• This pandemic has set the stage for the world to place mental health issues at the core of all spheres of health; including policy, interventions and high-level discussions.
• Mental illnesses and challenges have been triggered and exacerbated by a life-threatening occurrence that is the pandemic.
Image: REUTERS
2020 has been a year of many unprecedented happenings mostly caused by the global health crisis that struck the world towards the end of 2019.
Although the year was full of many misfortunes, there are lessons galore to be learnt.
Here is a list of some of those lessons and some just a form of awakening.
Gravity of Mental Health
First and foremost, the occurrences during the pandemic have demonstrated with seriousness, the significance of mental health awareness.
It took a pandemic for the government to acknowledge the fact that mental wellness is a key aspect of the health status of a country.
Health, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
This then implies that mental health is beyond the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.
There are many factors that determine the state of one’s mental health, including social, economic, psychological and biological factors within one’s environment.
This pandemic has set the stage for the world to place mental health issues at the core of all spheres of health; including policy, interventions and high-level discussions.
At the onset of the pandemic in the country, the Association of Mental Health Advocates acknowledged the fact that mental health patients will be under more distress during the coronavirus crisis.
Image: STAR ILLUSTRATED:
In this regard, it recommended all mental hospitals and methadone clinics remain open to ensure continuity of care during the pandemic.
The association had foreseen the spike in cases of anxiety rates due to isolation, toxic home environments, economic challenges affecting resources for health care among others.
As predicted, mental illnesses and challenges have been triggered and exacerbated by a life-threatening occurrence that is the pandemic.
Many people went through stressful times occasioned by the loss of jobs, inability to do meaningful businesses, increased marital pressure and many others due to the pandemic.
In April after the curfew was imposed, the government said it had witnessed a spike in domestic violence, gender-based violence and sexual offences during the Covid-19 period.
According to a Survey report by Trends and Insights for Africa-Tifa, there was an increase in cases involving physical, verbal and a combination of the two in Nairobi's low-income areas.
Numerous equality lobbies have suggested that the mobility restrictions put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus increased the number of violence in homes.
Millions of Kenyans are suffering in silence, unable to get the help they need. Cases of domestic violence are also on the rise.
The worst of it is that even educated and enlightened members of society have fallen victim.
For instance, Lamu county elders were forced to call for government intervention over increased suicide cases in parts of the county.
Areas such as Mulei, Wiyoni, Mpeketoni, Matanya, Majembeni, Faza, Hindi and some parts of Witu were named as most affected.
In July, the Presidential Task Force on Mental Health in Kenya recommended that the President declare mental illness a national public health emergency.
This was amidst rising murder cases attributed to the spike in depression and mental sickness.
It welcomed more talks on mental health awareness in the country as many organizations came up with platforms for such conversations.
Heavy campaigns to raise aimed awareness on mental health were launched in several counties including, Kilifi, Nairobi and Mombasa.
The mental health crisis triggered the nation, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, who saw the need to push a wholesome discussion on the reality of the state of mental health in Kenya beyond depression.
More and more people have embraced the idea of teaching mental health from an early age in terms of how to promote mental health, how to prevent mental illness and how to get care when you start feeling unwell.
Education
Closure of all learning institutions in the country was among the government's first containment measures when the country recorded its first case back in March.
A number of private institutions were quick to adopt e-learning for students by mid-April.
This has in turn led to efforts to assess and resolve problems emanating from the new learning and teaching dispensation.
Open and distance e-learning, ODeL in some of the older Kenya Universities are not new. Colleges of distance education have dealt with problems of remote communication. Lessons learnt from this must now be applied to present disruption.
Schools such as Brookhouse School commenced a format of online classes almost immediately.
Other tertiary institutions such as Strathmore University, Mount Kenya University, United States International University–Africa and KCA university were among the first to implement digital learning.
Majority of the public schools and universities on the other hand lagged behind in terms of adapting to the new normal.
However, after some weeks, several other schools, which remained closed physically, moved their learning online through Google Classroom.
It is currently the preferred method for most schools including elite institutions such as Rusinga and Makini schools.
Google Classroom enables users (teachers) to create an online classroom area in which they can manage all the documents that their students need.
Teachers can quickly see who has or has not completed homework, and provide direct, real-time feedback and grades right in the classroom.
At the university level, many students have benefited from online classes according to University Education and Research PS Simon Nabukwesi.
Due to the unprecedented need for schools to incorporate virtual learning, there was commendable speed and timeliness that this was used for implementation.
More schools moved to review their statutes and academic procedure manuals to align with the new normal.
The situation necessitated the need for the government to rapidly deploy eLearning material to facilitate educational progress.
Numerous homegrown eLearning solutions still taking root within the country and illustrating once again that Africa is home to its own solutions.
E-Learning platforms such as Eneza Education and Zeraki Learning, both based in Kenya rolled out customised, accessible, and affordable online educational content tailored to the unique characteristics of students.
For instance, noting that not all students have access to smartphones or reliable internet connections, Eneza Education offers revision and learning material via bite-sized SMS modules – being SMS based, access to the educational content is not limited by lack of internet connectivity, or devices such as laptops, tablets or smartphones.
The Covid-19 pandemic has, surprisingly, played a catalytic role in the widespread adoption of eLearning technologies.
Finance
As much as making smart money moves has always been a forever mantra, 2020 sure hit it right across our faces.
The global economic outlook took a grim as experts estimated a contraction of 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.
Travel and tourism suffered the worst losses as recreational businesses such as bars and restaurants got some heat.
The real estate sector also struggled, especially due to the effect of the disruption of global supply chains.
Social distancing measures and the fear of contracting Covid-19 further disrupted personal service types of businesses like barbershops and salons, entertainment and competitive sports.
Due to the overall economic loss, experts have predicted that hundreds of millions of workers will not be confident to return to work to restore the levels of productivity registered at the end of 2019.
Therefore, as governments move to revive the economy, organizations and individuals have to make thousands of small and big choices about their lives, especially their financial choices.
This year has opened people's mind to the importance of investment. People are now more aware that there is no perfect timing to invest since the best time to start investing is now because stocks are businesses and good businesses grow over time.
People have become less ignorant about their financial future.
There was a serious spike in the digital advertisement during the Covid period.
This says a lot about how brands and organizations chose to make lemonades from the bitter lemon that was 2020.