disaster

preparedness, disaster response, first aid, emergency health and development
programmes like community health, HIV/AIDS and social welfare projects.

Scope:
The Psychological Support Policy is based on the International Federation Strategy-
2010 and the International Federation Health Policy.

The Psychological Support Policy establishes the basis of Red Cross and Red Crescent
action, both in emergency response operations and in the implementation of long-
term developmental programmes.

It applies to any type of psychological support activity carried out by an individual

National Society or any of its branches, staff or volunteers or by the International
Federation acting collectively, noting that:

• Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely
the absence of disease and infirmity (WHO 1948) and an inalienable right of all
people without any regard to race, religion, colour, nationality, sex or origin.

15
 • Psychological support can be adapted to particular needs and attributes of a
situation and should respond to the psychological and physical needs of the people
concerned, including the affected population, volunteers and staff, by helping
them in accepting the situation and coping with it.

• Psychological support should be connected with other community-based activities

of the National Society such as disaster preparedness, disaster response, first aid,
health, social welfare, youth, and organizational development.

• Psychological support should maintain a strong focus on human resources,

networking, advocacy, and co-ordination with other actors when addressing the
psychological well being of a population.

Statement:
The International Federation and each individual National Society shall, wherever
possible:
1. Include the psychological perspective in every area of intervention, as a basis for
identifying the needs of the population to be assisted, including the needs of the
care providers.

2. Design psychological support, as a component in other programmes like disaster

preparedness, disaster response, first aid, health, social welfare, youth, and
organizational development. It should only be designed as a vertical programme
when local circumstances warrant this.

3. Provide psychological support as a long-term and reliable commitment, to ensure

that the psychological aspects of relief work are professionally implemented and
make a crucial difference to the population, volunteers and staff affected by
disaster.

4. Design psychological support according to the basic principles for implementation(

e.g., that it is community-based; volunteer based; based on contextual assessment
and analysis; has community participation; targets the vulnerable; promotes the
right to psychological well-being; is ethically and culturally sound; includes capacity
building, empowerment, local resources, quality assurance, cost-effectiveness, and
benefit sustainability).

5. Adapt the given psychological support services, to the special characteristics of

the society in question.

6. Refer people with severe psychological reactions or disorders.

7. Recognize the role and value of volunteers in psychological support, by providing

the opportunity for guidance by experienced professionals.

8. Take care of the volunteers and staff through stress management, security measures,

16
 and skill development in coping mechanisms, both for dealing with emergencies or
long-term multiple losses through epidemics such as HIV/AIDS.

9. Form relationships and working partnerships with relevant government institutions

and agencies, non-governmental organizations and other civil society organizations,
academia, media and private sector, ensuring transparency, accountability and
ongoing dialogue with the beneficiaries, volunteers and staff involved.

Responsibilities:
National Societies and the International Federation have a shared responsibility
to ensure that all psychological support programmes and/or activities are in
compliance with this policy; that all staff and volunteers are aware of and adhere to
the rationale and the details of this policy; that staff and volunteers are equipped
with the necessary skills and tools to implement psychological support activities;
and that all relevant partners are adequately informed of this policy.

National Societies and the International Federation have the responsibility to ensure
that optimum impact on the development of capacity of individuals, communities,
volunteers and staff involved is achieved by building into all psychological support
activities, a system for ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

National Societies should:

• Integrate/mainstream psychological support in all relevant programmes like
disaster preparedness, disaster response, first aid, health, social welfare, youth,
and organizational development.

17
 • Promote a community-based approach and ensure community involvement in
needs assessment, decision-making, programme identification, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation.

• Promote co-ordination and collaboration between organizations and agencies

working with psychological support.

• Implement, psychological support as a component of disaster response, first aid,

emergency health or in rare occasions, as a vertical programme. Activities could
include: needs assessment, context and capacity analysis, project design with exit
strategy, psychological first aid, promotion of IHL, creating a forum for peaceful
co-existence and conflict management, self-protection and self-help as coping
mechanisms, referral of people in need of councelling or therapy, psychological
support training of first aid workers (volunteers, ambulance drivers, firemen,
police, army), management and supervision of volunteers, staff support and care
of the care providers.

• Implement, psychological support in the rehabilitation phase, as applied in

the acute phase, including humanitarian and ethnic/religious issues. Activities
could include: repeated needs assessment and project design with exit strategy,
community-based psychological support, consolidation of self-help interventions
and resilience, referral of people in need of councelling or therapy; focused capacity
building, organizational development including management, networking and co-
ordination with other actors, partnership building, and gradual planned transition
into a development programme.

• Implement psychological support in the development phase as part of disaster

preparedness, first aid, community health, social welfare, youth and organizational
development. Activities could include: needs assessment; context and capacity
analysis; project design with exit strategy; psychological first aid; community-based
psychological support; psychological support in home care and self-help activities;
capacity building, organizational development and management; psychological
support training of staff and volunteers; management and supervision of volunteers;
staff support; care of the care providers; networking and co-ordination with other
actors; partnership building; and close collaboration with government structure.

The International Federation should:

• Develop an overall psychological support strategy and guidelines in support of the
implementation of this policy.

• Integrate/mainstream psychological support in the International Federation

assessment methodology, training courses, disaster preparedness, disaster
response, first aid, health, social welfare, youth and organizational development
programmes where appropriate.

18
• Develop standards within psychological support training and produce scientifically,
technically and culturally sound training materials.

• Provide technical training and support in project design and mainstreaming of

psychological support to National Societies, its volunteers and to delegations.

• Provide a protocol for volunteer and staff care, including care of the care
providers.

• Provide information on psychological research findings and psychological support

programmes.

• Promote co-ordination and collaboration between organizations and agencies

working in the psychological field.

Reference:
The STATUTORY BODY of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, adopted this policy (MONTH), Geneva (YEAR).

Psychological support is seen as a crosscutting issue in the services provided by the

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Therefore, this policy should be considered in
conjunction with all other Federation policies, with specific references to policies
on health, development, voluntarism, youth, emergency, disaster preparedness and
response, and fund-raising.

19
 Chapter 5 What is Sphere?
Sphere is based on two core beliefs: first, that all possible steps should be
Sphere taken to alleviate human suffering arising out of calamity and conflict, and
second, that those affected by disaster have a right to life with dignity and

Guidelines for therefore a right to assistance.

Sphere is three things: a handbook, a broad process of collaboration and an

Psychosocial expression of commitment to quality and accountability.

The initiative was launched in 1997 by a group of humanitarian NGOs and the

Support Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, who framed a Humanitarian Charter and
identified Minimum Standards to be attained in disaster assistance, in each of five
key sectors (water supply and sanitation, nutrition, food aid, shelter and health
services). This process led to the publication of the first Sphere handbook in 2000.
Taken together, the Humanitarian Charter and the Minimum Standards, contribute to
an operational framework for accountability in disaster assistance efforts.

The cornerstone of the handbook is the Humanitarian Charter, which is based

on the principles and provisions of international humanitarian and human rights
law, refugee law and the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief.
The Charter describes the core principles that govern humanitarian action and
reasserts the right of populations affected by disaster, whether natural or man-made
(including armed conflict), to protection and assistance. It also reasserts the right
of disaster-affected populations to life with dignity. The Charter points out the legal
responsibilities of states and warring parties to guarantee the right to protection
and assistance. When the relevant authorities are unable and/or unwilling to
fulfill their responsibilities, they are obliged to allow humanitarian organizations
humanitarian assistance and protection.

The Minimum Standards and the key indicators have been developed using broad
networks of practitioners in each of the sectors. Most of the standards, and the
indicators that accompany them, are not new, but consolidate and adapt existing
knowledge and practice. Taken as a whole, they represent a remarkable consensus
across a broad spectrum, and reflect a continuing determination to ensure that
human rights and humanitarian principles are realized in practice. To date, over
400 organizations in 80 countries, all around the world, have contributed to the
development of the Minimum Standards and key indicators.

This new (2004) edition of the handbook has been significantly revised, taking
into account recent technical developments and feedback from agencies using
Sphere in the field. In particular, a sixth sector, food security, has been added
and integrated with those of nutrition and food aid. Another new chapter details
a number of process standards common to all sectors. These include participation,

20
assessment, response, targeting, monitoring, evaluation, and staff competencies
and management. In addition, seven crosscutting issues (children, older people,
disabled people, gender, protection, HIV/AIDS and the environment) with relevance
to all sectors, have been taken into account.

Overall Handbook Structure

1. The Humanitarian Charter

2. Standards, Common to All Sectors

a. Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion
b. Food Security, Nutrition and Food Aid
c. Shelter, Settlement and Non-Food Items
d. Health Services

Each chapter includes:

- Minimum standards
- Key indicators
- Guidance notes

3. The Code of Conduct

4. Annexes

5. Index

Key social intervention indicators 1

During the acute disaster phase, the emphasis should be on social interventions.
People have access to an ongoing, reliable flow of credible information on the
disaster and associated relief efforts.

1) Normal cultural and religious events are maintained or re-established (including

grieving rituals conducted by relevant spiritual and religious practitioners). People
are able to conduct funeral ceremonies (see guidance note).

2) As soon as resources permit, children and adolescents have access to formal or

informal schooling and to normal recreational activities. Adults and adolescents
are able to participate in concrete, purposeful, common interest activities, such
as emergency relief activities. Isolated persons, such as separated or orphaned
children, child combatants, widows and widowers, older people or others without
their families, have access to activities that facilitate their inclusion in social
networks.

