A Manual for Providing Psychological Help to Women Survivors of Gender Violence through the CONVIDA 2020 Phone Line

Abstract

Introduction: In order to respond to the demand of the country’s top management and the Ministry of Public Health, as well as to provide psychological support in the face of the emerging COVID-19 situation, the phone line 103 was activated. This creation also made it possible to help women survivors of gender violence. It is an opportunity to have specialized and trained human resources for providing this service.

Objective: To provide a manual that allows the operators of CONVIDA 2020 phone line to provide psychological help to women survivors of gender violence who request the service.

Methods: The procedural logic for the preparation of this manual had three steps: 1) to systematize the theoretical and methodological elements, the structure, the stages and their components; 2) To establish guidelines and the development of the procedures; and 3) to analyze the quality dimensions. The main theoretical methods used were document review, comparative education, the systemic-structural and functional, structural-analysis and, at the empirical level, the technique of field observation and weighting.

Results: An instrument was obtained that allows operational ordering of day-to-day performance of the phone operators of the CONVIDA 2020 line. The guidelines and instructions for the procedures were established: steps to carry out telephone assistance, phases of psychological help, warning signs, psychological first aid and the critical pathway of the line.

Conclusions: The methodological and scientific accuracy of this manual is evidenced in the concatenation and systematization of its contents, which allow offering psychological help to women survivors of gender violence who request the service, in a timely, continuous, affordable and efficient manner, as it is useful and includes a high level of satisfaction from internal and external users.