Community Needs Assessment for a Professional University Health Counselling Course in Cambodia (original) (raw)

Developing health and counselling professionals remains an important part of supporting mental health services in Cambodia. This paper aims to identify how the key stakeholders and mental health experts in Cambodia consider how a university level health counselling course could contribute to addressing the needs/treatment gap for mental health services in Cambodia. In order to do this, the study consists of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, community needs assessment, and community resource mapping. The data were drawn from 15 NGOs, various profit and not-for-profit organizations as well as two key government stakeholders. The participants were invited to take part in a stakeholders/expert semi-structured interview that lasted between 30-60 minutes at the participants' organizations. The findings revealed that all participants believe that a university level health counseling course was crucial in Cambodia to address pressing mental health issues in the country. Most participants believed that a graduate or postgraduate level program such as a B.A. or M.A. was necessary to train qualified counsellors. The program should be internationally benchmarked, with a Cambodian context. Topics should include psychopathology, professional ethics and competencies, counselling theories and interventions, trauma treatment, as well as emotional intelligence and addiction. Other topics might need to include parenting, support system for suicidal patients, selfcare, staff wellbeing programs, and school counselor programs.

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