Community Engagement Projects

The USFQ Mental Health Center has generated different community outreach projects with the aim of creating a platform for practice, learning and training for undergraduate students from various USFQ careers, ALUMNI of the Clinical Psychology career and Master's students in Clinical Psychology. All our projects are aimed at bringing mental health to our community.

1. HIVVIR Support Group - A group psychological intervention with components of yoga, meditation and movement:

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How can you help?

Your donation will give us the opportunity to work for the mental health of people living with HIV; you will be directly helping to increase access to a decent and quality service. Your donation is important regardless of the amount.

Link to the donation: https://tremolina.ec/sinestigma/

The USFQ Mental Health Center and Tremolina Yoga have designed a psychological intervention with a group approach aimed at people living with HIV. The intervention has been designed after a long research process, where different people with related experiences and health workers have contributed with their needs and knowledge. The groups will work to promote the well-being and mental health care of those who participate.

In Latin America, not all people can go to a specialist for help, the mental health treatment gap is 74.7%. In Ecuador, only 1.6% of the total health budget is directed to mental health, so access to this right is very limited. Thanks to this project, 30 people with HIV will have access to a support group, with the necessary materials and resources to promote their well-being. We hope that these groups can replicate, contributing to improve the mental health of this population in Ecuador.

"A New Beginning" is an initiative aimed at women who have experienced gender-based violence in the context of their partner, whose main objective is to provide emotional and social support to this population.

2. Support for Women Victims of Gender Violence:

This project will make it possible for more people to have access to a mental health service in Ecuador and with the support of the USFQ Legal Clinic they will be able to get in-depth advice on legal issues regarding their cases. Through the support groups, it is expected to contribute to the community with psychoeducation and start an important dialogue around issues such as gender and violence, thus preventing new cases of abuse and the continuity of cultural patterns that promote intergenerational violence.

3. Global Health Telehealth Project:

This project is a multidisciplinary project where the careers of Psychology, Medicine, Nutrition and Microbiology participate. Psychology, ALUMNI and Master's degree students generate psychosocial support for vulnerable populations. Among these populations are: Older adults with chronic diseases and pregnant women (perinatal depression). The project is monitored by USFQ Mental Health Center professionals and has supervision sessions for the pre-professionals who participate in the project. If you want to read more about it, click here: https://revistas.usfq.edu.ec/index.php/esferas

4. Psychological Service to the Community:

This service provides mental health services to the community at low and affordable prices. The Master's students as well as the ALUMNI initiative are in charge of providing these services. The professionals of the mental health clinic also create spaces for pro-bono care for our community.

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Additionally, the podcast"Hablemos de Salud Mental" is created, which is a podcast developed by the professionals of the USFQ Mental Health Center of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito to share information and strategies based on scientific evidence on issues related to mental health. and psychological and emotional well-being.

The WSC has considered it is important to use social networks and the media to make our audience aware of the importance of mental health, the essentials of seeking quality help and offering another channel of communication to a younger population. The project was born in January 2021, out of the need to provide a space in Spanish where conversations are held and advice based on scientific evidence is given, but at a level where all audiences can access the information. For this reason, the USFQ Mental Health Center creates its Instagram account ( @saludmentalusfq ) that seeks to raise awareness of the importance of mental health in our society through posts and stories with scientific content but accessible to all types of audiences and ages.

The pilot program "Healing Through Art" will provide adolescents with the development of skills for the regulation of emotions. The goal is to provide a safe therapeutic group environment where adolescents can use artistic media to process and express their emotions, as well as to understand their identities and values.

5. Communication in Mental Health:

6. Art 4 Healing:

7. Support Group for Women with Perinatal Depression:

The population of this project are pregnant women who are part of a research project at the USFQ School of Medicine that seeks to determine the prevalence of perinatal depression in Ecuador.

Teens will explore their identity, foster creativity, develop mindfulness and build their self-esteem, as well as explore the issues of uncertainty in the midst of a pandemic time. The participants of this group are 8 to 10 boys per cohort from public schools that have been referred by their schools. This initiative is achieved thanks to the support of our professionals and the private company PACO.

These women will be screened by medical school for traits of depression. Those who need intervention will be referred to our program where they will receive psychosocial support. The objective of this project will be to provide information about depression to this population as well as strategies to prevent and manage perinatal depression.