Development of a non-specialist worker delivered psychological intervention to address alcohol use disorders and psychological distress among conflict-affected populations in Uganda and Ukraine.

Background: Despite the significant burden of alcohol use disorders (AUD), there is a large treatment gap, especially in settings and populations affected by armed conflict. A key barrier to care is the lack of contextually relevant interventions and adequately skilled human resources to deliver them. This paper describes the systematic development of the CHANGE intervention, a potentially scalable psychological intervention for people with co-existing AUD and psychological distress in conflict-affected populations, delivered by non-specialist workers (NSWs).

Impact of body posture on pulmonary diffusing capacity at rest and during exercise in endurance-trained and untrained individuals.

Endurance-trained athletes exhibit greater diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) at rest and during exercise as compared to untrained individuals; however, the mechanism(s) are unclear. The supine position translocates blood centrally and can be used to investigate DLCO responses independent of metabolic rate. We hypothesized that endurance-trained individuals would have a greater DLCO response to postural change at rest as compared to untrained and that the supine position would elicit a greater DLCO response as compared to the upright position during exercise in both groups.

Identifying contextual barriers and facilitators in implementing non-specialist interventions for mental health in Sri Lanka: A qualitative study with mental health workers and community members.

Non-specialist mental health interventions serve as a potential solution to reduce the mental healthcare gap in low- and middle-income countries, such as Sri Lanka. However, contextual factors often influence their effective implementation, reflecting a research-to-practice gap. This study, using a qualitative, participatory approach with local mental health workers (n = 9) and potential service users (n = 11), identifies anticipated barriers and facilitators to implementing these interventions while also exploring alternative strategies for reducing the mental healthcare gap in this context.