The role of mental health and psychosocial support nongovernmental organisations: reflections from post conflict Nepal

Armed conflicts and other humanitarian crises impact mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. In contexts of overwhelming need and overstretched government health systems, nongovernmental organisations may play important roles. In this paper, we reflect on the role of Nepali nongovernmental organisations in providing mental health and psychosocial support services.

Dissemination and implementation of evidence based, mental health interventions in post conflict, low resource settings

The burden of mental health problems in (post)conflict low and middle income countries is substantial. Despite growing evidence for the effectiveness of selected mental health programmes in conflict affected low resource settings and growing policy support, actual uptake and implementation have been slow. A key direction for future research, and a new frontier within science and practice, is dissemination and implementation which directly addresses the transfer of evidence based, effective health care approaches from experimental settings into routine use.

Guidelines for the implementation of culturally sensitive cognitive behavioural therapy among refugees and in global contexts

In this article, we suggest guidelines that should be followed in order to create a culturally sensitive cognitive behavioural therapy among refugees and in global contexts more generally, so as to maximise efficacy and effectiveness. These guidelines can be followed to design culturally sensitive cognitive behavioural therapy studies, or what might be called ‘contextually sensitive cognitive behavioural therapy’, among refugees or other cultural groups in a given global location, and the guidelines can be used to evaluate such studies.

Using mixed methods to build knowledge of refugee mental health

Mixed methods research, which combines elements of qualitative and quantitative research approaches, should be well suited to studying refugee mental health. However, this has not yet been adequately discussed nor demonstrated within the existing scientific literature. This paper aims to begin to fill this gap and describes how mixed methods have been used in refugee mental health research. Twenty-nine articles from the health and social sciences literature were systematically reviewed with a focus on study designs and key findings.

Addressing collective trauma: conceptualisations and interventions

Complex situations following war and natural disasters have a psychosocial impact not only on the individual, but also their family, community and the larger society. Fundamental changes in the functioning of the family and community can be observed as a result of these impacts. At the family level, the dynamics of single parent families, lack of trust among members, changes in significant relationships and child rearing practices are seen. Communities tend to be more dependent, passive, silent, without leadership, mistrustful and suspicious.

War experiences, daily stressors and mental health five years on: elaborations and future directions

In this paper, the authors elaborate on a model proposed in 2010 that identifies major sources of stress affecting mental health among war affected populations. That model emphasised the importance of what was termed ‘daily stressors’, as well as direct exposure to war related violence as predictors of mental health status The authors first summarise the original model and discuss the widespread response to the 2010 paper among researchers and practitioners working in conflict and post conflict settings.

Resource caravans and resource caravan passageways: a new paradigm for trauma responding

We have long outgrown the capacity of the accepted clinical models of trauma, and a paradigm shift in our thinking is long overdue. The data on traumatic stress were posited from a certain cognitive-behavioural viewpoint, with particular emotional components based almost in their entirety on western, mostly white individuals seeking treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder, and focusing on that time frame. As such, mechanisms such as fear and emotional conditioning theory and the ways traumas are encoded in memory only partially explain trauma response.

Mental health symptoms following war and repression in eastern Afghanistan

Context Decades of armed conflict, suppression, and displacement resulted in a high prevalence of mental health symptoms throughout Afghanistan. Its Eastern province of Nangarhar is part of the region that originated the Taliban movement. This may have had a distinct impact on the living circumstances and mental health condition of the province's population.

Properties of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) as screening instruments used in primary care in Afghanistan

Abstract
Background
Recent epidemiological studies in Afghanistan using mental health questionnaires yielded high prevalence rates for anxiety and depression.
Objectives
To explore the validity in the Afghan cultural context of two mental health questionnaires, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20).
Methods

Psychometric properties and longitudinal validation of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) in a Rwandan community setting: a validaton study

Background
This study took place to enable the measurement of the effects on mental health of a psychosocial intervention in Rwanda. It aimed to establish the capacities of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) to screen for mental disorder and to assess symptom change over time in a Rwandan community setting.
Methods

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