Feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a community-based group psychosocial support model for conflict survivors in Colombia: An assessment of in-person and remote intervention modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Community-based psychosocial support (CB-PSS) interventions utilizing task sharing and varied (in-person, remote) modalities are essential strategies to meet mental health needs, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding feasibility and effectiveness.

Methods: This study assesses feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a CB-PSS intervention for conflict-affected adults in Colombia through parallel randomized controlled trials, one delivered in-person ( = 165) and the other remotely ( = 103), implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and national protests.

Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing a Community-Based Psychosocial Support Intervention Conducted In-Person and Remotely: A Qualitative Study in Quibdó, Colombia.

Community-based psychosocial support group (CB-PSS) interventions using task-shifting approaches are well suited to provide culturally appropriate services in low- and middle-income countries. However, contextual barriers and facilitators must be considered to tailor interventions effectively, particularly considering the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore the barriers, facilitators, and psychosocial changes associated with implementing a CB-PSS group intervention delivered by local lay providers to conflict-affected adults in Quibdó, Colombia, using both in-person and remote modalities.

Piloting a community-based psychosocial group intervention designed to reduce distress among conflict-affected adults in Colombia: a mixed-method study of remote, hybrid, and in-person modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Community members in Quibdó (Choco, Colombia) are highly vulnerable to psychosocial problems associated with the internal armed conflict, poverty, and insufficient public services, and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A pilot study was conducted with conflict-affected adults in Quibdó to assess feasibility and outcomes of a community-based psychosocial support group intervention using three different intervention modalities: in-person, remote (conducted online), and hybrid (half of sessions in-person, half-remote). This group model integrated problem-solving and culturally based expressive activities and was facilitated by local community members with supervision by mental health professionals.

Ensuring equity in mental health and psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Populations affected by armed conflict and other humanitarian crises are at elevated risk for mental health problems. While the COVID-19 pandemic has had broadly deleterious effects on livelihoods, economic well-being, and population health worldwide, vulnerable groups have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Providing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services during these times to vulnerable groups, especially in low- and middle-income countries and humanitarian settings, is essential.

Interpersonal violence experienced by people with communication disabilities in Iraq: Sustainable Development Goals 16 and 5.

Purpose: This paper presents an analysis of interpersonal identity-based violence experienced by persons with communication disabilities in Iraq and the barriers reported to accessing supports. The use of communication accessible data collection tools is discussed as a means of enabling an inclusive response for multiple marginalised groups in relation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 16 and 5.

Result: People with communication disabilities reported similar levels of interpersonal violence to those with disabilities of other types, characterised by high rates of deprivation and physical violence.

Development and Testing of a Community-Based Intervention to Address Intimate Partner Violence among Rohingya and Syrian Refugees: A Social Norms-Based Mental Health-Integrated Approach.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the leading form of gender-based violence globally and increases during times of conflict and displacement. To reduce IPV and encourage help-seeking, a two-phase community-based intervention was co-designed with Rohingya in Malaysia and Syrians in Lebanon. Three day workshops, utilizing a social norms-based mental health-integrated approach, were implemented for women and men in each country ( = 148).

Improving mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in humanitarian settings: reflections on research funded through R2HC.

Major knowledge gaps remain concerning the most effective ways to address mental health and psychosocial needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises. The Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) program aims to strengthen humanitarian health practice and policy through research. As a significant portion of R2HC's research has focused on mental health and psychosocial support interventions, the program has been interested in strengthening a community of practice in this field.

Integrating mental health and disaster preparedness in intervention: a randomized controlled trial with earthquake and flood-affected communities in Haiti.

Background: Given the frequency of natural hazards in Haiti, disaster risk reduction is crucial. However, evidence suggests that many people exposed to prior disasters do not engage in disaster preparedness, even when they receive training and have adequate resources. This may be partially explained by a link between mental health symptoms and preparedness; however, these components are typically not integrated in intervention.

An integrated approach to mental health and disaster preparedness: a cluster comparison with earthquake affected communities in Nepal.

Background: On 25th April 2015, Nepal experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by countless aftershocks. Nearly 9000 people were killed and over 600,000 homes destroyed.

A mixed-methods assessment of the experiences of lay mental health workers in postearthquake Haiti.

A mixed-methodological study conducted in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake assessed experiences of 8 lay mental health workers (earthquake survivors themselves) implementing a psychosocial intervention for residents of camps for displaced people in Port-au-Prince. Quantitative results revealed decreased posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, consistently high compassion satisfaction, low burnout, moderate secondary trauma, and high levels of posttraumatic growth measured over 18 months. Qualitative accounts from lay mental health workers revealed enhanced sense of self-worth, purpose, social connection, and satisfaction associated with helping others.

Lay mental health in the aftermath of disaster: preliminary evaluation of an intervention for Haiti earthquake survivors.

In the year following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, local earthquake survivors trained as lay mental health workers implemented a culturally-adapted, psychosocial and trauma-focused group intervention for residents of camps for internally displaced peoples (IDPs). Analysis of evaluation data collected at three Port-au-Prince IDP camps revealed decreased self-reported posttraumatic distress (measured using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire) associated with participation in this intervention. Improvement occurred across all three PTSD symptom clusters (re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal).

Seeing the destination but not the path: Effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on school-focused possible self content and linked behavioral strategies.

Low-income children perform better in school when school-focused future identities are a salient aspect of their possible self for the coming year and these school-focused future identities are linked to behavioral strategies (Oyserman et al., 2006). Hierarchical linear modeling of data from a four-state low-income neighborhood sample of eighth-graders suggests two central consequences of family and neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation on children's school-focused possible identities and strategies.

Mortality, crime and access to basic needs before and after the Haiti earthquake: a random survey of Port-au-Prince households.

On 12 January 2010 an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale struck Haiti, causing unprecedented death, injury and destruction for an event of this magnitude. Our aim was to generate a rapid assessment of the primary consequences for the population of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, the national capital.