DOST-ASTI kicks off National Women’s Month with a week-long celebration

22 Mar 2022 10:41 AM

DOST-ASTI kicks off National Women’s Month with a week-long celebration

The DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) celebrates this year’s National Women’s Month with a series of activities that focus on health and wellness. The week-long celebration kicked off with a 21 March 2022 webinar on “Coping with Back-to-Work and Dealing with Self-image and Self-esteem Issues”. Dr. Jeremiah Simeon Trinidad III, health expert and medical doctor, shed light on the topic, emphasizing the importance of mental health, especially as we ease our way back to work after a two-year work-from-home set-up. 

Dr. Trinidad, in his talk, touched on concerns and fears on the “new normal”, and the important mental health issues arising from these fears. He went on to tackle four steps on coping with these fears amidst returning to work: Prepare, Inform, Prevent and Recover.  

Highlighting the challenges of recovery as the pandemic took a toll on people’s physical, emotional and mental health, Dr. Trinidad explained the five stages in the recovery process and the mental state of people in each of these stages: Being overwhelmed as we deal with the Impact of Illness; Giving in to the disabling power of the illness thinking Life is Limited; Fighting through the challenges and changing mentality to Change is Possible; Facing the challenge head on ang being Committed to Change; and Moving forward by Acting and Making the Change Happen. 

At the end of his talk, Dr. Trinidad answered questions from DOST-ASTI staff in an Open Forum segment. 

The activities lined up for the week will still focus on addressing the physical and mental health concerns of women.

The efforts of DOST-ASTI in support to the 2022 National Women’s Month and this year’s theme, WE Make Change Work for Women: Agenda ni Juana Tungo sa Kaunlaran is made possible by the joint efforts of the ASTI GAD Committee and ASTI Employees Association (ASTIEA). DOST-ASTI is one with the nation in celebrating Filipino women’s power to take the narrative, raise priority issues that matter to them, and call for concrete actions.