Social and psychological indicators are discussed separately. The term ‘social

21
 intervention’ is used for those activities that primarily aim to have social effects
and the term ‘psychological intervention’ is used for interventions that primarily
aim to have a psychological (or psychiatric) effect. It is acknowledged that social
interventions have secondary psychological effects and psychological interventions
have secondary social effects. This is suggested by the term ‘Psychosocial’. When
necessary, a tracing service is established to reunite people and families. Where
people are displaced, shelter is organized with the aim of keeping family members
and communities together. The community is consulted regarding decisions on
where to locate religious places, schools, water points and sanitation facilities. The
design of settlements for displaced people includes recreational and cultural space

Key psychological and psychiatric intervention

indicators
Individuals experiencing acute mental distress after exposure to traumatic stressors
have access to psychological first aid at health service facilities and in the community
(see guidance note 3). Care for ‘urgent psychiatric complaints’ is available through
the primary health care system. Essential psychiatric medications, consistent with
the essential drug list, are available at primary care facilities (see guidance note
4). Individuals with pre-existing psychiatric disorders continue to receive relevant
treatment, and harmful, sudden discontinuation of medications is avoided. Basic
needs of patients in custodial psychiatric hospitals are addressed. If the disaster
becomes protracted, plans are initiated to provide a more comprehensive range
of community-based psychological interventions for the post-disaster phase (see
guidance note 5).

Guidance notes
1. Information: Access to information is not only a human right but it also reduces
unnecessary public anxiety and distress. Information should be provided on the
nature and scale of the disaster and on efforts to establish physical safety for the
population. Moreover, the population should be informed on the specific types
of relief activities being undertaken by the government, local authorities and aid
organizations, and their location. Information should be disseminated according to
principles of risk communication i.e. it should be uncomplicated (understandable
to local 12-year-olds) and empathic (showing understanding of the situation of
the disaster survivor).

2. Burials: Families should have the option to see the body of a loved one to say
goodbye, when culturally appropriate. Unceremonious disposal of bodies of the
deceased should be avoided (see Health systems and infrastructure standard 5,
guidance note 8 on page 269).

3. Psychological first aid: Whether among the general population or among aid

22
 workers, acute distress following exposure to traumatic stressors is best managed
following the principles of psychological first aid. This entails basic, non-intrusive
pragmatic care with a focus on listening but not forcing talk; assessing needs
and ensuring that basic needs are met; encouraging but not forcing company
from significant others; and protecting from further harm. This type of first aid
can be taught quickly to both volunteers and professionals. Health workers are
cautioned to avoid widespread prescription of benzodiazepines because of the risk
of dependence.

4. Care for urgent psychiatric complaints: Psychiatric conditions requiring urgent

care include danger to self or others, psychoses, severe depression and mania.

5. Community-based psychological interventions: Interventions should be based

on an assessment of existing services and an understanding of the socio-cultural
context. They should include use of functional, cultural coping mechanisms of
individuals and communities to help them regain control over their circumstances.
Collaboration with community leaders and indigenous healers is recommended when
feasible. Community-based self-help groups should be encouraged. Community
workers should be trained and supervised to assist health workers with heavy
caseloads and to conduct outreach activities to facilitate care 6for vulnerable and
minority groups.

23
Chapter 6 Causes of Crisis in Schools
Table 1
Safe School INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY

• Death of family or pets • Fires • Earthquake

• Injury to self while playing • Dust storms • Floods

• Loss of study or play material • Heavy rains • Landslides

• Illness or disability • Lack of • Bomb blasts

Infrastructure
• Academic problems • Riots
• Poor sanitation
• Family problems • Political
• Epidemics Unrest
• Bullying in schools
• Bad food or water • Epidemics
• Lack of peer acceptance
• Busy road • Te c h n o l o g i c a l
• Lack of social skills accidents like a
• No boundary wall gas leak
• Being excluded from a team
• Lack of teaching • Drought
• Economic constraints at home Resources
• Fires
• Frequent shifting of schools • Bad staff

• Corporal punishment at school • Unruly students

• Scary teachers • No electricity

24
Reactions Seen In Children
Table 2
ADOLESCENTS SCHOOL AGE PRE-SCHOOL
• Feel different because of • Physical complaints • Temper
their experiences headache, stomach tantrums
• Irritability aches • Crying
• Increased risk taking • Aggression • Clinging and
behaviors • Fear of darkness demanding
• Increase substance abuse sleeping alone • Scary
• Avoidance of trauma separation from nightmares
related thoughts, feelings parents • Helplessness
and activities • Lack of self • Regressive
• Aggression – fights, competency behaviour
destructive, arguments • Understand loss (thumb
• Feelings of hopelessness, and become very sucking,
feeling of neglect and anxious wanting to be
isolation • Regression to carried, bed-
• Disobedience, specially behaviors like thumb wetting)
towards authority and sucking etc • Moodiness,
parents • Nightmares and irritation
• Tries to get involved in inability to sleep • Fear of
activities to get a sense of • Fear of recurrence darkness
control like rescuing and • Difficulty in following or sleeping
organizing at the camps routines alone
• Angry, frustrated and may • Does not mingle • Easily
feel very helpless with friends frightened
• Depression due to loss • Behavioral problems and then
• Guilt for not being able to • Emotional problems anger
do enough or for having like apathy, • Increased
survived anxious, withdrawn, aggression
• Inability to concentrate depressed specially in
• Behavioral problems like - • Disinterest or boys
aggression, lying, stealing difficulties in school
• Dropping out of school or work- disturbs
work others, worrying,
• Aches and pains due to being tense,
stress undisciplined,
• Seeks isolation, becomes refusal to go
less communicative to school, poor
• Sleeplessness or concentration
increased sleep • Feel guilty for the
loss

25
 School Resources
Table 3
PHYSICAL
• Strong building without
cracks.
• Availability of
emergency crisis
response kits.
• Safe place for rescue
and evacuation.
• Geographical location
• Availability of a vehicle
• Condition of roads
• Water supply
• Government set ups
• Telephone or other
communication
facilities
• Health center
• Rescue shelters
nearby
• Electricity supply
26
HUMAN PRIOR PREPARATION
• Physical first • Adequate mock
abiders. drills
• Psychological first • Past experience
abiders in dealing with
crisis
• Children who have
been brought up • Good rapport
with love and care. between teachers
and students
• Children who
have a loving and • Good training
supportive home and education
environment
• Good response
• Children who have plan
not had any serious
illness • Enough
resources for
• More older children mock drills and
within the school preparation
• Children who are • Updated plans
physically healthy
• Updated
• Children who are resources
self confident
Risk Reduction Steps to Be Taken
Table 4
STEPS RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES
• Prepare a map of school risks and resources

• Prepare a school crisis response plan

Step 1
Plan
• Set up crisis response teams and define their
functions

• Educate the school community about the risks

• Monitor the threats

• Organize activities for development of a resilient school

community

• Have mock drills for the entire planned process

Step 2 Practice - Search and rescue operations

- Evacuation from unsafe zones

- Medical assistance provision

- Psychological assistance provision

- Temporary relief provision

- Assessment of damages

• Assess plan effectiveness in terms of the

- Role of various teams

- Ease of execution
Step 3
Evaluate - Time taken for the drill

- Manageability of scarce resources

• Bring required changes to enhance plan effectiveness

27
 Guidelines for a School Crisis Response Plan
• Details of the school.

• Crisis, which the school may face.

• Information about risks and resources within the school.

• Names of the members of the crisis response teams.

• Lines of communication to be followed in a crisis.

• Role description for each team and team member.

• A list of alternatives in case the crisis team members are absent.

• Names of members trained in physical and psychological first aid.

• Details of crisis response kits and where they are to be kept.

• Location of evacuation sites during a crisis.

• Contacts of people within the larger community who could help.

• Steps for coordination and communication within the school.

• Details of how the school community would be trained.

28
Stress Reactions in Children
• These are common and normal responses to a traumatic event.
• The reactions can be overcome.
• Things can be done to help the child feel more comfortable.
• These changes are not a child’s natural character but reactions to a situation.
Table 5
Adolescents
• Seeks isolation, becomes less
communicative
• Sleeplessness or increased
sleep
• Feel different or alienated
because of their experiences
• Irritability
• Increased risk taking
behaviours
• Increase substance abuse
• Avoidance of trauma related
thoughts, feelings and
activities
• Aggression – fights, destructive,
arguments
• Feelings of hopelessness,
feeling of neglect and isolation
• Disobedience, specially towards
authority and parents
• Tries to get involved in activities
to get a sense of control like
rescuing and organising at the
camps
• Angry, frustrated and may feel
very helpless
• Depression due to loss
• Guilt for not being able to do
enough or for having survived
• Inability to concentrate
• Behavioural problems like -
aggression, lying, stealing
• Dropping out of school or work
• Aches and pains due to stress
School age
• Physical complaints – headache, stomach
aches
• Aggression
• Fear of darkness / sleeping alone / separation
from parents
• Lack of self competency
• Understand loss and become anxious
• Regression to behaviours like thumb sucking
etc
• Nightmares and inability to sleep
• Fear of recurrence
• Difficulty in following routines
• Does not mingle with friends
• Behavioural problems
• Emotional problems like apathy, anxious,
withdrawn, depressed
• Disinterest or difficulties in school work-
disturbs others, worrying, being tense,
undisciplined, refusal to go to school, poor
concentration
• Feel guilty and responsible for the loss
Pre-schoolers
• Temper tantrums
• Crying
• Clinging and demanding
• Scary nightmares
• Helplessness
• Regressive behaviour (thumb sucking,
wanting to be carried, bed-wetting)
• Moodiness, irritation
• Fear of darkness or sleeping alone
• Easily frightened and then anger
• Increased aggression specially in boys
29
 Monitoring to see the healing and recovery
process
• Observe the child in class
• Network with the volunteers and parents to get additional information
• Monitor academic progress
• Talks to the peers
• Spend additional time with the child
• See interaction levels in classroom activities

How Can You Help Children Recover

1) Reassurance and security
• Allow the child the space and security where he/she feels accepted and cared for
• Be available to the child when he or she wants to talk about it do not push the
child
• Just be available for the child
• Hold the child close if the child is crying
• If the child wakes up at night be there to comfort him or her
• The child may feel left out in school support him or her during that time
• Children may cling do not forcibly move them away
• Pat them once in a while and hold them close to show your affection
• Your life style will enable the child to also pick up healthy coping strategies.
•

2) Talking
• Tell the child it is normal to think about the traumatic event.
• Share some of your feelings and thoughts about the event.
• Use age-appropriate language and explanations.
• Invite them to come and talk about it anytime they want.
• Listen to the child, answer their questions (even if they are very painful)
• As you answer you can provide comfort and support.
• If you do not have adequate explanations tell them that you too are confused and
upset by it.
• Children sometimes assume responsibility for the event, leading to very
destructive and inappropriate feelings of guilt. Try to correct any misperceptions
immediately.
• Be honest, open and clear.
• Do not avoid the topic when the child brings it up.
• Get an understanding from the child of what he or she thinks death is, their fears
etc, it will help you to communicate with them in a meaningful fashion.

