Taskeen launched mental health helpline which provide individuals with compassionate
listening services. We also provide referral services which entails a mental health assessment to
ascertain if the individual requires clinical support and can therefore be connected to our mental
health service providers.
During the referral process, we experienced the following challenges:
1.) Most of our beneficiaries are from low-income backgrounds and are unable to pay for
counselling/treatment services.
2.) Some of our beneficiaries have financial problems and are unable to afford therapy or
clinical treatments.
3.) Some of our beneficiaries have marital problems especially women from low-middle
income backgrounds who are unable to afford therapy or clinical treatments whilst
having moderate to severe symptoms of distress.
As a result, we have decided to add a component to our referral services through the zakat fund
to pay for our beneficiaries’ therapy sessions and psychiatric treatments, which will help
individuals with financial problems get the help they need. This pilot program will be referred to
as “Taskeen Sahara” and will be piloted in Karachi. We intend to expand this service to
beneficiaries in other cities within Pakistan, as the program grows in the future
Program Activities:
- Service provider directory: we will maintain a directory 5-10 qualified service providers
in Karachi. We will develop robust SOPs for vetting them and making sure they are
onboard with providing services to low income populations at a subsidized cost. - Zakat or Sadqa eligibility: The Wellness Counsellor will be trained in conducting
zakat/sadqa eligibility evaluation to ascertain whether the beneficiaries can participate in
this program. - Referral and reimbursement: We will facilitate consultations of eligible beneficiaries
with our partner service providers. After we have referred beneficiaries to our partners,
we will follow up with our beneficiaries to evaluate whether they have utilized the
service and how it has helped them. This will enable us to determine not only the
effectiveness of our referral services but also the effectiveness of the treatment services
being offered by our partners. We will reimburse service provider partners directly
monthly through banking channels.