Ever increasing humanitarian crises involve prolonged population displacement, a known trigger for chronic stress, which in turn highlights the need for chronic stress to be addressed more explicitly within humanitarian aid work. This calls for better tools to both assess chronic stress in these situations of extended displacement, as well as methods to evaluate the impact of psychosocial interventions in such settings. Noting these challenges, this paper proposes the use of hair cortisol concentration sampling to measure long-term suffering and stress.

This field report summarises some of the problems, challenges and psychosocial issues facing Sierra Leone Red Cross National Society staff and volunteers, related to the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, as well as local responses at a time when the rest of the world was just becoming aware of the disease as a real threat. The author provides a brief outline of what was, and is, needed and what she managed to plan and implement to help support the overall Ebola operation in Sierra Leone, as well as improve staff and volunteer support and the training of trainers.

This field report summarises the experience and lessons learnt by the author, who was deployed as an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies psychosocial delegate to Liberia for the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in July and August 2014. Psychosocial issues encountered in the field, including fear in local communities and among aid workers, the spreading of rumours, heath measures interfering with traditional rituals and stigmatisation are discussed in detail. Also included are suggestions for dealing with these issues and actions taken during the mission.

While the international community remains concerned and focused on the potential spread of Ebola out of Africa, the author states that they also frequently ignore the deep psychological pain that the measures implemented to combat the disease are causing within impacted communities, as do the national authorities. She provides a snapshot of this moment in the crisis and highlights the painful impacts, dehumanising measures and makes a plea for international organisations to do more to be mindful of this pain.