Four months after the Beirut blast, ASC, with the help of Imam Sadr Foundation, continued their work in affected areas and decided to help 14 families in a manner similar to what they had done before.
We chose the families that needed the most help physically and psychologically. These families were located in Sed el Baouchrieh, and on the 7th of December, Imam Sadr Foundation visited the 14 families and, like before, asked a few questions for assessment and gave them vouchers for assistance.
The questions that were asked were different this time, as it had been a while since the Beirut blast took place and we wanted to make sure how people were coping with the situation after all this time and how they were adjusting to it.
We relied on PHQ-9, also known as Patient Health Questionnaire-9, which is a depression module where 9 questions are asked to help assess a person’s level of depression.
Some of the questions resembled questions asked before, but others directly tackled the person’s mental health. The participants’ answers had to be accurate and applicable in the past two weeks.
Some of the questions included: “Have you had little interest or pleasure in doing things? Have you had a poor appetite or have been overeating? Have you had thoughts of hurting yourself in some way?” A high score on the questionnaire indicated major depression.
Some members from the families scored high while others did not. Based on the scores, we were able to determine who needed urgent help.