Spirituality and mental health in humanitarian contexts: an exploration based on World Vision’s Haiti earthquake response

For the international nongovernemental organisation, World Vision International, the Haiti earthquake response revealed a significant gap in materials and interventions that combined spiritual needs with the mental health and psychosocial support needs of affected communities. Despite growing scientific evidence that spirituality can have beneficial effects on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, there is little guidance and consensus about psycho-spiritual approaches in humanitarian contexts.

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Movement, games and sport in psychosocial intervention: a critical discussion of its potential and limitations within cooperation for development

This article critically discusses the use of movement, games and sport in cooperation for development, in post con£ict rehabilitation and in the context of violence, disaster and conflict. Pointing out the ambivalent nature of sport and its limitations, we conclude that, if we really want to achieve an impact through movement, games and sport, we should use them as tools with concrete strategies according to specific goals, local context and based on the interests, needs and leadership of the participants.

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Stress and staff support strategies for international aid work

This article will explore a variety of stressors affecting humanitarian aid workers operating in an increasingly challenging environment and review structures for aid worker support. It will summarise the findings of a workplace stress survey conducted in 2009 by a large international aid organisation and provide a comparative analysis with the 2003 stress survey carried out within the same organisation.

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The challenges of academic and community partnership under military occupation and the complexity of power relations

In this paper, the reader is taken on a field trip to a village in the north of the West Bank. Events described in the report are used to explore some of the methodological dimensions of a psychosocial programme designed and implemented in joint partnership between a local Palestinian academic institution, the Institute of Community and Public Health of Birzeit University, and a Palestinian nongovernmental organisation the Community Based Rehabilitation programme.

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Introducing the IASC Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Guidelines in Emergencies in Nepal: a process description

A rich set of reflections on experiences with the Inter Agency Standing Committee Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Guidelines in Emergency Settings has recently been published in this journal. This paper describes a case study of using the guidelines in Nepal, which focused primarily on detailed implementation of preparatory steps. In effect, it describes a multi-agency process of using the guidelines as a tool to raise awareness,foster coordination and systematically integrate mental health and psychosocial considerations within the humanitarian cluster approach in Nepal.

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Child and adolescent mental health in Iraq: current situation and scope for promotion of child and adolescent mental health policy

Violence and instability in Iraq have had highly detrimental effects upon Iraqi children and adolescents. This article summarises the magnitude of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) problems, and the available services in a country suffering from severe and extended conflicts, war, and international isolation. Possible interventions to promote child and adolescent mental health are discussed, including feasible CAMH policy, mental health plans and strategies. Barriers to successful implementation of CAMH services are identified and possible solutions are suggested.

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Including disabled children in psychosocial programmes in areas affected by armed conflict

Children with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence, as well as more likely to experience psychosocial problems in situations of armed conflict than children with no disabilities. All children who live in conflict affected areas have the same rights to psychosocial support, as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the case of disabled children, additionally the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, children with disabilities are often overlooked in psychosocial programmes.

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Tortured exiles on the streets: a research agenda and methodological challenge

The paired adversities of torture and exile form a particularly toxic combination that leaves people vulnerable to further abuse, and lacking support for recovery and integration. A descriptive study of tortured exiles living in Johannesburg explores this phenomenon in South Africa, and is presented as an example of a more widespread problem in the developing world. The authors argue that the challenges in studying this elusive group contribute greatly to its continued isolation and exclusion from care.

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Psychosocial research and action with survivors of political violence in Latin America: methodological considerations and implications for practice

Research with survivors of political violence in Latin America have shown that any analysis of the consequences of war or political repression should take into account the social and political realities in which the survivors are immersed. It has also shown that research must go hand in hand with action, intervention and psychosocial support for communities that confront violence. In this article, the authors review some of the basic principles that should guide research and action within the context of war or other political violence.

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Growth in the Shadow of War : The Case of Social Workers and Nurses Working in a Shared War Reality

This study aimed to assess post-traumatic stress symptoms and vicarious traumatization (VT) versus post-traumatic growth (PTG) among Israeli practitioners who shared war-related reality with their clients during the Second Lebanon–Israel war (2006). In addition, the contribution of potency (one’s personal resource) and the role of peri-traumatic dissociation (the emotional detachment activated during or immediately after a traumatic event) were examined.

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