Problem Management Plus (PM+) is an evidence-based intervention developed for adults impaired by distress in communities exposed to adversity. After being tested and released by the World Health Organization, a capacity building project was launched to increase the uptake of the intervention within humanitarian settings. Humanitarian organisations were trained and supported through supervision to implement individual PM+.

To address the unmet need for accessible mental health services for refugees and asylum seekers in high-income countries, the PROSPER study is testing implementation of the World Health Organization Problem Management Plus (PM+) intervention. Incorporating tasksharing strategies, the intervention is delivered by Peer Lay Therapists with lived experience of seeking asylum or migration. The PM+ training adopts a cascade apprenticeship model, where Master Trainers train and supervise Wellbeing Mentors; who subsequently train and supervise the Peer Lay Therapists.

Given the increasing use of low-intensity psychological interventions in humanitarian mental health and psychosocial support work, more attention is needed to strengthen the intersection between evidence-based interventions and cultural contextualisation. Undertaking the process of cultural adaptation ensures the appropriateness and acceptability of psychological interventions in these contexts.

In recent years, a range of brief protocolised psychological interventions like Problem Management Plus have been developed. Such “scalable psychological interventions” are meant to be delivered by nonspecialists which can greatly increase access to psychological therapies for people affected by adversity, including forced displacement.