With its core mission to work towards a healthier Philippines, Unilab Inc. (UNILAB) joined hands with the Department of Education (DepEd) to help public school teachers, learners, and their parents have access to basic healthcare and health education in their partner school communities. In its 78 years of caring for Filipinos, Alagang Unilab has gone beyond providing access to quality health products by incorporating community wellness initiatives. One of its focus programs is partnering with the DepEd and going into classrooms and campuses to ensure the physical and mental well-being of the next generations.

As the DepEd strengthens its Batang Matatag: Nourishing Minds, Strengthening Bodies project nationwide to support students, not only in academics but also with their mental and nutritional health, Unilab affirms its commitment to help the agency in its campaign.

Holistic approach to health training

Through the Safe Schools, Safe Kids (3SK) Project, Unilab empowers students and their parents and educators by providing medical guidance on how to live a healthier lifestyle. Held in partnership with the DepEd, the 3SK project has three components: School-based teacher checkups, training of clinic teachers, and providing health education.

Empowering educators through hands-on exercises. 3SK’s Capacity Building component features skills enhancement training of teachers in managing the school clinic. Topics range from Basic Health Protocols for Primary Care and First Aid, Basic Documentation of Cases, Preparation and Management of Target Client List to Referral Health System.

The Clinic Teacher Training, which covers Vital Signs, First Aid, and Common Diseases Modules, was conducted in collaboration with city health officers, the DepEd Schools Division Offices, and medical schools. Its pilot phase was implemented in three local government units. It was later expanded to municipal-wide training for public elementary and high schools in three cities and three municipalities in Pampanga.

Unilab Inc. Head of External Affairs and Social Partnerships Claire de Leon Papa explained that teachers were one of the focus areas of the 3SK Project because they are the main touchpoints for the students. “We want to ensure that our teachers, who look after the well-being of their students while at school, are also healthy, so we conducted health checkups for them that included blood pressure, blood glucose, and even bone scanning exams," she said.

"We are also continuously holding seminars for teachers and non-teaching personnel assigned to the school clinics, to empower and equip them with knowledge on how to handle health concerns. We have also initiated doctor engagements with the parents of our partner schools to help them raise happy and healthy families.”

A focus on mental wellbeing

Building resilient minds through improved mental health awareness and guidance in schools is another component of the DepEd Batang Matatag program. At the launch of the "Batang Matatag: School-Based Mental Health and Feeding Programs" at the Esteban Abada Elementary School in Quezon City, DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte said, “We have trained teachers to spot mental health problems, taught over 10,000 personnel about psychological first aid and expanded our network of partners in mental health.”

One of the Department’s partners in strengthening mental health in schools is Heads Up PH, a program of the Unilab Foundation (ULF) that aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young Filipinos through a holistic mental health program. Designed to enable schools, families, and communities to work together for mentally healthy learners. It capitalizes on quality partnerships for research, module development, and capacity building.

Guidance Counselors and psychometricians in DepEd schools from regions I, III, and IV-A convene to train as gatekeepers using the RACE Against Suicide module in the first leg of Unilab Foundation’s partnership with the National Educators' Academy of the Philippines (NEAP).

Particularly highlighting a holistic approach to mental health, ULF provides resources anchored on the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Framework, which dives deeper into preventive programs, mental health assessment, evidence-based interventions, and referral systems.

Through a Peer Facilitators Manual co-developed with the Philippine Guidance and Counselling Association (PCGA), the foundation works to empower students to assist their peers in working through various concerns by offering emotional support and guidance on different situations at home, in school, and in community.

ULF has co-developed and validated a universal school mental health screening tool for students through “Project ASPIRE: Children and Adolescent Screener (CARS)”. In support of the DepEd's efforts in advancing school-based mental health, this tool is set to be piloted in 2024, in selected schools.

Capping off its six-batch run with the DepEd-National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), ULF also rolled out the RACE Against Suicide, a gatekeeper tool for suicide prevention, and various modules on counseling skills and supervision, referral, guidance program development, and self-care for counselors from 16 regions. The module aims to improve school personnel’s capacity to identify and refer learners at risk of suicide. Likewise underway is its partnership with the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) through the module, “Heads Up Connect: Fostering Integrative-Collaborative Care in School Mental Health”, which aims to strengthen a School-based referral system.

Joan Armada-Urieta, program and strategic support director of ULF said, “We believe that the school is one of the most effective platforms to reach teachers and students with interventions that support and help them succeed amidst academic and life challenges. We are committed to help make our schools safe spaces that nurture the mental health of our Filipino youth.