Ugat Foundation Inc. | Psycho-social Interventions for a Healthy Mind and Body

PANATAG Program Reach

PANATAG Program is one of UGAT Foundation’s formation programs that is aimed specifically at helping OFW families face the psycho-social consequences of physical separation. PANATAG is an acronym for Pamilyang Nangibang Bansa Aruga at Gabay. 

The PANATAG Program is comprised of 3 Modules:

1. ANAK Workshop – for the children of OFWs
2. KAISA Workshop – for the spouses and caregivers of OFWs
3. GABAY Workshop – for local volunteers from the school or community trained to do the mentoring work

Since 2008, the ANAK Workshop has reached over 20,000 Filipino children whose either one or both parents have gone abroad to provide for the family. Below is a summary of reach from 2008-2021:

Majority of the participants from the ANAK Workshop came from schools. Some schools have integrated the ANAK Workshop in their Guidance Programs and ExtraCurricular activities, as a support to the holistic well-being of the students. 

Center Counseling Reach

The UGAT Foundation Center Counseling Services has been helping individuals, couples, families, and groups since the foundation began.

At the onset of the pandemic, the Center Counseling had to put the services on hold due to the safety protocols with face to face interactions. As such, the foundation re-structured its counseling services, and opened doors to clients, maximizing the virtual platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, etc., to continue serving the Filipino community. 

The Center Counseling Services re-opened its doors last May 2021. Below are the summarized data gathered from May to December 2021.

Chart 1. Number of requests for Regular Counseling Sessions

Chart 2. Location of individuals who requested for Counseling Sessions

Chart 3. Common experiences and concerns presented

Out of the 1,118 unique requests, 5% were diagnosed by a psychiatrist and wanted supplementary support through counseling, 1.9% were under medication, 1.6% presented grief,  1.2% presented thoughts and experiences of trauma, and 0.8% are due to major life changes experienced while in a pandemic.

The Center Counseling service was temporarily closed last December 2021, and resumed its operations last March 2022. 

SandaLine Reach

The Foundation first established a Crisis Line, a free online psycho-emotional counseling service in 2009 referred to as the Hope Line. In 2013, the Crisis line transitioned to Sandalan which focused on overseas Filipino workers and seafarers and their families in the country and abroad. This however was discontinued in 2015 as the Foundation focused on other interventions.

In April 2, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened need for psycho-emotional support the Foundation relaunched its Crisis line, UGAT SandaLine.

Since its official launch, UGAT SandaLine has been getting a lot of inquiries from Filipinos in the country and abroad. To date, we have successfully offered our free online counseling services to more than 1,500 Filipinos in different parts of the world. This indicates that many Filipinos are indeed in need of psycho- emotional support amidst the pandemic. 

As of March 2022, the following reports were generated based on the data gathered by our crisis line counselors:

Chart 1. General concerns of SandaLine callers