3) Set up life routines

• Children find it very comforting to have routines in their lives.
30
• Disturbance to routines means the child is also disturbed so re-establish life
routines.
• See that they have their meals in time.
• Get them to sleep at a particular time at night.
• Re-start their schooling.
• Get them involved in helping with household work or other errands.
• See that they spend time together as a family.
• See that they spend time playing and having some fun daily.
• Give them time with you to share whatever they might be thinking or feeling.
• Get them to meet with their friends.

4) Activities and play

• Play is a communication tool for the child like talking is for adults
• When children play or draw, they are able to bring out their frustrations, fears,
tension, anger and insecurities
• It helps them face the emotions and decreases the power it has on them
• It provides opportunities to learn healthy ways of behaving or coping by reacting
to concepts presented through stories, listening and observing other children
etc.
• They learn positive life skills like taking turns, sharing, teamwork etc.
• They get opportunities to improve their self esteem when they present their
creations, talk about themselves, get praised by the others make new friends etc
• It can help them learn threatening concepts like disasters in a non-threatening
manner

Some skills and issue that the activities need to touch upon are

Table 6
SKILLS TO BE LEARNT ISSUES TO BE COVERED
• Speaking skills • Knowledge about the village
• Listening skills • Knowledge about the disaster
• Concentration • Importance of preparation
• Waiting for turns • Fears in general
• Appreciating others • Fears about disasters
• Being positive • How to prepare
• Developing understanding and being • Its okay to feel bad, scared,
sensitive to others sad etc
• Creative skills • Loss and death
• Finding solutions • Relaxation and self care
• Cooperation • What will happen in a crisis
• Competitions to some extent maybe • Their role in a crisis situation
• Learning to have fun
• Sharing things

31
 a) Role of a teacher
Table 7
Before the crisis During the crisis After the crisis
Develop themes for classroom
activities
Develop material for activities
Develop a time frame to cover
the basic topics
Document the sessions
Network with the parents and
volunteers

b) Children from 4-7 years

Table 8
STRESS REACTIONS TO CRISIS PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID
1) Inactive. Not able to follow 1) Provide support, rest, comfort, food,
daily routine. Opportunity to play or draw.
2) Fear. Scared of the dark, fear
2) Provide sense of security (Refer 4.1. (a))
of being alone.
3) Help to share feelings through talking,
3) Not able to speak.
listening, drawings (Refer 5.a, b, c, d).
4) Disturbed sleep (nightmares,
4) Encourage talking about the dreams with
fear of going to sleep, fear of
teachers and parents.
being alone at night)
5) Clinging, not wanting to be 5) Provide sense of security by always being
away from parent or teacher. around and letting the child play.
6) Anxieties about the dead
6) Explain the physical reality about death.
person that s/he will return.

c) Children from 7-10 years

Table 9
1) Issues of responsibility and guilt. 1) Help to express their feelings.

2) Help to identify feelings about the

2) Fears triggered by the event.
event.
3) Permit them to talk; address feelings
3) Retelling and replaying of the
and assure that they are normal
event.
reactions to an abnormal situation.

32
 4) Feeling disturbed, confused and
frightened by their responses, fear
of ghosts.
5) Difficulty in concentration and
learning
6) Disturbed sleep ( bad dreams, fear
of sleeping alone)
7) Change in behaviour (excessive
anger or aggressive behaviour)
d) 10 years to 18 years
Table 10
1) Shame and guilt
2) Sense of vulnerability about their
feelings, fear of being labeled
abnormal.
3) Drug use, anti-social behaviour,
and sexual misbehaviour.
4) Accident prone behaviour,
recklessness.
5) Changes in relationship with
parents, friends and other people.
6) Feeling that one has grown up too
soon (for example, leaving school,
getting married)
7) Thoughts of revenge.
4) Encourage expression of feelings. Help
to retain positive memories.
5) Encourage them to talk to teachers
about the thoughts that are
interfering with learning.
6) Support them in talking about the
dreams; provide information about why
we have bad dreams.
7) Help to cope with the change in their
behaviour by accepting it and talking
about it. (For example, “it must be
difficult to feel so angry”)
1) Encourage discussion of the event,
feelings about it and expectations of
what could have been done.
2) Help them understand that their
feelings are normal in the situation.
Encourage understanding among each
other and people of the same age
group.
3) Help to understand that the behaviors
are an effort to forget about the
feelings. Help to ventilate anger,
frustration over the event.
4) Address the impulse toward reckless
behaviour. Help to understand that
this behaviour can lead to violence,
which can have fatal consequences.
5) Discuss the changes in relationship
and why they might be happening.
6) Encourage focus on one’s life ahead,
allow them to be involved in other
activities of interest.
7) Discuss about the actual thoughts of
revenge, the possible consequences
of the act and encourage constructive
alternatives that will have long-term
benefits.
33
 Role of a teacher as a psychological first aid
team member
Table 10
Before a crisis During a crisis After a crisis

• Be part of the • Safe evacuation of • Help reestablish

response plan the children. school routines

• Be part of the • Address the basic • Have classroom

response committee needs of the children activities for
like water and food, ventilation
• Develop themes for taking to the toilet,
classroom activities consoling those who • Help children
are crying. participate in events
• Have a time plan to being organized by
cover basic topics • Provide space and the volunteers
time for ventilation
• Carry out activities in • Monitor the children’s
class • Give assurance to recovery and
children specially document the same
• Document the to those little more
sessions traumatized by the • Educate and help
event parents with enabling
• Participate in mock their children to
drills • Be a good role model recover at home
by being calm and
• Network with parents relaxed and reduce • Suggest
and volunteers about fear among the improvements for the
the process children. response plan

34
What helps children to recover
Table 11
Reassurance and security Set up life routines
• Allow the child the space to feel • Children find routines comforting so re-
accepted and cared for establish routines.
• Do not push the child to talk • Re-start their schooling
• Be available for the child • Get them involved in helping with
• Hold the child close if the child is household work or other errands
crying • Have them spend time with the family
• Children may cling do not forcibly • See that they spend time playing and
move them away having some fun daily
• Pat them once in a while and • Give them time with you to share their
hold them close to show your thoughts and feelings
affection • Get them to meet with their friends
• Your life style will enable the child
to also pick up healthy coping
strategies.

Talking Activities and play

• Tell the child it is normal to think • Play is a communication tool for a
about the traumatic event. child
• Be honest, open and clear • Play brings out their frustrations, fears,
• Do not avoid the topic tension, anger and insecurities and this
decreases the power it has on them
• Share your feelings about the
event. • They have opportunities to learn healthy
ways of behaving or coping by reacting
• Use age-appropriate language and to concepts presented through stories,
explanations. listening and observing other children
• Answer their questions etc.
• Let them know that you too • They learn positive life skills like taking
are confused if you don’t have turns, sharing, teamwork etc.
explanations • They get opportunities to improve their
• Correct misperceptions of guilt or self esteem when they present their
responsibility creations, talk about themselves, get
• Get an understanding from the praised by the others make new friends
child of what he or she thinks etc
death is, their fears about it etc • They have opportunities to learn about
threatening concepts like disasters in a
non-threatening manner

35
 Themes for Classroom Based activities
Table 12
Pre-disaster Post disaster

• Knowledge about the village • Grieving

• Knowledge about disasters • Losing people we loved

• Understand the importance of • Losing our pets

preparation
• Losing things we loved
• Fears people experience
• Coping with the changed living
• Fears about disasters
• Feeling good
• How to prepare for a disaster
• Relaxation
• Understand that its okay to feel bad,
scared, sad etc • Dealing with illnesses

• Issues related to loss and death • Having fun

• Importance of relaxation and self care • Memories

• What will happen in a crisis • Coping with stress reactions

• The role of students in a crisis situation • Returning to routines

• Finding solutions to issues • Seeking help and comfort

36
The Community Program Chapter 7
Safe Home
The community facilitator should have the ability to show the way or take
initiative in a given situation. There is no best leadership style but whether an
individual is able to take charge in a crisis or emergency situation, determines
his/her leadership skills.

The community facilitator is a person who will carry out psychosocial support
and care activities in the community. This person is a community level person
and will help to mobilize different groups.

• Be flexible and adapt to any situation.

• Help people share their expectations and contribute.

• Take initiatives for introducing new processes in the community.

• Be open to new ideas and opinions of others.

• Be aware of the dynamics between different groups within the community.

• Be sensitive to the needs of each group.

• Have an awareness and sensitiveness to cultural and traditional boundaries.

• Acknowledge the knowledge base of the community and learn from village
elders and natural community leaders.

• Help group members to think and express their ideas and opinions.

• Facilitate sharing and exchange of knowledge and information.

• Help groups to identify their problems and enable them to find their own
solutions.

• Adopt a participatory approach to group processes.

• Facilitate group meetings.

• Promote the concept of PFA on the field.

• Listen well.

• Be neutral and professional and leave personal identifications and biases out
of your work context.

• Resolve conflicts without taking sides but through a process of communication

between involved parties.

• Network with other agencies to facilitate group processes.

• Lead a team in carrying out community based tasks.

37
 Community facilitator
Is a person who will work among different groups in the community? He or she
will be responsible for carrying out psychosocial support and care activities in the
community.

Qualities of a community facilitator

• Adapt to different situations

• Make people share their expectations and contribute.

