Youth resilience makes a difference in mitigating stress : teacher mediated school intervention in Bethlehem

This study examined the implementation of the Enhancing Resiliency Amongst Students Experiencing Stress intervention, which is a teacher mediated, evidence based school intervention, targeting youth who have been exposed to ongoing conflict. Our hypothesis was that posttraumatic symptom levels can be reduced when youth have higher levels of ego resilience and that this can be achieved through a teacher mediated, school intervention. We found that ego resilience is negatively related to posttraumatic symptom levels, while anxiety levels and impairment in functioning are positively related.

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Perceived needs and daily stressors in an urban refugee setting : Humanitarian Emergency Settings Perceived Needs Scale survey of Syrian refugees in Kilis, Turkey

The largest number of Syrian refugees in the world are currently hosted in Turkey, with the great majority of them residing in urban settings. This paper presents the findings of The Humanitarian Emergency Settings Perceived Needs (HESPER) Scale survey conducted with the population of urban Syrian refugees in the town of Kilis in south-central Turkey in 2013. The high level and variety of perceived needs and daily stressors shows the magnitude and hardship in the urban Syrian refugee community in Kilis.

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Comprehensive mental health and psychosocial support case management and indicative care pathways within humanitarian settings

This article describes the approach, implementation and evaluation of a pilot mental health and psychosocial support case management programme that was developed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Syria. The aim was to provide a description of the programme approach, its implementation and outputs. The programme integrates different forms of case management approaches based on a multi-layered, stepped care model. Earlier results of mixed method monitoring and evaluation revealed improvement in wellbeing among programme participants.

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Not doing more, but doing differently : integrating a community based psychosocial approach into other sectors

A multi-layered approach to mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies includes the integration of psychosocial approaches into sectors with primary aims other than the enhancement of mental health and psychosocial support. This paper shares the experiences of Church of Sweden's psychosocial team in supporting its partner organisations (within the ACT Alliance) to integrate a community based psychosocial approach into programmes in sectors including: education, child protection, livelihoods, water and sanitation, and food security.

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Mainstreaming mental health and psychosocial support in camp coordination and camp management. The experience of the International Organization for Migration in the north east of Nigeria and South Sudan

This article examines the efforts of the International Organization for Migration to mainstream mental health and psychosocial considerations into camp coordination and camp management, through capacity building and provision of direct psychosocial support. It focusses on the activities carried out by the International Organization for Migration in South Sudan, in the Protection of Civilians Areas, and in the north east of Nigeria, with the aim to identify relevant challenges and best practices.

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The integration of livelihood support and mental health and psychosocial wellbeing for populations who have been subject to severe stressors

This article aims to promote the integration of mental health and psychosocial support into livelihood programmes, presenting existing research within behavioural economics, humanitarian and economic fields that support the need and effectiveness of such integration. It presents examples of mental health and psychosocial support integration into livelihood programmes put in place by a grass roots organisation in the USA and the largest development institution in the world, the World Bank Group, respectively.

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When psychological first aid is not enough : personal reflections on psychosocial interventions in Duma, a village in north West Bank

This personal reflection describes the experience of a Swiss/Belgian psychologist who has been working as a mental health programme coordinator in Palestine for Médecins du Monde France for 2.5 years. His reflection (which does not necessarily reflect the view of Médecins du Monde France) touches on the importance of rethinking psychosocial interventions for individuals and communities facing continuous critical events.

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Psychosocial support among refugees

The aim of this paper is to examine the psychosocial needs and stressors among refugees of con￡icts within

developing countries, and their group based, social support mechanisms. Systematic literature searches

of peer reviewed journal articles (nU60 articles) were carried out using the following factors: type

(refugee); cause (con’icts); location (developing countries). As refugees move towards a prolonged

urban displacement phase, needs and stressors became di!erent than those of the acute phase.While

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‘The problem is the silence’ : challenges providing support to local INGO staff in Gaza

​This field report reviews some of the challenges encountered in providing support to local international, nongovernmental organisations staff in Gaza, shortly following the cessation of conflict in July and August of 2014. Methodology and the content of group sessions are described. The paper concludes with highlights from the evaluation, reflections on what was learned, and some recommendations on the provision of further staff support in the future.

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A classroom based intervention in conflict affected Poso, Indonesia : synthesising lessons learned from research and practice

This paper describes lessons learned from a classroom based intervention, which was implemented in the post conflict area of Poso, Indonesia. These lessons are drawn from qualitative research and a randomised controlled trial in the area, as well as data from our own programme monitoring and evaluation. We describe these lessons learned from a socio-ecological perspective, making recommendations to strengthen the classroom based intervention's connection with critical mental health and psychosocial issues relevant at individual, family and wider community levels.

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