Departing Pinoy maids to undergo psychological test

MANILA, Philippines – Despite protests from migrant workers and local recruitment industry, departing Filipino domestic helpers will have to undergo a psychological test. 

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Jennifer Manalili said the agency has already “approved in principle” the planned expansion of medical examination for domestic helpers, and the government is set to enforce the new policy.

Manalili said the POEA had already proposed that the medical expansion would include psychological tests in coordination with other concerned agencies.

“The POEA has referred the matter with the Department of Health so it could come out with the standard assessment tools since the DOH regulates medical clinics,” she said.

Sources at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the planned mandatory psychological tests would be enforced at no cost to the workers.

Under the proposal, domestic helpers will undergo psychological assessment to determine if they can cope with so much stress.

Those who will not pass the initial test will undergo training on handling stress, labor officials said.

They explained that the move is aimed at protecting domestic helpers prone to abuses abroad.

Aside from the POEA’s psychological tests, household workers will also attend stress coping orientation seminar at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration before they leave the country, the POEA said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization of Family Doctors have proposed that primary care workers undergo training on identifying and taking care of people with mental disorders.

In a joint report, titled “Integrating Mental Health in Primary Care – A Global Perspective,” the two agencies said “hundreds of millions of people are affected by mental disorders, but cannot receive the care and treatment they need.”

The report said the “detailed best examples of best practices from 12 countries” are proof that “integration can be successfully achieved in a variety of socio-economic contexts.” 

“This is despite the global trend that primary care for mental patients is insufficient and unsatisfactory. Though mental disorders represent 13 percent of the total burden of disease, the gap between the number of people affected and the number receiving care and treatment, even for severe conditions, remains enormous,” the two agencies said. – Mayen Jaymalin, Sheila Crisostomo