Between 31st October and 2nd November, 2018, the faculties of the Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR) of Sichuan University from the Department of Disaster Health met with the top administration of Mianzhu People’s Hospital. The IDMR team included: Prof. Jan D. Reinhardt, Assoc. Prof. Hao Li, Dr. Yan Tingting, Dr. Joseph K. Balikuddembe and MS. Xu Meilin. They were in accompaniment of Prof. Craig Van Dyke (Professor and Chair Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry and Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, and Visiting Professor of IDMR, Sichuan University) and Dr. Vivien How from the University Putra Malaysia. Meetings were held with the team from Mianzhu People’s Hospital which was led by Dr. Jiang Xin，the Hospital President and in accompaniment of his Deputies, Ms. Xiaoying Liu, a director of education & research; Mr. Chen Hao; Dr. Zhenen Zhao, the Director of Rehabilitation and other senior staff. The meetings revolved on a wide range of collaborative research to be undertaken between IDMR and Mianzhu People’s Hospital as stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding which is to be finalized and signed soon.

Also, a workshop under the theme “Community Mental Health Programming for Rural Setting” was held and it was attended by many hospital staff especially those from the Department from the Rehabilitation Department. Prof. Craig in his presentation with a theme of “Addressing the Mental Health Crisis” discussed about the “Collaborative Care Model” which is now adopted and used by many mental healthcare institutions in the USA to address the mental health needs. On the other hand, Prof. Jan presented about the “Mental Health in Natural Disasters: General Consideration and Epidemiology of PTSD after Wenchuan Earthquake”. Both presentations attracted insightful feedback from the attendees especially on the “Collaborative Care Model” as to whether it is feasible to apply it with the current mental health needs experienced particularly at Mianzhu People’s Hospital and in China at large.

Prof. Craig along with other members of both teams met with some victims of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake who are amputated and with spinal cord injuries at the hospital (rehabilitation ward). Similarly, home visits were made to three (3) spinal cord patients to also inquire and share their ongoing life experiences. Apart from interacting and sharing their life experiences before and after experiencing their current situation (amputation and disability), that aimed at identifying and informing the existing and required rehabilitation interventions needed for the amputated and disabled patients (especially the victims of earthquake) who seek services at the Mianzhu People’s Hospital.