Scaling up mental health service provision through multisectoral integration: A qualitative analysis of factors shaping delivery and uptake among South Sudanese refugees and healthcare workers in Uganda.

Background: There is a growing need for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions that can feasibly be provided to larger groups of people, particularly in humanitarian settings. However, scaling up mental health interventions is notoriously difficult. There are therefore growing calls for integrating mental health outside traditional health structures, both to increase reach and to address social determinants of mental health.

Integration of psychological interventions in multi-sectoral humanitarian programmes: a systematic review.

Background: Every year, millions of people are affected by humanitarian crises. With a growing population of people affected, the need for coordination and integration of services aiming to improve the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial support also grows. In this study, we examine how psychological interventions in humanitarian settings globally have been implemented through integration into programming outside of formal healthcare delivery through multisectoral integration.

Prevention and promotion effects of Self Help Plus: secondary analysis of cluster randomised controlled trial data among South Sudanese refugee women in Uganda.

Introduction: Evidence-based and scalable prevention and promotion focused mental health and psychosocial support interventions are needed for conflict-affected populations in humanitarian settings. This study retrospectively assessed whether participation in Self Help Plus (SH+) versus enhanced usual care (EUC) resulted in reduced incidence of probable mental disorder and increased positive mental health and well-being post-intervention among South Sudanese refugee women in Uganda.

Methods: This study used secondary data from treatment-oriented pilot (n=50) and fully-powered cluster randomised controlled trials (cRCT)s (n=694) of SH+ versus EUC.

Self-Help Plus for refugees and asylum seekers: an individual participant data meta-analysis.

Question: Refugees and asylum seekers are at high risk of mental disorders due to various stressors before, during and after forceful displacement. The WHO Self-Help Plus (SH+) intervention was developed to manage psychological distress and a broad range of mental health symptoms in vulnerable populations. This study aimed to examine the effects and moderators of SH+ compared with Enhanced Care as Usual (ECAU) in reducing depressive symptoms among refugees and asylum seekers.

Trajectories of psychosocial symptoms and wellbeing in asylum seekers and refugees exposed to traumatic events and resettled in Western Europe, Turkey, and Uganda.

Longitudinal studies examining mental health trajectories in refugees and asylum seekers are scarce. To investigate trajectories of psychological symptoms and wellbeing in refugees and asylum seekers, and identify factors associated with these trajectories. 912 asylum seekers and refugees from the control arm of three trials in Europe ( = 229), Turkey ( = 320), and Uganda ( = 363) were included.

SH+ 360: novel model for scaling up a mental health and psychosocial support programme in humanitarian settings.

We explore multi-sectoral integration as a model for scaling up evidence-based mental health and psychosocial support interventions in humanitarian settings. We introduce Self Help Plus 360, designed to support humanitarian partners across different sectors to integrate a psychosocial intervention into their programming and more holistically address population needs.

Self-help plus for refugees and asylum seekers; study protocol for a series of individual participant data meta-analyses.

Background: Refugees and asylum seekers face various stressors due to displacement and are especially vulnerable to common mental disorders. To effectively manage psychological distress in this population, innovative interventions are required. The World Health Organization (WHO) Self-Help Plus (SH+) intervention has shown promising outcomes in reducing symptoms of common mental disorders among refugees and asylum seekers.

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.

Guided self-help to reduce psychological distress in South Sudanese female refugees in Uganda: a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Innovative solutions are required to provide mental health support at scale in low-resource humanitarian contexts. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a facilitator-guided, group-based, self-help intervention (Self-Help Plus) to reduce psychological distress in female refugees.

Methods: We did a cluster randomised trial in rural refugee settlements in northern Uganda.