• Ability to deal with peoples’ expectations

• Initiative in beginning new processes in the community

• Open to new ideas and opinions of others

38
Factors to keep in mind when starting work in a community
setting?
• Be aware of the caste dynamics
• Be sensitive to the needs of each group
• Be aware and sensitive to cultural and traditional boundaries (men and women
may not participate in the same group meeting)
• Acknowledge and learn from the knowledge that community leaders and elders
have to share.
• Things may not always go as planned. Be open to changes and prepared for
difficult situations.

Roles of the community facilitator

Roles of the community facilitator

Vulnerable people Community Community groups

- Psychological - Community mapping - Organize and

First Aid - Promote the concept of maintain support
- Organize psychosocial care with the groups for women,
activities (e.g. help of educative materials. children and the
cricket matches, Conduct monthly get- elderly.
picnics, dance togethers such as dances, - Carry out activities
programs) among singing sessions, drama in of self-care and stress
adolescents, the village management.
drawing Network with community
competitions for institutions such as the PHC,
children. aanganwadi workers and
teachers.

39
 Skills of the community facilitator
1. Leadership Skills
The community facilitator should have the ability to show the way or take initiative
in a given situation. There is no best leadership style but whether an individual is
able to take charge in a crisis or emergency situation determines his/her leadership
skills.

Leadership roles of the community facilitator:

• Help group members to think and express their ideas and opinions.
• Allow sharing and exchange of knowledge and information
• Help groups to identify their problems
• Help groups to find the solutions to the problems.
• Adopt a participatory approach to decision making

2. Communication Skills

Aspects of communication
• Observing: The person’s bodily mannerisms, eyes, way of speaking
• Listening: carefully to whatever the person is saying, not judging it even though
you may not agree with it.
• Making physical contact (when appropriate): Sometimes holding a person’s
hand or gently placing a hand on the person’s back can make the person feels
better.

Communication involves:
• Verbal and non-verbal language: The manner in which we send messages through
our eyes, hands and body movements, when we are speaking is called non-
verbal and verbal language. Our body communicates our feeling, when we talk
to people.
• Feedback: It is telling someone or when you are told, about negative or positive
behaviours. Feedback helps a person (1) realize your own behaviour; (2) improve
your behaviour; (3) feel good about your behaviour.
Giving and receiving feedback helps us to become better at our work and as an
individual.

40
3. Conflict Resolution Skills
Very often, differences of opinion with other people, with friends, even with members
of our own family arise in our daily lives; therefore it is important to learn how
to identify the conflicts, manage and resolve them in order to improve our social,
personal and family relationships. Conflict often arises when groups of people are
working together, to achieve some common goals. The community facilitator should
be aware of the possibility of conflicts when he/she is working with groups.

Types of conflicts
Can arise between people in the community?
- Conflict of interests

- Differences in opinions and ideas

- Vested interests of outside parties

- Rivalry or competition between individuals or groups

- Inequality or unequal treatment

- Trouble makers

- Hierarchy and social structure

- Gossip- rumors, misunderstanding

How to resolve conflict?

- Discuss the main cause why there is conflict.

- Discuss the differences between the two people.

- Allow the person to share his/her views.

- Listen and accept the person’s views.

- Put forward your own perspective on the issue in a non-threatening way.

- Do not force or insist that person change. It will make him/her defensive.

- Discuss the things that can be changed to resolve the conflict.

41
 4. Networking Skills

How can networks be established?

• Identify the local bodies and individuals whose work has similar aim as yours.
• Seek an appointment with the concerned person.
• Present a brief summary of your organization and its activities.
• Discuss the common factors and ways in which resources and ideas can be
mutually beneficial.
• Decide on when and how often meetings will be held.
• Organize an activity in partnership with the concerned body or individual.

Example of local bodies in the community

• The PHC and the health post
• The aanganwadi workers and teachers
• The Panchayat and the sarpanch
• The district administration
• The local municipality bodies

42
How can we promote psychosocial support
The topics related to disaster mental health affect all members in a community.
Therefore, it requires that all the members and groups in a community work together
and discuss their problems among each other. In this way they can identify the
ways in which positive messages for disaster mental health can be distributed in
the community.

Promotion activities in the community should involve:

The organization
Social network

Social networks
• Different organisations and institutions in the community working together on
similar problems of the community.
• They are interconnected by combined work.
• They work for a common purpose.

Social networks are important in a community because

• The community can develop when information about similar work is shared between
different organisations. For e.g., the mahila mandal and the health team working
together on medical assistance to widows in the community.
• Works to reduce stress in situations like a disaster.
• Helps in mobilisation of resources such as medicines, food and transport.
• Increases the knowledge of the community on issues of disaster mental health.
• Encourages greater planning and organising of disaster mental health activities.

Local committee of psychosocial support is:

• A body of people from different groups who will promote psychosocial support in
the community.
• They will form social networks with other organisations in the community.

The tasks of the local committee are:

• Decide what steps it will take before, during and after a disaster to meet the
immediate material and emotional needs of the people. This includes questions
like what to do? Whom to assist? Whom to contact for help and assistance? How
to contact?
• Identifying the emotional needs of the different groups in the community.
• Community mapping.

Guidelines for promotion

When planning on how to promote or working out the activities, the local committee
must discuss the following questions:
43
 What is a target population?
• Who are the people who are going to be addressed?
• What are the characteristics of the community you want to address?
• What is the level of education among the target group?
• What is the level of information they have on disaster mental health?

How to identify the main theme?

The theme of promotion is the main issue in psychosocial support in on which
activities will be planned.

For example, it can be Psychological First Aid (PFA) or stress management or self-
care techniques.

To decide the main theme the following question should be

considered:
• What are the main problems faced by the community after the disaster?
• What are the needs of the community?
• What are the main problems that you want to focus on?
• What are the types of disaster experienced in the last three years?
• Who is the affected population?
• How should the message be sent?

What will we use?

• Do we have money or other things that may be needed?
• Do we have people who can do the work?
• Do we have volunteers who will help?
• Where will we organise the activity?

Types of communication material

The commonly usable means of communication are:
• Written: Trifolds, pamphlets, bulletins, leaflets and manuals.
• Audio: warnings, radio programmes.
• Visual: flip charts, posters and banners.

Written materials:

Leaflet:
• Printed information material of small and handy size.
• It goes from hand to hand containing information on activities, services or events,
which we want to convey.
• Generally it is accompanied by other materials.

Trifolds:
• Printed material that allows us to give out messages or information in a brief and
direct manner.
44
• In preparing it, one should consider that the message be given through simple
images and short texts.
• Its effectiveness or impact on the people will depend on the combination of
colours, figures and text.

Posters
• Low cost communication medium that is placed in selected places and can be seen
easily by the public.
• It should be attractive, so that it can convey diverse themes in simple form.
• It carries written contents, graphics or drawings. Its purpose is to keep the people
informed through selected notices.
• We can place them in the schools, and individual houses in the community.

Banners
• Printed material of huge dimensions. It is put up from post to post.
• It fulfils the function of presenting information.
• It can be read from long distances.
• It has a light background and contrasting letters.

Audio materials:
• Giving information using loudspeaker.
Another medium to be used in crowded places is a loud speaker affixed in an
ambulance, cart, van or other means of transport. Through this people can be
informed of:
• A danger or a pre-eminent disaster.
• The normal reactions and steps to follow.
• The institutions and organizations that offer help can be announced through
out the community.

Do not overuse it, prolonged use of giving information using loudspeaker can
irritate people!

Today we would like to tell you what you could do when faced with a crisis/disaster
event.

• BE CALM! The people, who run about without control, crying or shouting create
panic in them selves and among others and can cause severe accidents.
• LOOK FOR A SAFE PLACE immediately. Save yourself before your belongings.
• PROTECT OUR CHILDREN and others in the community.

Providing useful and accurate information about the event can ensure that proper
relief and assistance is delivered to the community.

45
 This handout emphasises the importance of promotion activities in DMH and explains
the basic elements of planning and preparing promotion strategies and materials.
It aims to develop the community facilitator’s skills in preparing appropriate and
simple materials for psychosocial support promotion.

This handout emphasises the elements of psychosocial support and care activities in
the community. It attempts to equip the community facilitator with skills in planning
and conducting stress management and self-care activities in the community.

Functions of the Local Committee:

BEFORE THE EMERGENCY
• Organise training on topics like what is disaster mental health, how to assist people
in emotional distress after a disaster, for volunteers in the community.
• Create a Local Emergency Plan and a community map.
• Guide and supervise the work.
• Make a list of the human, material and economic resources the community has.
• Make a list of the resources the community does not have.
• Work with other social organisations, such as the aanganwadi, the PHC or sub
centre, the Panchayat.
• Identify the safe zones in your community.
• Identify the danger points in the community.
• Organise a team to identify the damages and find out needs of the community.
• Organise activities such as prayer meetings, community feast to strengthen unity
among the community.

46
DURING THE EMERGENCY
• Set up a centre to carry out emergency operations such as rescue, treating injured,
contacting relief organisations.
• Help people to safe places or shelters, Search for disappeared persons.
• Establish communication system to keep the community informed; take
responsibility to talk to media persons.
• Transport the people using the means of transport available in the community.
• Help the affected people to reach trained personnel or assistants (medical or first
aid attention and supply of medicines) for assistance.
• Set up a team to identify the damages.

AFTER THE EMERGENCY

• Prepare a report of the damages, losses in the community.

• Initiate the rehabilitation activities. For example, re-building houses and buildings
according to the needs of the people.
• Organise the community to express their needs and concerns.
• Make a vulnerability map to know the number of people with special needs and
transfer them to a PHC or sub centre or doctor.
• Encourage the affected population to take part in the rehabilitation and
reconstruction work.
• Search help for the reconstruction program

47
 Support groups
What are support groups?
• Support groups are groups of people who share and exchange their feelings,
thoughts, emotions and help each other deal with them.
• Support groups help survivors recover from the emotional pain caused by disaster
by talking about similar experiences.

