An innovative model of culturally tailored health promotion groups for Cambodian survivors of torture.

Cambodians living in the U.S.A.

The enduring mental health impact of mass violence: a community comparison study of Cambodian civilians living in Cambodia and Thailand.

Background: No population-based studies have directly compared the long-term health and mental health outcomes of conflict- versus non-conflict-affected communities from the same ethnic background.

Aims: To identify and compare levels of psychiatric morbidity between a traumatized and non-traumatized civilian community; to investigate the long-term impact of mass violence.

Methods: Double-stratified community surveys in Siem Reap and Surin provinces were conducted by highly qualified Cambodian interviewers using culturally validated survey instruments with known psychometric properties.

Care providers' needs and perspectives on suffering and care in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cambodia.

This exploratory study aimed to obtain insight into field-level care providers' views on suffering and healing as well as existing obstacles and needs related to providing care to their clients. This research provides a "snapshot" for a better understanding of existing care systems in two post-conflict settings. By identifying existing approaches to care and the needs of the care provider community, this research might be useful in guiding psychosocial assistance programming in post-conflict settings.

Mental health survey among landmine survivors in Siem Reap province, Cambodia.

Many survivors of the Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia and the subsequent war with Vietnam have now returned to Cambodia. In this two-stage household cluster survey in Siem Reap Province in Cambodia, we explored the mental health consequences on 166 landmine injury survivors selected from 1000 household in 50 clusters and an oversample of all landmine survivors. We found a prevalence of anxiety of 62% for all respondents, 74% for depression, and 34% for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Screening for depression and PTSD in a Cambodian population unaffected by war: comparing the Hopkins Symptom Checklist and Harvard Trauma Questionnaire with the structured clinical interview.

The Hopkins Symptom Checklist depression scale (HSCL-D) and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) have been used extensively in international studies, particularly among refugees and conflict-affected populations. Like many other screening measures, however, the HSCL-D and HTQ have not been subjected to extensive epidemiologic testing, particularly among communities not affected by war. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the HSCL-D and HTQ by comparing the measures with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) among ethnic Cambodians living in Surin, Thailand, a community that was spared the long period of mass violence that affected Cambodia proper.

Building primary care practitioners' attitudes and confidence in mental health skills in a post-conflict society: a Cambodian example.

Our program attempted to integrate community mental health in primary care settings in Cambodia and to evaluate the effects of training on local providers. The training program underwent an extensive evaluation to determine its impact on the mental health knowledge, confidence in performing medical and psychiatric procedures, skills and attitudes of its trainees. One hundred four Cambodian primary care practitioners (PCPs) were trained in a primary care setting in Siem Reap, Cambodia, over a 2-year period.

Psychiatric effects of traumatic brain injury events in Cambodian survivors of mass violence.

Background: The prevalence of brain injury and its effects in populations exposed to war violence has not been studied in recent years.

Aims: To examine the association between traumatic brain injury events and psychiatric symptoms of major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Cambodian survivors of mass violence.

Method: The population comprised a multi-stage random sample of Cambodian refugees living in a Thai refugee camp.