One-year outcomes of two community-based mental health interventions for Afro-Colombian survivors of the armed conflict and displacement

Bonilla-Escobar, Francisco J.; Tobón-García, Daniel; Cordoba-Castro, Luz A.; Pacichana-Quinayáz, Sara Gabriela; Fandiño-Losada, Andrés; Gutiérrez-Martínez, María Isabel

doi:10.1080/13623699.2023.2196500

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Migrants and forcibly displaced populations in Latin America face a range of risk factors for mental health problems across the phases of migration, including exposure to potentially traumatic events, discrimination and xenophobia, social isolation, lack of integration and socioeconomic adversity (Keller et al, 2017 ; Carroll et al, 2020 ; Mougenot et al, 2021 ; Morales et al, 2022 ; Salas-Wright et al, 2022 ). There is growing evidence supporting the effectiveness of community-based mental health and psychosocial interventions for alleviating symptoms of common mental disorders and psychological distress among displaced populations (Bangpan et al, 2019 ; Turrini et al, 2019 ; Barbui et al, 2020 ; Haroz et al, 2020 ), including for displaced and emergency-affected populations in Latin America (Bonilla-Escobar et al, 2018 ; 2023 ). However, access to and utilization of mental health and psychosocial support services to prevent and treat mental health problems remains limited (Cubides et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to improve the implementation and effectiveness of community-based psychosocial support interventions for displaced, migrant and host community women in Latin America

Greene,

Wimer,

Larrea

et al. 2024

Camb. prisms Glob. ment. health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As evidence supporting the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial interventions grows, more research is needed to understand optimal strategies for improving their implementation in diverse contexts. We conducted a qualitative process evaluation of a multicomponent psychosocial intervention intended to promote well-being among refugee, migrant and host community women in three diverse contexts in Ecuador and Panamá. The objective of this study is to describe the relationships among implementation determinants, strategies and outcomes of this community-based psychosocial intervention. The five implementation strategies used in this study included stakeholder engagement, promoting intervention adaptability, group and community-based delivery format, task sharing and providing incentives. We identified 10 adaptations to the intervention and its implementation, most of which were made during preimplementation. Participants (n = 77) and facilitators (n = 30) who completed qualitative interviews reported that these strategies largely improved the implementation of the intervention across key outcomes and aligned with the study's intervention and implementation theory of change models. Participants and facilitators also proposed additional strategies for improving reach, implementation and maintenance of this community-based psychosocial intervention.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to improve the implementation and effectiveness of community-based psychosocial support interventions for displaced, migrant and host community women in Latin America

Greene,

Wimer,

Larrea

et al. 2024

Camb. prisms Glob. ment. health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Given the global burden of psychological distress among migrants and displaced persons in humanitarian settings, there is an urgent imperative to implement scalable and sustainable mental health interventions. A growing body of evidence has substantiated the effectiveness of community-based MHPSS programs for reducing symptoms of trauma and common mental disorders among migrants [12][13][14][15], including for conflict-affected populations and forcibly displaced persons in Latin America [16,17]. However, existing barriers hinder utilization of MHPSS services among migrant populations: limited information about how to access services, social vulnerability linked to legal or migratory status, and scarce infrastructure within host country mental health systems to address the needs of displaced persons [18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accessibility and Perceived Impact of a Group Psychosocial Intervention for Women in Ecuador: A Comparative Analysis by Migration Status

Wimer,

Larrea,

Streeter

et al. 2024

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is increasing guidance promoting the provision of mental health and psychosocial support programs to both migrant and host community members in humanitarian settings. However, there is a lack of information on the respective experiences and benefits for migrant and host community members who are participating in mental health and psychosocial support programming. We evaluated a community-based psychosocial program for migrant and host community women, Entre Nosotras, which was implemented with an international non-governmental organization in Ecuador in 2021. Data on participant characteristics and psychosocial wellbeing were collected via pre/post surveys with 143 participants, and qualitative interviews were conducted with a subset (n = 61) of participants. All quantitative analyses were conducted in STATA, and qualitative analysis was done in NVivo. Attendance was higher for host community members. Specifically, 71.4% of host community members attended 4–5 sessions, whereas only 37.4% of migrants attended 4–5 sessions (p = 0.004). Qualitative analysis shows that the intervention was less accessible for migrants due to a variety of structural barriers. However, this analysis also demonstrated that both groups of women felt a greater sense of social connectedness after participating in the program and expressed gratitude for the bonds they formed with other women. Some migrant women described negative experiences with the host community because they felt as though they could not confide in host community women and speak freely in front of them. These results underscore how the migratory context influences the implementation of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs. As humanitarian guidelines continue to emphasize the integration of host community members and displaced persons, it is critical to account for how the same intervention may impact these populations differently.

show abstract

Mental Health Promotion in Victims of Colombian Armed conflict: a Scoping Review

Ballesteros,

Mojica,

Marín

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To explore mental health promotion interventions for victims of Colombian armed conflict. Design: Scoping review. Methods: Searches were conducted using indexed and free terms regarding mental health promotion interventions for victims of Colombian armed conflict in different databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scielo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, LiLACS, Google Scholar, and PsycArticles. We included primary and secondary research sources, including clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, qualitative research, online journals, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and systematic reviews, as well as government reports and articles about implementing mental health promotion strategies for victims of Colombian armed conflict. Results: Our search returned 317 identified articles through database exploration. Four more articles were included through literature research and another four records were included through gray literature and government reports. Retrieved citations were screened using Rayyan QCRI. A total of 259 records were left after duplicate removal. Members of the group then performed a paired-blind screening, which left us with 16 articles to be included in the analysis. Data analysis was conducted by authors in pairs using custom tools developed by the research team. After reviewing the articles, only six met the inclusion criteria established for this scoping review. Among these, two of the interventions addressed were randomized clinical trials that demonstrated effects on depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Additionally, one of these trials assessed impairments in functionality. Conclusion: A total of six articles demonstrated the effectiveness of mental health promotion and primary prevention interventions in Colombian victims of armed conflict. However, only two of the studies were randomized clinical trials, and methodological limitations were evident, including loss in sample follow-up, challenges in comparing populations, and use of non-standardized scales across different studies. This hinders the possibility of a unified assessment of these interventions and highlights the need for bigger study samples and use of tools that facilitate access to programs and one-year follow-ups to enhance interventions government organizations employ to address these mental health needs.

show abstract

One-year outcomes of two community-based mental health interventions for Afro-Colombian survivors of the armed conflict and displacement

Cited by 3 publications

References 14 publications

Strategies to improve the implementation and effectiveness of community-based psychosocial support interventions for displaced, migrant and host community women in Latin America

Strategies to improve the implementation and effectiveness of community-based psychosocial support interventions for displaced, migrant and host community women in Latin America

Accessibility and Perceived Impact of a Group Psychosocial Intervention for Women in Ecuador: A Comparative Analysis by Migration Status

Mental Health Promotion in Victims of Colombian Armed conflict: a Scoping Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About