Support groups have the following objectives:

• To help people talk about personal experiences related with a personal crisis or
a disaster event and express their emotions and feelings.
• Share similar experiences between members. For example, loss of a family
member
• Find ways of solving problems by talking and sharing personal feelings and
emotions.
• Develop a bond between people so that they are able to help each other during
and after a disaster.
• Support groups can be organized for people who have experienced a disaster
and vulnerable groups such as:
• Elderly.
• Women.
• Children
• Adolescents.

How to organize support groups?

• Form groups of 5-10 members.
• The scheduled time for each session should be one hour.
• Decide when and where the next meetings will be held.
• Have group activities that help members to talk about experiences of the crisis
event. What did they feel? What was their life before? How has it changed?
• Help members to recognize expressions of sadness, anguish, and fear. Allow
members to share it freely without interrupting.
• Use drawings, theatre, song and dance, prayer and community metaphors to
help members express feelings.
• Emphasize that there are other people in the group who have similar emotions
and feelings.

48
You might have these PROBLEMS when working
in groups:
What to do when people do not participate?
If the lack of attention is not causing disturbance for the rest of the people, wait
till there is a break or till the work session ends before you speak to the person in
private and than ask him/ her. Try to do this in a calm and friendly manner so that
the person is honest with you.

If the lack of attention is disturbing the whole group, you can ask the person
politely in front of the group if there is a problem.

What to do when the whole group is not participating?

It could mean that the way you are facilitating is boring or tiring or the activities
are too complicated or simple. To prevent this, we recommend that you plan
activities that have movement, which are of the level of the group, which lead to
healthy discussion without hurting anyone’s feeling or humiliating people.
It is also suggested that at the beginning of each session, you present the topics
you plan to discuss.

What to do when the group ‘attacks’ you?

To avoid this situation it is best to clarify in the beginning that the entire group
is responsible for the success or failure of the group. If the group expresses
dissatisfaction:

• Allow them to express their frustration, anger, and disillusionment.

• Try to direct the problem away from personal attacks and focus on the problem the
group decided to meet for.
• Guide discussions towards finding solutions.

What to do when there is not enough time to do all that you

had planned?
If our work agenda is longer than the time available:
• Establish an order of importance. We will deal with the most important and
necessary items first and if there is time left we will work on the other points.
• Have two or more meetings to work on a topic.

Once the agenda is adjusted to the time available then at the beginning of the
meeting, ask someone in the group to take the responsibility of controlling the
49
 time. It is possible that while you are working, you are so busy or involved in
directing the group that you may forget the time you have for each activity. This
person will remind you, in case it is necessary, about the time you have available
for the activity that you are doing.

This does not mean that the person will not participate in the group activity.
Tell the group when the time limit established for each activity has been reached
or passed and ask whether they want to continue or stop.

What to do when opinions are different and they end in battle

about ‘who is right’?
• Focus the discussion on the problem at hand and its effect on the group and not
on one individual.

• Remain neutral. Don’t take sides.

Stop the discussion. Ask questions to each of the parties and ask them to clarify
their doubts or problems.

Remind the group that they should remain neutral and respect the opinion of each
member and listen carefully.

Let each member share what he or she understood of the problem and their
suggestions for resolving it.

What to do when an exercise or an activity fails?

This could be due to any of the following reasons:

• When the activity does not take place the way it was planned

• When it takes place as planned but the group destroys the meaning of the entire
activity.

What to do?
• Admit in front of the group that the activity has failed.

• Identify with the group what were the causes leading to the failure of the activity
and thus, avoid a future failure, for e.g., clear instructions were not given, we
didn’t want to participate because it seemed silly to us.

50
While working with children:
• Ask them to paint the scenes of the disaster. Help them to express their feelings,
through drawings.

• Make children understand why the particular event took place, so that they are
able to understand their fears

• Use drama, music, toys, and story telling as methods.

• Organize cricket matches, picnics and outings to remove children from the
disaster site for a few hours.

While working with Adolescents:

• Motivate them to volunteer in community activities. For example, taking care
of the younger children, setting up youth clubs against alcohol and substance
abuse, organizing a ‘mela’.

• Organize sports and cultural activities such as cricket matches, song and dance
competitions where they can participate.

• Motivate them to attend school.

• Help them to communicate with family and friends.

• Give them information about the bad effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

While working with Elderly:

• Help to express experience of loss, their past and loved ones.

• Direct to available resources such as pension benefits, relief.

• Reunite with family members, neighbours and friends.

• Get them together by organizing group activities.

51
 Community Mapping
Protective and risk factors in the community:
Some physical and psychological factors, which exist in the community and make
it more vulnerable or help it in responding better, during a disaster situation, are
called risk and protective factors respectively. It is important for a community
facilitator to know the community’s protective and risk factors in order to be
prepared for a disaster.

Protective factors:
Are strengths in the community, which increase the community’s ability to respond
physically and emotionally to a disaster or to recover from disaster.

Risk Factor:
Are weaknesses in the community, which make the community more vulnerable to a
disaster and decrease its ability to adapt to its aftermath?

Protective Factors Risk Factors

Geographical location. For example, Geographical location. For example,

villages prone to earthquakes, distance close to the epicenter, rivers,
from epicenter, open field canal. deserts, and other danger points.

Past experience in disasters. For

Lack of experience in disaster
example, how well the community has
preparedness planning or response.
adapted after a disaster.
Transportation and commuting. For
example, number of vehicles and Absence of proper roads connecting
condition of roads connecting to nearest the village to nearby towns.
town, hospital,dispensary.

Community resources. For example,

Absence of a PHC or sub-center
teachers, doctors, aanganwadi workers,
school building or aanganwadi.
Red Cross workers and volunteers.

Relationship between different groups Relationship between different

in the village. Existence of self- helps groups in the village. For example,
groups. existence of caste dynamics.

Absence of community based

Existence of community based projects.
projects.

52
Type of information to gather for Community
Map:
Pre-disaster
Population and demographics
(# of people, number of men,
women, children, elderly)
Post-disaster
Number of families who have lost an earning
member, no. of injured, no. of dead
No. of widows, orphans and single women.
No. of elderly injured, dead.
No. of people with chronic diseases.
Identifying people with non-adaptive
behaviors. For e.g., increased use of alcohol,
increased violence in families

Number of people suffering from No. of people with physical and mental
mental and physical disability disabilities injured, losses suffered.

Transport and communication Loss of communication, condition of

(condition of roads, number of roads, means of transport to hospitals and
vehicles). nearest town.
Number of houses in the
Extent of damage to property
community

Location of school building, PHC, Extent of damage to school building, PHC,

Talati’s office other structures

Exercise: To do Community Mapping

1. Ask four people to volunteer from the group.
2. The rest of the participants will be members of a community.
3. Tell the volunteers that they are community facilitators.
4. The community will select one of the neighbourhoods that they live in for the
mapping.

Mapping:
• Mark out the physical structures, water sources, religious buildings, and community
leaders’ house.
• List the names of the head of every household and write it in the appropriate spot
on the map.
• List the households where there are women and children.
• List the names of the households where there are elderly, people suffering from a
chronic illness, physically and mentally challenged, and widows.

53
 Methods to gather information:
1. Volunteers – Which person in the community will you trust? If there are 2-3 names,
ask them whether they would trust person X more than person Y.

2. Determining socio-economic status - identify the local criteria for defining “rich”
and “poor” households.

Characteristics of a rich Characteristics of a poor

household household
- Has food throughout the year Owns - Goes hungry during the rainy
goats and a cow season.

- Able to send all children to school - Is dependent on daily wages.

Owns only chickens.
- Have many healthy children and
owns land. - Not able to send children to
school.

- Owes money to others.

54
Stress related changes Chapter 8
Behavioral changes
•
•
Change in activity level
Change in eating habits
Bodily changes
•
•
Blood pressure
Body aches
Psychological
•
•
•
Change in sleep patterns
Change in work output
Difficulty in communicating
•
•
•
Chest pain
Chilly
Difficulty in breathing
First Aid
• Frequent arguments • Dizziness
• Inability to rest • Faster heart beat
• Increased sense of humor • Fatigue
• Lack of enjoyment in daily life • Feeling faint
• Loss of interest in activities • Headaches
• Nervous mannerisms • Muscle twitching
• Antisocial behaviour • Nausea
• Accident proneness • Sensitivity to noise
• Silence • Sleep problems
• Intolerant • Stomach troubles
• Nagging • Sweating
• Resentful • Sore body
• Blaming nature • Allergies
• Social withdrawal • Weight gain or loss
• Suspiciousness • Thirsty
• Use of substance • Weakness
• Vigilance about safety

Emotional changes Changes in thoughts

• Agitation • Blaming other people
• Anger • Confusion
• Anxious • Difficulty in making decision
• Apathy • Disorientation of time, place or person
• Apprehension • Disturbed thinking
• Depression • Intrusive images
• Fear • Low self confidence
• Feeling numb • Memory troubles
• Guilt • Poor concentration
• Hopeless • Racing thoughts
• Impatience • Repeated thoughts or memories
• Irritability • Slow comprehension
• Isolated • Uncertainty
• Moodiness
• Nightmares
• Overwhelmed
• Denial
• Grief
• Restlessness
• Sadness
• Severe panic
• Shame

55
 Psychological First aid involves...
• Offering support and reassurance

• Ensuring safety and comfort

• Communicating

• Providing a safe environment.

• Meeting physical needs immediately.

• Providing support for specific reality-based tasks.

• Providing information necessary for appropriate actions.

• Helping them share their experience.

• Linking families and facilitating reunion with loved ones.

• Helping them gain a sense of mastery.

• Identifying needs for further intervention.

Principles of psychological first aid

• Intervene immediately

• Be effective by being direct, authoritative and active

• Help them focus and accept what has happened

• Provide accurate information about the situation

• Be truthful, do not give false assurances

• Recognize the importance of action for a survivor

• Provide emotional support to the survivors

• Focus on personal coping abilities and encourage resilience

• Be concerned

56
5 Steps of prviding psychological first aid
Psychological First Aid is the holistic first order intervention that can be delivered
in five simple steps, which are:

1. Meeting the immediate needs

2. Listen, listen, listen

3. Accepting any feelings expressed by the survivor

4. Assist with next steps

5. Refer and follow-up

1. Meet Immediate Needs

• Provide a safe evacuation to a secure environment.
• Provide Physical First Aid if needed.
• Help survivors collect their belongings.
• Meet the basic requirements shelter, clothing, food.
• Ask whether they need anything.

