LIFELINE
SOUTH AFRICA ESTABLISHMENT PORTFOLIO
Vision Statement
A Mentally and Emotionally healthy South Africa
Mission Statement
To offer mental and emotional health services within the culture of
Human Rights, through programmes that are preventative and responsive.
Values
Integrity
We believe in the value of Mental and Emotional Health; and we practice
what we preach by seeking ways to pursue it for ourselves as well as others.
Diversity
We deeply respect and value the differences in people, culture and
believe that Mental and Emotional Health is a universal human need.
Passion
We commit to do all we can to promote and facilitate Mental and
Emotional Health.
HISTORY OF LIFELINE
LifeLine was founded in 1963 in Australia by Reverend Dr. Alan Walker.
LifeLine’s first Centre in South Africa was
established at Cape Town in 1968 by
Bishop Peter Storey and it has celebrated
its 50th year of existence in South Africa in 2018.
LifeLine South Africa is a Non-Profit
organization – 002-571 NPO, PBO
LifeLine operates in 8 of the 9 Provinces of
South Africa.
LifeLine is an affiliate member of the
following bodies
:
LifeLine
International ·
Society
of AIDS in Africa (ICASA) ·
Amnesty
International ·
International
Federation of telephone Emergency services and
International Association of Suicide Prevention.
LifeLine South Africa operates three national Call Centre lines on a
24/7, 365 days a year service,
two of the helplines are free on all networks
and the other one is a shared call it hosts the following Helplines:
Stop Gender Violence Helpline:
The Helpline was started by Network against Women Abuse which included
LifeLine Southern Africa and it was known as Stop Women Abuse.
At its inception it rotated among LifeLine Centres from 1993 before it
permanently moved to the National Office in 2000.
With time the Stop Women Abuse (SWA) Helpline was inspired to review its
name based on the statistics which showed that
almost 40% of the Line’s callers
were found to be male.
The Stop Gender Violence Helpline now operates as a dual line where
callers can either call or WhatsApp to have a silent
conversation with the
counsellors, 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. It offers its services in all
11 official languages.
This is due to the counsellors who are now operating the
line on both full and part time basis.
The SGV Helpline is a national project.
Its beneficiaries are women (to a large extent), men, girls and boys who
become
witnesses, victims, survivors, and perpetrators of GBV from various
communities in all 9 Provinces across South Africa. ·
Other vulnerable groups that get support from the helpline are elderly
disable people and the LGBTIQ+ community and women who are substance abusers as
they fall under the key populations.
The Helpline answered an estimated total of 329 721 calls from 2017
– 2019.
An increase on the number of calls presented is always observed during
the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence against Women and
Children, Youth Day, Day of the Elderly and other observed dates.
AIDS Helpline:
The AIDS
toll-free Helpline provides anonymous & confidential telephonic lay
counselling, support and referral services, 24 hours a day,
365 days a year
throughout the country in the 11 official South African languages. This aims to
support the government’s HIV & AIDS
comprehensive plan by providing
accessible, equitable, co-ordinated and specialised services that contribute
significantly towards the behavioural change of individuals and communities.
The salient
strategic objectives are challenging and resounding enough to the extent of
calling for more resources with a
guaranteed impact in enhancing the emotional
wellness of our communities, which is increasing in demand because of social
impacts
of both the HIV and AIDS and Covid19 pandemic.
LifeLine has
crafted solid strategic initiatives and measures to attain these objectives
which have far reaching transformation impact on our target groups. This
institution is poised for more results through the funding support of its
key
existing and potential stakeholders whose contribution is at the core of our
activities, projects and programmes.
Social
media platforms
: ·
Email counselling WhatsApp messaging
Facebook Twitter
YouTube LinkedIn
Instagram TIKTOK
The Treatment Line
It is manned by two professional nurses, who
deal with treatment and other related life ailments issues, communicable and
non- communicable disease. ·
The center forms part of the AIDS Helpline.
The Nerve Centre
The nerve center is a South African National Department
of Health initiative which serves as a helpdesk nationally and its
main mandate
is aimed at reaching all health care facilities
nationally to check for the following:
Drug
stock outs,
Quality assurance
It’s a Help desk for community members who have challenges with
their chronic medication and is
based at NDoH and is
operated by LifeLine
officials.
The Nerve Centre is also part of the AIDS Helpline.
Mom Connect: *134*550#
Mom Connect is an extension of the Nerve Centre
and its main mandate is to support maternal health through the use of cell
phone based technologies integrated into maternal and child health
services. The services are free to the user, and messages are available in
all our 11 official languages. Mom Connect is voluntary and the pregnant
woman can opt out at any time.
The overall objectives of this initiative
are:
To introduce a mechanism for registering
electronically all pregnancies in the public health system as early as
possible,
To send targeted health promotion messages to
pregnant women to improve their health and that of their infants,
To provide pregnant women with an interactive
mechanism to feedback on the service they have received.
N.B: LifeLine South Africa is committed to improve and transform communities
through improved mental and emotional health emotional in individuals, groups
and communities throughout South Africa, through counselling, treatment,
training, awareness campaigns and appropriate referrals.
LifeLine South Africa National Counselling Line:
This is a 24/7 Helpline which deals with various mental and emotional
issues affecting the individuals, groups and communities.
Cases dealt with by
the Helpline range from acute social ill to intense psychological dysfunction
amongst the affected populations.
Containment, counselling, information giving
and referrals are offered by professionals manning the Line.