Prudential Thailand Moves Forward in Caring for the Mental Health of Thai People,
Prudential Thailand, one of the leaders in the life insurance business, together with the Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential plc which aims to secure the future of communities in Asia & Africa, and Eastspring Asset Management (Thailand) Company Limited, a Prudential Group’s leading asset management company in Asia, donated 5.6 million baht in total for physical health, mental health, and the well-being of all Thai people by establishing the first “PRU WELLNESS Clinic” for children and adolescents psychiatry clinics at Srithanya Hospital and the other 2 locations to follow, including Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry, Somdet Chaopraya Hospital, and the Mirror Foundation, to help children and adolescents, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, return to society and be able to live on their own.
According to the Department of Mental Health, in 2021, it was found that the number of psychiatric patients in Thailand increased almost twice, from 1.3 million people in 2015 to 2.3 million people in 2021. This does not include approximately 1.35 million people who suffer from depression, which has increased significantly over the past ten years. Therefore, mental health problem in Thailand is considered one of the important issues that every sector should pay attention to.
Mr. Bundit (Kenny) Jiamanukoonkit, Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Thailand, said, “At Prudential, we believe in our Purpose of For Every Life, For Every Future and agree that having each other will make every day better. Additionally, we believe that the company cannot advance on its own but must move forward responsibly with utmost commitment to our customers, employees, communities, and society at large. Therefore, for society to be strong, everyone must be both physically and mentally healthy. As stressful situations in various areas today can lead to people experiencing more mental health challenges, we recognise the importance of taking care of your mental health. Therefore, we have initiated the “PRU Wellness Clinic” project to provide care and advice, which aims to help those with mental health vulnerabilities receive appropriate and timely counseling.”.
Miss Darabusp Pabhapote, Chief Executive officer of Eastspring Thailand, said, “It is a great pleasure and honour that, today, Eastspring Thailand joins the Prudence Foundation and Prudential Thailand in delivering “PRU Wellness Clinic” to the children and adolescents psychiatry clinics at Srithanya Hospital because nowadays mental health, especially for children and teenagers, is considered a very important matter. From the report of the Department of Mental Health, it was found that Thai children have higher levels of stress. Therefore, we hope that this psychiatric clinic will be a haven for care and counseling for all affected children.”.
The PRU Wellness Clinic project provides One Stop Service, which is a complete service from evaluation to treatment, as well as counseling and care from a mental health clinic. In addition, it also provides support to vulnerable and at-risk groups who do not have access to treatment and treatment procedures, such as underprivileged patient groups, the homeless, and disadvantaged people. Currently, the first PRU Wellness Clinic has been successfully delivered to the Mental Health Clinic of Srithanya Hospital and will be delivered soon to the Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry, Somdet Chaopraya Hospital, and the Mirror Foundation for the treatment of underprivileged patients. It is hoped that this clinic will help lighten the workload, including helping to screen patients for the hospital, and increase the opportunities for those vulnerable groups to be able to return to the society with a healthy physicality and mentality.