2. Listen
• Take time to listen when people describe what happened. This will reduce their
anxiety.
• Actively concentrate on what the survivor says.
• Don’t interrupt or try to assure them that everything will be all right.
• Look at the survivor as he or she talks.
• Give required non-verbal cues to show your support and empathy.

3. Accept Feelings
• Natural responses to a disaster include feelings of anxiety, grief, guilt, and anger.
• Joy at having survived without injury.
• Shame at escaping injury when others were injured.
• Workers should let survivors know that it is OK to feel that way.

4. Next Steps
a. Assess needs for
• Medical aid
• Livelihood issues
• Basic relief needs
• Housing
• Compensation claims
• Emotional support
57
 b. According to the needs
• Discuss a plan of action to fulfill those needs.
• Deliver the necessary aid or information for meeting those needs.
• Network with agencies that might be able to help out.
• Refer if required.

c. Help resumption of regular life again

• Ask them to restart daily living tasks.
• Help them to understand that keeping occupied enhances the recovery
process.
• Reinforce that physical movement adds to feeling better and energized.
• Facilitate getting back to a routine, back to work, socializing, reading.
• Encourage adoption of a healthy lifestyle like nutritious food, regular
exercise, adequate sleep etc.

5. Refer and Follow Up

• Identify survivors who need further counseling or intervention.
• Go back and see how the person has progressed towards leading a normal life.
• Re-assess and cross check progress again.

Guidelines for accepting the feelings of the survivor:

• Accept the survivors you are trying to help without censorship or ridicule.
• Accept the survivor’s right to their own feelings. Even though your feelings, beliefs,
and behavior are different.
• Do not blame or make light of the way the survivor feels or acts. Your purpose is
to help the survivor in this tough situation, not to be critical.
• A survivor does not want to be upset and worried; the survivors would "snap out
of it" if they could.
• When a survivor seeks help, he or she needs and expects consideration of their
fears, not abrupt dismissal or accusations.
• Realize that people are the products of a wide variety of factors. Survivors may
react in different ways to the same situations. Each individual has complex needs
and motivations, both conscious and unconscious.
• Often, the "straw that breaks the camel's back" the one thing that finally causes
the person to be overloaded by the stressful situation is not the stressor itself,
but some other problem. Thus, an injury or an emotional catastrophe will have a
personal meaning for each individual.
• Even though you may not share the reactions or feelings of another person, and
even though the reactions seem foolish or peculiar, you must realize that the
person feels as he does, for a reason.
• You can help the person most by accepting the person and by doing what you can
for the survivor during this difficult time.
• Understand that the survivor is doing the best he can under the circumstances.

58
Key skills checklist
Using your brain better
Chapter 9
Preparation & structure
Improving audience involvement Facilitation
Using audio visuals
Handling questions
and
Voice training Presentation
Handling stress
Skills
Key skills checklist
Different Challenge
Every presentation situation is different - a lecture to 500 people at an international
conference is very different to explaining a new policy to a group of six work
colleagues. Similarly, every presenter is different - if you’re a 6’ 2” natural comedian
you have different strengths from someone who’s 5’ 0” but with a considerable
vocabulary.

In this programme we encourage you to play your natural strengths. We do this,

however, by encouraging you to refine your use of ten key skills. These skills are the
building blocks for an excellent presentation. We’ll go through each of them during
the seminar encouraging you to examine how you currently use them.
• Use positive movement
- Adopt a ‘neutral’ or ‘ready’ position
- Move with a purpose - to use an A V or see a different part of the
audience
- Avoid ‘static’

• Use gestures
- Make all your gestures relevant
- Combine gesture with eye contact
- Hold gestures and make them bigger than you think you need

• Use eye contact

- Give people enough eye contact
- Watch out for ‘prisoners’
- Use smiles and pauses with eye contact
- Distribute eye contact to everyone

59
 • Use language well
- Make sure the language you use meets the audience’s needs
- Prefer the concrete to the abstract
- Use a slower pace than you would in conversation
- Make effective use of pauses
- Make sure your brains engaged before your mouth

• Structure your presentation

- Know your topic - there is no substitute
- Focus on your audience’s needs - not yours - brainstorm as many ideas as
you can
- Shape the ideas into a manageable form
- Use your presentation planner to focus on the audience’s interests
- Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse

• Use your voice

- Learn to control your breathing
- Check that everyone can hear
- ‘Tweak’ the controls: pace, volume, and pitch

• Adapt your appearance

- Dress in a manner appropriate to the situation
- Make sure you’re comfortable - no tight clothes - use a mirror to look for
‘static’

• Build audience involvement

- Build up a clear picture beforehand of the audience, their needs and
concerns
- Involve the audience where practical
- Be aware of the learning/memory curves in any presentation

• Use appropriate audio visuals

- Add OHPs, slides, flipcharts where they will reinforce the message
- Beware of overdoing the audio visuals
- Prepare and rehearse any audio visuals
- Make yourself an audio visual !!!

• Employ appropriate humour

- People like to laugh - let them when appropriate
- Make sure your humour doesn’t offend
- Don’t use standard ‘jokes’ - they sound wooden
- Share your own experiences, anecdotes and ideas for humour

60
Preparation & structure
Communicate
Remember the key aim is to communicate. That means everything you do, should
be geared towards the audience and their needs. You’ve only succeeded when you
actually present your message in a way that they understand.

Remember a good presenter is like a magpie, always looking for ideas, facts, stories,
and illustrations to slot into a future presentation. Write ideas down in your filofax
or use the Abraham Lincoln envelope method: he had lots of large envelopes each
with a topic name on it and used to put newspaper cuttings, drawings or bits of
paper with ideas into the appropriate envelope.

This ‘ideas bank’ will serve you in good stead when you have to present at short
notice.

Preparing the Presentation

Before you begin:

Establish your purpose: Be absolutely clear about why you are making this
presentation - is it to inform, to explain, to appeal for action, to ask for a change
in policy.

Consider the audience: Ask what they are like in terms of experience, interests,
and concerns. Ask yourself how you can make what you have to say relevant to
them.

Identify the outcome: This is linked to the purpose of presentation. You may want
your audience to take a specific course of action as a result of your presentation.
Be clear about what follow up you want after the presentation.

Assemble your evidence: Almost any presentation will have evidence facts, figures,
quotes, opinions, benefits, strengths, weaknesses etc. Begin by collecting as much
of this as you can and then narrowing it down.

To help you to do this:

Generate ideas: Unpack your ideas bank. Get down as many ideas as possible.
possible using brainstorming.

Ask for help: Layout your presentation problem to colleagues, friends.

potential audience members and ask for their ideas and opinions.

61
 Shape the material: Use the ‘presentation framework’ to begin to shape the ideas
you’ve created. Narrow them down. Ask yourself, how do these relate to my audience,
purpose, outcome and evidence? Remember that your audience will only remember a
small percentage of the points you make - try to stick to the rule of threes.

Transfer to the planner: Your presentation planner gives you a framework for
both recording the points you want to make and ensuring you’re not going in for
overkill.

Remember:
- Record only key points
- Use single words, drawings, and phrases
- Colour code.

Rehearse your opening and closing sections: The only parts of your presentation
you should actually prepare in detail, are the opening and closing.

CHOOSE A STRUCTURE FOR PRESENTATION

There are a number of structures to use but all should fit within a basic framework
of ‘tell them what you’re going to say; tell them; and tell them what you’ve told
them.

You could express this as:

The Opening
Defining why you’re
Presenting, and showing how
You plan to present

The Body
Outlining the issue you’ve
Chosen to tackle with
Appropriate evidence,
Information, examples,
Analogues etc

The Closing
Going back over key
Points made, relating it again
To your audience, appealing
For appropriate action

62
Below we look at each of these sections in detail.

THE OPENING
Key elements: A good opening will tell the audience a number of things: what you
are going to talk about; why they should be interested; and how you plan to talk
about it.
- What: You might like to introduce the topic as a question “Why should XYZ
department change to a geographical approach?” or it might be in the form of
a statement: “I’m here to tell you about how the proposed Community Center
development will affect this area.”
- Why: If you’re discussing salary increases to an audience of employees it’s obvious
why they should be interested in what you’ve got to say. For the other 99% of
audiences you have to outline to them why what you are about to say is of interest
to them.
- How: Give people a route map of how you plan to tackle the topic. This could
be as simple as “I’m going to go through the three options available and then
recommend one for your consideration”, or “Let me tell you what my proposal is,
go through the advantages and disadvantages of it, and I’ll then take questions.”

These are the Essentials, but you might also like to think about including some of
the following:
• Establishing your credentials: Would it change the audience’s perception of what
you are about to say if they know more about your qualifications, experience, or
interest in the topic?
• Use a story: People like a story that makes a point. Often a particular example can
open up a larger topic well.
• Use a quotation: This can sound a little hackneyed if not used carefully, but if the
quotation is well chosen it can add spice. You can also use it to create mystery.
• Begin with a fact: a surprising or unexpected fact is a good opening.

THE BODY
This is the major part of your presentation. It will contain the information,
arguments and evidence. A good body will have a number of characteristics.
• It will begin with a general premise and then justify it: Usually it’s best to begin
with your conclusion or opinion and then give evidence, information and arguments
to justify it. Watch audience reaction - once the majority agrees with your main
point, move on. Don’t do the topic to death when people clearly accept your
premise.
• It will have a structure: There are a number of basic structures – see below for
examples - and if the audience can see the structure, it will help them to follow
the presentation.
63
 • It will be flexible enough to cope with changes: How often have you turned up
to give a presentation and then been told, “We’re overrunning, can you cut your
presentation down to 20 minutes?” Unprepared, this can be a disaster. Prepared,
you can say, “Of course, I’ll just make the three key points and leave the rest.”

