Community mobilization after an earthquake: case study of the use of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings on mental health and psychosocial support in Peru

This article describes and analyzes the first comprehensive case study of the application of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support by Medicos del Mundo-Spain after the August 2007 earthquake in Peru. The methodology and core principles of the intervention are briefly summarized. The article explains strategies and key messages that were transmitted at each level. It proposes a multilevel approach that combines lobbying, sensitization, and training with key decision makers and grass roots work with leaders and community organizations.

What is minimum response: reflections on diverse opinions regarding the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

The authors respond to commentaries in this journal about the 2007 IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. Overall, influential commentators coming from opposite academic traditions and knowledge bases appear to welcome these guidelines and value them. In this response, the authors focus on a few critical comments, which may be explained by divergent understandings about what is meant by minimum response and what priority activities may be part of that response.

Consensus and professional practice in psychosocial intervention: political achievement, core knowledge-base and prompt for further enquiry

The author reflects on the implications of guidelines that are a reflection of professional consensus. In the case of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, the author suggests that consensus represents (1) a political achievement promising improved interagency coordination; (2) a core knowledge base defining key principles and practices; and (3) a useful basis to structure further enquiry to gather a stronger evidence base for programming

Epidemiological assessment in emergency settings: recommendations for enhancing a potentially useful tool

The authors identify several factors that have limited the utility of epidemiological assessments in emergency settings, such as a narrow focus on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an inattention to cultural variations in distress, and a failure to distinguish between normal distress reactions and actual disorder Rather than rejecting epidemiology altogether, however, as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings do, recommendations are made for ways to enhance the usefulness of large scale mental health and

Guidelines need a more evidence based approach: a commentary on the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

Mental health and psychosocial surveys in emergency settings provide essential information on the psychological and social consequences of armed conflict and natural disasters. They also have programmatic implications. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in Emergency Settings fails to recognize the importance of data driven programmes.

Mental health and psychosocial support in conflict situations in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: ideals and practice

In the Middle East mental health and psychosocial support systems are underdeveloped. Seven criticalfactors are identified that hinder the initiation of well functioning mental health and psychosocial intervention programmes: 1) shortage of national professional leadership; 2) absence of infrastructure to support mental health and psychosocial programmes; 3) stigma around mental disorders; 4) multiple models of inter- vention; 5) lack of funding; 6) competing interests of non governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN organizations; and 7) insufficient political will and instability.

Applicability in highly industrialized, resource rich Communities: the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

Both natural and human made disasters create distress in large populations. The IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings set forth principles and a system for their employment, aimed at minimizing the psychological consequences of public health emergencies created by disasters. Guidelines cannot dictate which principle, or principles, of mental health and psychosocial support have the most relevance to the needs of a specific culture in a specific disaster.

A Public mental health perspective: the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

Five dilemmas inherent in emergency response are presented and discussed from a public mental health perspective in reference to the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. These are: (1) Who should take the lead in the planning and implementation of the guidelines? (2) At what level are the guidelines to be used? 3) What evidence do we have for the usefulness of the guidelines? 4) What are the costs for the proposed interventions, and how are the activities to be financed?

A perspective from experiences in post conflict Timor Leste: the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

In this paper, several lessons are shared based on experiences in post conflict Timor Leste. In order to provide care to patients with mental disorders in their home settings, a specialist community based clinical service was developed as an alternative to using the (already) heavily dysfunctional primary health care system. We found that mental disorder accounted for a disproportionate amount of the disability in the community. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress were widespread and often represented a normative survival reaction to threat to life.

Psychosocial community approaches and practices in Latin America

The use of the term ‘community approaches’ in psychosocial work often involves multiple meanings, all of which contrast with individual approaches to mental health. The importance of the context emphasizes the need to design and implement emergency programmes in ways that ‘make sense’ to local populations. This requires not only consideration of generational, gender, spiritual, and cultural practices within the community, but also reinforcing existing resilient resources in the face of adversity.

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