Basic psychosocial support skills are at the core of any Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) intervention. Such skills are also indispensable for many others involved in the COVID-19 response, whether they identify as an MHPSS provider or not. Thus, this guide is meant for all COVID-19 responders.

This Basic Psychosocial Skills Guide is a project by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. The project was supported by member agencies of the IASC MHPSS RG, with extensive inputs from COVID-19 survivors and COVID-19 responders from all sectors in the following countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Uganda, UK, USA. They all responded to a survey to help us draft this guide and make it more relevant to their mental health and psychosocial needs. The initial draft was then opened up to further feedback from COVID-19 survivors and COVID-19 responders through review and additional in-depth interviews. The final guide incorporates this feedback.

A big thank you to these responders – who include food supply, distribution, law enforcement, health professionals, protection actors, transportation workers, managers and others – for completing our surveys and influencing this guide. This is a guide developed for and by responders around the world. The IASC MHPSSS RG acknowledge Espe for his illustrations in this publication.

We hope that this guide will help to orient responders from different countries, from different sectors, on how to integrate psychosocial support into their daily COVID-19 responses and how to make a difference in well-being of people they communicate with during the COVID-19 pandemic.