Who Emro – Providing hospital staff in Lebanon with the skills necessary to meet the increasing needs in the field of mental health – ryan

September 25, 2025 – The overlapping crises that were exacerbated by the escalation of hostilities in 2023 and the start of the war in 2024 to pressure the health care system in Lebanon to the maximum extent. To meet the increasing psychological and social needs of patients and psychological burdens on health care workers, a series of training workshops on mental health and psychological social support in the country’s hospitals have been held.

The implementation of the World Health Organization, in cooperation with the National Mental Health Program and the Public Health Emergency Emergency Operations Center at the Ministry of Public Health, took over the framework of emergency planning and response in Lebanon. The initiative aims to enhance mental health and the psychological psychological response capabilities of employees on the front lines in public and private hospitals throughout Lebanon, while giving priority to nursing and doctors in the emergency rooms and professionals in the field of rehabilitation.

Targeting priority needs

The training designed in consultation with hospital directors. Based on the accreditation criteria in force in the Ministry of Public Health and based on the evaluation of needs, this training on mental health training that was provided before the state of emergency 2023/2024. The workshops focused on the following:

Treating acute psychological states, such as panic or delirium attacks, for doctors in facilities that do not have internal services in the field of mental health, in response to the increasing need to assess and treat psychological emergencies without specialized support;

Dealing with the psychological stress crises facing nursing staff and providing them with the skills necessary to stop the exacerbation of these crises in hospitals and self -care techniques to help them deal with high levels of psychological stress and difficult working conditions;

Nursing crew skills in transferring bad news to patients, and enabling them to show sympathy when transferring sensitive information, and these skills are urgently required in the wake of the escalation of war and their impact on patients and families;

Training professionals in the field of rehabilitation on mental health and psychological and social support to enhance their ability to meet the needs of mental health and psychological and social needs of persons with disabilities in the context of increasing disabilities due to war, especially among young people.

Advanced training was provided to deal with psychological pressure crises to a selection of nursing staff to take over the provision of training in hospitals after that. This is especially important in light of the shortage of psychotherapy nursing crews in Lebanese hospitals.

Main Achievements

Training more than 1,800 members of nursing crews in dealing with psychological stress crises in more than 110 hospitals.

Training more than 1,900 nursing crew with bad news transmission skills to patients in more than 115 hospitals.

Training 160 doctors on therapeutic management of psychological emergencies in 58 hospitals.

Training about 200 professionals in the field of rehabilitation to provide mental health services and psychological and social support for persons with disabilities.

81 members of the nursing teams obtain advanced training to deal with psychological stress crises in 56 hospitals.

Despite the challenges such as exhaustion of nursing crews, the decrease in the participation of doctors and gaps in documentation, satisfaction rates were high. Previous and subsequent tests of advanced training in dealing with psychological stress crises showed great knowledge gains.

The trainers and hospitals alike stated that the skills gained by the trainees were immediately pushed in practice. One of the trained nurses reported that training in the transfer of bad news to patients has changed her style of supporting her father in an amputation. Another participant pointed out that he benefited from the methods of dealing with psychological pressures in dealing more effectively with the daily crises he faces with patients and families.

Hospitals have requested the expansion of training in dealing with psychological stress crises to include other frontal workers such as security personnel.

Future steps

The advanced training course is to deal with psychological pressure crises a first step towards the institutionalization of training within hospitals, and plans to integrate to deal with psychological pressure crises in the annual training programs of nursing staff are attested.

The initiative highlighted the need to guarantee the well -being of the frontal lines employees working in the field of health care, especially during emergency situations and post -emergency situations, and showed how interventions can prepare for emergency situations and respond to them, in circumstances such as Lebanon’s circumstances, to support the integration of mental health in health care, reducing stigma, and helping to ensure consideration of psychosocial support as an essential and not optional component of Care elements.

Main messages

The organization, in cooperation with the National Mental Health Program and the Center for Public Health Emergency Operations at the Ministry of Public Health, assumed training more than 2,500 workers in the field of health care from public and private hospitals in Lebanon, and providing nursing staff, doctors and professionals in the field of rehabilitation with the basic skills necessary to meet the needs of mental health and psychological psychological needs.

Training responded to the critical needs identified by hospital employees and national concerned parties, including the increasing numbers of psychological emergencies that require dealing with psychological stress crises, bad news transmission skills to patients, and support for persons with disabilities.

The joint responsibility for the initiative by the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Public Health and the Private and Public Hospitals Sector contributed to the success and sustainability of the initiative.

Emergency conditions can provide opportunities to integrate mental health and social psychological support in the health system. The enhancement of the capabilities of the front lines is now an essential factor in the activities of the emergency and response to it in Lebanon.