In late October, FaithSearch Senior Vice President Jeff Jernigan, PhD, and his wife Vice President Nancy Jernigan, PhD, returned to Moldova to teach Gerontology to 1,200 social workers. They also taught the treatment of burnout and suicidal ideation to military physicians and other personal at the Moldovan Ministry of Defense. This trip follows an earlier trip this year to Moldova, which was a response to an invitation to help address a public health crisis involving suicide. Moldovan officials originally invited the Jernigans after reviewing their work in Ukraine. The Deputy Minister of Defense described their work in Moldova as “already saving lives.” The next step with the social workers is to create step-by-step guidebooks and develop a two-week practicum to coach them in the field in order to develop experience using their new skills. Jeff and Nancy will be recruiting teams to participate with them in this effort tentatively scheduled to launch in summer 2018.