Listed below are some tried and trusted structures that you might like to use:

- Analogies: Use a running analogy on which to ‘hang’ your points. For example:
Using the idea of environmental clean as an equivalent to a health check on your
body.
- Pros and cons: As you go through a proposal, consistently outline any advantages
and disadvantages of this course of action. This allows you to raise potential
audience criticisms and defuse them.
- Changes over time: It’s often helpful to show how things were, how they are now
and how they will be in the future. Or alternatively, you can outline the changes
in, say, the Education Department in 1996/7, further changes in 1997/8, and the
final changes in 1998/9.
- Categories: Here you outline categories of topic. For example, you could say” I’d
like to discuss the impact of this policy change in terms of the budget, our own
staffing, and finally public perceptions of our service.”
- Problem and solution: An excellent structure is the well tried ‘here’s a problem we
face and here’s the solution I’ve come up with.’ The problem, of course, must be
one that the audience recognizes as a problem.
- Objections and answers: You can actually deal directly with audience objections
by use of the objection/answer structure. For example “You may have a number
of worries about this change in our equal opportunities policy. Let me take you
through some points others have raised with me and explain why I think these
aren’t going to undermine our commitment.”
- Checklist: Sometimes the easiest structure is one that follows a checklist. This is
best for information topics. For example, “I’d like to go through the main changes
that this community care policy will involve, using each of the ten points in the
existing strategy.”

THE CLOSING
The closing is your last chance to communicate. It’s not a time to be cramming in
new ideas or information, or explaining about how much more information you could
have given if only you had time. A good close has a number of characteristics:
• It repeats the key ideas: Remember the rules of primacy and recency. This is your
chance to mention your main points again. But remember it should be brief: “So,
as you have heard, these changes will have a big impact on this organization. But
I believe they will make us more effective. More than that they’ll make us more
efficient. And best of all they’ll make us more enterprising.”

64
• It’s short: A close should occupy perhaps 10-15% of the total time available. You
can ask people for a brief spurt of attention at the end.
• It’s signaled: Simply saying “Let me now conclude . . . “ or “To summaries . . .” will
actually perk up your audience for at least two minutes. Use that increase in their
attention level well. Tell people that you’re about to finish.

Breaks and changes

Be aware of the need to break your presentation, if it runs over about 20 minutes
- people just can’t concentrate for any longer than that. (See the section on
improving audience involvement for further ideas.)

Using your brain better

How Does The Brain Work?
The brain is an intensely complex organ, capable of extraordinary achievements.
Part of using your brain well is to understand how it’s organized. Essentially there
are two hemispheres or halves. The left half, or hemisphere, is responsible for
different activities from the right half.

LEFT RIGHT
Primarily responsible for. . Primarily responsible for . . .
Logic
Intuition
Language
Visual
Short term memory
Long term memory
Mathematics.
Creativity
Rationale

Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is an increasingly popular way to plan a presentation. It represents a
way of using both halves of your brain to capture and sketch out all the key ideas
and messages in a given topic.

Many of us are trained, at school and later at college, to organize our thoughts in
a logical, linear way. Typically we might begin with a major heading and then use
minor headings until we come to a new topic and then opt for a major heading
again. This system is fine once we understand the structure of a topic, but it
doesn’t help us when we’re trying to organize our initial thoughts or make sense of
a complex subject.

Tony Buzan, one of the UK’s leading figures on the subject of brain skills developed
a system of outlining in the early seventies he called mind mapping.
65
 Unfortunately in work settings we tend to use our left-brains more and in order to
use our brains in a more holistic way we have to use the strengths of both - mind
mapping helps us to do this.

Among the advantages of mind mapping are:

• It avoids us 'closing down' our minds too quickly
• It helps us balance overview and detail
• It models the way our brain naturally works
• It’s generally more enjoyable.

The Principles of Mind Mapping

Mind mapping works because it allows us to generate ideas in a free visual way, but
also allows us to establish relationships between topics and ideas.

Mind maps usually contain a number of elements including:

• Key words
• Graphics
• Colors
• Images

Creating a Mind Map

To create a mind map you’ll need:
• A sheet of paper - ideally A3
• Colored pens or pencils.

Then follow these five key guidelines:

• Draw a picture of the topic in the middle of the paper: This drawing will act as a
focus for your work. It’s designed to begin on the right - visual-side of the brain.

• Create some key words off this central picture: Use the key words as the main ideas
that come to your mind when you think about this topic. (Typically you might
use words like advantages, disadvantages, who, how, what etc.) Don’t be afraid to
reinforce these with pictures.

• Capture key ideas by drawing lines radiating out from the central image: Draw one
line for each key word or phrase. Print the words to make them clear. And, again,
reinforce them with images or pictures.

• Extend these lines by adding new ones to represent each new idea: You’ll find that
these main lines split into smaller sections, representing developments from the
main idea. Again use words, start phrases, or pictures and images.

66
• Where possible reinforce the map with colours, codes, pictures and images: The
purpose of these is to help reinforce the key ideas and to stimulate the right side
of the brain at the same time as the left.

The mindmap, your brain and your presentation

When using a mind map you need to go through the same three phases as you do
when using the Lincoln’s Envelopes technique: the 3Cs

• Create: Begin in a free-association phase, simply capturing what you see as possible
directions. Don’t be worried if what you’re writing down seems silly or bizarre.
Remember the right side of the brain is concerned with creativity and overview.

• Cluster: Once you get out these initial ideas begin to focus briefly on each of the
key ideas and begin to expand on them - clustering other ideas round about them.
Here you’re flicking between left and right brain.

• Compose: Now you have to select the most important elements from the map. The
ones that is important or relevant to your purpose or audience. This is a rational
- left-brain - choice.

Preparing for Presentation

On the programme we mentioned mind mapping and also introduced you to a

technique called Lincoln’s envelopes. Before using that technique you might like to
reflect on the following questions.

• What Is The Subject? (And Is There A Separate Purpose?)

• What Is The Audience Like?

• What Is Their View Of You?

• What Outcomes Do You Want?

• What Benefits Can You Offer?

Lincoln’s Envelopes
To use the Lincoln’s Envelopes technique take a sheet of paper, or a flipchart, and
some post-its. Then go through the three stages:

• Create: Generate ideas as wildly as you can.

• Cluster: Shape and form those ideas around key subjects.

• Compose: Select the best ideas and transfer them to your planner.

This structure is designed to help you move quickly from general and wide ranging
ideas to a concrete presentation designed to meet the needs of the audience.

67
 Communicate
The basis of this programme is communication not presentation. The best
presentation involves all the audience as participants. By making them participants,
you have to:
• Improve their memory of issues raised.
• Help them understand better.
• Make them more likely to accept your point of view.

Principles of Effective Communication

There are a number of useful principles that improve audience commitment:

• Reinforce messages: make sure any messages you give orally are reinforced visually
or in some other way.

• Change modalities: this is a technical way of describing the fact you should change
how you present. Ask for ideas to write on a flipchart; give people a quiz; break
people up into small buzz groups.

• Seek feedback: sometimes as a presenter you may be unsure about how the audience
is responding. Take feedback through body language, eye contact and expressions
by all means. Nevertheless, don’t be afraid to ask for direct feedback “Would you
like a break “Shall we take some questions now?”

• Introduce breaks: using breaks can sometimes be disruptive, but in general you
should be aware of the limits on an audience’s ability to take information in. A
ten-minute break in a sixty-minute presentation could, if properly used, increase
recall by 20-30%.

The way people are positioned will have a considerable impact on their ability to
take in your presentation.

When setting up a room, there are constraints to do with the number of people
there are, the room size, whether the chairs are fixed or movable, and whether there
are tables, etc.

There are best and worst shapes for presenting to progressively larger audiences.
They follow some characteristics to bear in mind:

- Generally wide and flat is better than narrow and deep

- Allow as many participants to see one another as possible

- Make sure they can see you and any audiovisuals

- Create a structure which allows you to move and have a different relationship
to the audience

68
Donts
• Whenever possible, try to do the presentation in a room with natural light, but
don't have the room positioned so the audience can look out and be distracted.

• And don’t have a clock in view of the audience, they’ll start to watch it.

Humour
One of the most important and useful ingredients to any presentation is humour.
But humour doesn’t necessarily mean jokes. How many times have you cringed
as someone tries to tell a joke when they lack a talent for it? Or introduces an
irrelevant joke as a way of - mistakenly - trying to spice up a speech?
The rule is simple: don’t tell jokes if it feels awkward.

What’s the alternative? The easiest thing is to tell stories, anecdotes, incidents that
are relevant to the situation but which perhaps, have a humorous, embarrassing or
relevant implication. Tell stories that are about you ideally. This shouldn’t come
across as egotistic - especially if your mistake is the point of the story. Stick to
true stories. Nothing sounds worse than a made up story or one clearly borrowed
from another setting.

Knock at Human Interest

Facts and figures may be important to the ‘big picture’ of what you’re trying to say,
but it’s human interest that will excite, amuse, or touch your audience.

Tell them, “Calcutta has almost 100,000 people on or below the official poverty
line - and that includes 50% of all lone parent families” and people may register
intellectual concern. But will that be enough for you?

Tell them that, “In Calcutta one in five people lives on the poverty line. The poverty
line means that all of you in the first row would go home tonight with Rs.20
maximum to spend on a meal for a family of three. What could you cook for Rs.20?”
You could then go on to illustrate, perhaps, that you went out for a meal last night,
which cost Rs.150 for two - that’s a whole week’s income for two pensioners. This
gives you emotional concern.

Handouts
You may well want to use a handout to reinforce key messages in your presentation
depending on how complex or difficult it is. This could consist of anything from a
one-page sheet to a full copy of a 100-page report.

69
 In general, it’s a bad idea to give out handouts immediately before your presentation.
The problem is people start to read and flick through the material, and perhaps even
begin to discuss it with a neighbour.

But equally if you’re presenting a lot of information it may be very distracting to

have people taking notes while you write, or asking you not to change an overhead
projection or flipchart while they copy it down.

