Turkey provides psychosocial support to 26,000 disaster victims

Turkish authorities have provided psychosocial support to more than 26,000 people during 45 different disaster and emergency incidents between January and September of this year. These interventions include responses to school attacks, floods, and forest fires.

Specialized teams composed of psychologists, social workers, psychological counselors, child development specialists, and sociologists provide services such as psychological first aid, needs assessment, and psychoeducation. These teams operate in various locations, including hospitals, tent cities, container cities, and temporary shelters.

Since the implementation of these services, over 6 million people have received psychosocial support across 329 disaster and emergency events in Turkey. Notable recent interventions include providing support to 14,000 people affected by school attacks in Kahramanmaraş and 350 people in Şanlıurfa. Additionally, support was provided to over 2,000 people following floods in Samsun and others in Hatay.