Community Mental Health Worker at Medecins Sans Frontieres

Job Summary

• Providing optimal preventive and psychosocial aid to people with mental health and psychosocial needs at community level according to MSF principles, standards and procedures in order to provide the most appropriate mental health support for patients

Responsibilities

• Conduct brief psychosocial assessments to identify barriers to treatment adherence and psychosocial risk factors.
• Provide psychoeducation to patients and caregivers on mental health, malnutrition, and coping strategies, in line with MSF guidelines.
• Conduct psychostimulation and recreational activities in the Ambulatory Therapeutic Feeding/Follow-up Center (ATFC).
• Collaborate with the medical and psychosocial teams to develop, adapt, and deliver mental health and psychosocial education messages tailored to the needs of caregivers of malnourished children.
• Identify patients requiring mental health care, provide psychological first aid when appropriate, and refer for further counselling.
• Ensure that patients attending MSF activities are informed about available MHPSS services and how to access them.
• Trace caregivers on follow-up care, including defaulters, and support their re-engagement in treatment.
• Conduct home visits when required to facilitate defaulter tracing, follow-up, or provision of psychoeducation.
• Support the organization of community outreach activities, awareness sessions, meetings, and support groups in coordination with the team.
• Collect, maintain, and update monitoring data daily, prepare regular activity reports and share with the supervisor.
• Participate actively in supervision sessions, team meetings, and training activities, and contribute to continuous quality improvement of MHPSS activities.

Requirements
Education:

• Training in psychological first aid and basic counselling skills is desirable.

Experience: 

• Desired experience in community (working with children, caregivers, and vulnerable populations) and/or social work.
• Preferably coming from the beneficiaries’ community and well accepted

Language: English and Hausa are essential.

• Knowledge:
• Desired knowledge of the affected population
• Strong communication, organizational and social skills (attentive listening, open attitude, empathy, sensitivity)
• Capacity to work in a multidisciplinary team
• Initiative, creativity and flexibility
• Capacity to adjustment to change
• Interest in helping the vulnerable population.

Competencies:

• Results and Quality Orientation L1
• Teamwork and Cooperation L1
• Behavioural Flexibility L1
• Commitment to MSF Principles L1
• Stress Management L2.