The best way to handle this is to indicate at the start of a presentation that you
will hand out a copy of your presentation at the end, or that if anyone wants a
copy to write their name on a sheet at the back of the room.

Your voice
Problems
Many presenters report problems with their voices. What problems do you have?

Bad Habits
Some of these problems have to do with bad habits we’ve picked up in life. These
include:

• Bad posture, which crushes our diaphragm

• Mumbling and not pronouncing words clearly

• Speaking in a monotone.

All of these problems can be dealt with and remember that actors often train their
voices for years. But there are other problems, caused specifically by presenting.
Nerves may make you tense and cause muscle contraction, which in turn causes
voice problems.

Houw Your voice works

Understanding how your voice works, will probably help in learning to use it more
effectively. Think of your voice as an instrument with three elements:

The lungs: These are the part of your body that provides the air for the instrument.
Like bagpipes unless they’re first filled with air you can’t subsequently project any
sound. You can tell if you’re filling them properly because your diaphragm - the
muscle situated between the bottom of your chest and the top of your stomach -
will push your stomach out as you breath in, if you’re breathing deeply enough.

The vocal cords: These are the strings or stops on a wind instrument, which actually
create the sound. As air passes over the vocal cords we tense and release them to
70
produce sound. If your vocal cords are too tense because you yourself are tense
they’ll produce a ‘squeaky’ or ‘cracked’ sound.

The mouth: The mouth is the sound box of our instrument. Unless you open your
mouth fully to produce sound it won’t go anywhere. And as with the vocal cords,
nervous tension tends to mean people don’t open their mouths fully.

How to improve your voice

You should try and do a warm up before you begin any presentation. Remember
you’re just like an athlete about to compete. A warm up allows you:
• To release any tension.
• To get yourself into a positive frame of mind.
• To rehearse you’re opening and close.

You can also prepare long-term by joining a yoga class or amateur dramatic
society.

The list below is only intended as an outline:

• Breathing
- Sit or lie comfortably: feel your stomach push out as you breathe in
- Slow the breathing rate down to in and out every 3-4 seconds
- Maintain this rate until you begin or while you’re carrying out other
exercises

• Shoulders
- Roll your shoulders - separately - backwards and forwards
- Stretch your fingers and then compress them to create the feeling of tension
flowing out of the fingers into the floor
- Trace the pattern of an object with your eyes or head such as a door or a
print hanging in the room
- Roll your head back and forward and then side to side gently (do not roll
you head in a circle - it can cause problems.)

• Mouth

- Imagine you are rinsing your mouth out at the dentist with a mouthwash.
Roll it round so that every surface in your mouth is covered then spit it
out!

- Move your jaw up and down and from side to side - it should hang loose
after a good exercise session.

71
 Follow up
But you can also practice using a tape recorder or Dictaphone - try saying a section
of your presentation to yourself, recording it and then playing it back.

Handling stress
Causes
Most stress arises from building up a negative fantasy about you, how you’ll come
across, and how demanding the audience will be.

By telling yourself these negative messages you set up a negative feedback cycle.

1. You feel nervous.

2. The audience sees your nerves.
3. The audience sees your nerves.
4. They get uncomfortable about you.
5. You see them lose faith in you.
6. You lose faith in yourself.

How many times have you seen a presenter make a reasonable start and then ‘Lose
it’ mostly through their own nerves?

The best way to deal with stress is to recognize its psychological roots.
Begin by counting the negative messages. Write down some negative messages you
tell yourself and then write alongside some positive messages you could tell you
in response.

Finally imagine yourself succeeding. As you sit waiting to be introduced imagine the
end of your presentation - the audience may well applaud; they’ll smile; they’ll nod
appreciatively. Tell yourself that’s how they’ll feel and the chances are they will.

There are a variety of techniques to deal with these:

• Sweating: Wear light cool clothes and if appropriate an ozone friendly anti -
perspirant.
• Shaky knees: Use the ready position. Imagine your feet glued to the floor.
• Playing with jewellery/coins: Remove jewellery or coins that you’re likely to play
with.
• Aching bladder: Avoid drinking for an hour before you present. Suck a sweet to
avoid throat dryness.
• Forgetting: What you’re going to say: use the planner as a safety blanket.

Again, remember most of these problems are caused by psychological anxiety - giving
yourself positive messages beforehand will reduce your tension level considerably.

72
Using Audio Visuals
Audiovisuals form an increasingly important part of many presentations. There are a
range of audiovisual options, ranging from the simple to the sophisticated. Among
these are:
• Flipcharts
• 35mm slides
• Video
• Overhead projection
• Multi media
• Audio tape

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these media. For example,
flipcharts are good in that they're low tech and tend not to break down. However
they don't work very well in a large space and can be cumbersome.

Overall Advantages
Overall, though, Audiovisuals have some significant advantages. Specifically they
can:
• Reinforce your key message
• Give you time to think
• Give the audience time to think
• Act as a script for you
• Add variety to your presentation.

You should use them, in moderation, whenever you can.

Good (and not so good) Flipchart practice

A flipchart is probably the simplest and easiest audiovisuals to use. You can use it
in a variety of ways:
• As a route map
• To capture their ideas
• To 'tick' or check off points.

When using a flipchart remember:

• Keep the letter size big - at least 3 inches
• Use only one or two words per point and then expand verbally
• Use a range of colours
73
 • Create pencil notes to help your memory
• Use darker colours to carry further
• Use post it flags to find your next flipchart.

Equally make sure you don’t:

• Put too much information on a flipchart
• Use colours that are too light to be seen
• Leave up ‘dead’ flipcharts when you’ve finished with them.

Good ( and not so good) overhead Projector

practice
An overhead projector is an excellent and flexible form of Audiovisuals. To avoid
problems with it make sure before you present:
• You know where the on/off switch is. The cable is taped securely to the floor
• The lens and main body is carefully cleaned to avoid smears
• There’s a spare bulb and you know how to change it
• Your projector is aligned with the screen.

To use an overhead well:

• Keep overhead slide format consistent - all landscape or portrait
• Use reveals as appropriate and weight your reveal sheet with coins
• Point and leave rather than holding the pen or pointer
• Have a limited number of words and - ideally - an illustration
• Use a frame to enclose the image and to script the presentation
• Use colour reversal for big impact.

At all costs avoid:

• Talking to the screen
• Reading what it says on the slide
• Using a slide with too many words or numbers.

General ways to improve your a V use

• Use A V to reinforce your most important messages - such as benefits, lists,
conclusions and recommendations

• Use colour - either computer-generated, hand-drawn or with photo techniques

74
• Steal graphic ideas from newspapers, magazines, or books and use them

• Wherever possible use pictures, graphs, and charts to support ideas rather
than words or numbers.

Using computers
Many computer programmers now exist to help you design slides, overheads, multi
media and even video. All of these share some common characteristics:
• They provide you with some templates which can be useful
• They allow you to create your own styles with logos and key headings
• They import data such as graphs, tables and graphics from other programmers such
as spreadsheets or clipart
• They can provide 'thumbprints' or small images to rehearse
• They allow you to link a script or notes to specific A V.

Handling questions
Two Way Traffic
After you’ve finished your presentation, the situation will change. Presenting is
essentially one-way traffic. But with questions the traffic becomes two ways, and
much more complex to handle.

There are a number of questioning types:

• The eager beaver: asks so many questions that it’s difficult for anyone else to
squeeze their view in. For you the problem is ‘how do I close them down without
offence?’
• The flamethrower: who is so enraged by what you’ve said that they want to
cause maximum damage. For you the problem is ‘how do I diffuse or dampen the
anger?’
• The country rambler: begins a long and discursive assessment of life the universe
and everything. For you the problem is ‘how do I interrupt and steer them back to
the topic?’

Body Language
Be aware of your body language when answering questions. Some pointers are:

• Watch your body movements: don’t step back, showing defensiveness. But equally
be careful how much, if at all, you step forward - it could be seen as aggressive.
• Be careful with gestures: avoid the punitive ‘wagging finger’. Prefer, instead, to use
75
 open and open palm gestures. And avoid touching your face in an inappropriate
disclosure gesture.
• Avoid defensive postures: use the neutral position to receive the question. Watch
out for closed defensive gestures like crossing your arms.

Handling agressive questions

When handling aggressive questions you need to choose carefully from a range of
techniques:
• Summaries neutrally: often in the midst of a range of aggression there’s a legitimate
point. Work at not just responding to the aggression -learn to summaries back to
the questioner, neutrally, what their key concern is.
• Use a fact-feeling loop: a fact-feeling loop is a way of separating out the feelings
part of a question from the content. We looked at this technique during the
programme and typically you might say - “So it’s the proposal to restructure
(fact) that’s making you angry (feeling).” You can then reflect this back seeking
a solution - “If the restructuring were modified, (new fact) would you feel able to
support it (new feeling)?”
• Reframe questions: this is a similar technique to summarizing, but means you
represent the question in a different way. Be sure to signal this is what you’re doing.
For example, “Let’s look at that another way - what are the positive alternatives to
restructuring?”
• Check for consensus: if you’re not sure whether the questioner enjoys widespread
support, ask for time to check out with others in the group. For example, “You’re
obviously very angry about the proposals. Can I just check if that view’s shared
by the others?” If it is shared, deal with it. If not, offer to deal with it privately
later.
• Treat the questioner with respect: everyone deserves respect - even the aggressive
questioner. Avoid using sarcasm or other demeaning tactics. If you can’t deal with
the point there and then make a note of it and offer to meet later and discuss it
over coffee or at a subsequent meeting.

What is there are no questions ?

Sometimes no one asking a question is worse than aggressive questions. Some ways
to stimulate questions are:
• "Someone asked me earlier": begin by saying that someone asked you a question
earlier. Tell the audience the question and then, of course, tell them the answer.
• "I'm often asked": tell the audience about a question you’re often asked. And again
explain what you think is the answer.
• Plant a question: You can plant a question with the chair or with a friend or
colleague in the audience. Again you can demonstrate your erudition by answering
the question.

76