As part of the MOU, KAPMI will enable ROCF and HFI to strengthen the VTC program with volunteering, mentoring and counselling support
Heartfulness Institute (HFI) in association with Ripples of Change Foundation (ROCF), a social impact organisation, and Kateel Ashok Pai Memorial Institute (KAPMI) – an entity of Manasa Hospital in Shimoga has announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at advancing mental health awareness and support in communities. The MoU was signed at Manasa Hospital, Shimoga on Wednesday by the three institutions.
As part of their commitment to promoting mental health, ROCF and HFI have been running the “Voice that Cares” program in collaboration with HFI, a free helpline available 7 days a week focused on providing psychosocial first aid (PSFA) support for individuals through trained volunteers.
As part of the MOU, KAPMI will enable ROCF and HFI to strengthen the VTC program with volunteering, mentoring and counselling support. ROCF and HFI will serve as implementation partners for the program, managing the operations of the helpline, including volunteer onboarding, training, review and monitoring, data management, and platform technical services. They will also liaise with KAPMI representatives and other stakeholders, identify training needs, develop program strategies, and recruit additional human resources as required. KAPMI will provide essential mental health-related inputs, develop training materials, evaluate the impact and quality of calls, offer psychiatric support when necessary and help undertake mental health research. The volunteers from the PG Diploma and M.Sc. Psychology courses will provide assistance in supporting the VTC helpline.