ARQ International

The current Russian war against Ukraine is of global concern. It builds on the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and subsequently the war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, and has become a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine from three directions, Crimea in the south, Russia in the east, and Belarus in the north. Despite the geopolitical background that, in the eyes of Russia, justifies its annexation of regions in and around Ukraine, we cannot turn a blind eye towards the untold miseries of the citizens of the invaded country.

Objectives: This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention).

The objectives are as follows:. To assess the efficacy of psychosocial interventions aimed at promoting mental health versus control conditions (no intervention, intervention as usual, or waiting list) in people living in LMICs affected by humanitarian crises.

Background: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have been increasingly used to test the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial support(MHPSS) interventions for populations affected by humanitarian crises. Process evaluations are often integrated within RCTs of psychological interventions to investigate the implementation of the intervention, the impact of context, and possible mechanisms of action. We aimed to explore limitations and strengths of how process evaluations are currently conceptualised and implemented within MHPSS RCTs specifically.

Background

Background: This study examines mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) service usage within refugee camp primary health care facilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by analyzing surveillance data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Health Information System (HIS). Such information is crucial for eforts to strengthen MNS services in primary health care settings for refugees in LMICs.

Psychological first aid (PFA) is a world-wide implemented approach to helping people affected by an emergency, disaster, or other adverse event. Controlled evaluations of PFA’s training effects are lacking. We evaluated the effectiveness of a one-day PFA training on the acquisition and retention of knowledge of appropriate responses and skills in the acute aftermath of adversity in Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) in post-Ebola Sierra Leone. Secondary outcomes were professional quality of life, confidence in supporting a distressed person, and professional attitude.

Background: Epidemiological surveys on depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among civilian war survivors in war-afflicted regions have produced heterogeneous prevalence estimates of these conditions.

Abstract

Contents

From the Editor, Editorial Board and Editorial Staff: towards a new era for Intervention
Authors: 
Tankink, Marian

Introduction to Special Issue: linking mental health and psychosocial support to peacebuilding in an integrated way
Authors: 
Bubenzer, Friederike; Tankink, Marian

ARTICLES

Building sustainable peace through an integrated approach to peacebuilding and mental health and psychosocial support: a literature review
Authors: 
Tankink, Marian; Bubenzer, Friederike

Social and humanitarian organisations provide support to people affected by crisis events all across the globe every day. They respond to human suffering in many different ways, assisting people affected by disasters or other critical events, people suffering from loss or serious illnesses, and people living in isolation or being stigmatised.

Lay counselling - psychosocial support provided by staff or volunteers who do not have a mental health background or formal degree in counselling