Reflections from the Lebanese field: “First, heal thyself”

Abstract

Humanitarian aid workers caring for Syrian refugees face major stressors as they attend to refugees’ needs on the field. Without adequate psychosocial support, evidence has shown that fieldworkers experience high burnout and turnover as well as long-term poor mental health. Unfortunately, scarce training in this regard leaves them ill-equipped to care for themselves and practice resilience while handling trauma in the field. This paper highlights our reflection on working with mindfulness programs during humanitarian crises, specifically how our program, Stress Management and Relaxation Response Training (SMART), has helped over time fieldworkers and the community they cared for. We propose that programs targeting the wellbeing of fieldworkers should be prioritized as part of efforts to improve the international aid response although they may require impeccable coordination and generous resources. We encourage donors to fund those projects viewed as special social protection programs building resilience and strengthening within system support. We argue that this will increase the efficacy of the crisis intervention and work towards sustainable peace building.

Sustaining Existing Social Protection Programmes During Crises: What Do We Know? How Can We Know More?

“…In relation to humanitarian response, various studies explore human resource capacity among aid workers who are directly or indirectly exposed to trauma. Chemali et al (2018) highlight high levels of burnout and turnover, as well as long-term poor mental health among humanitarian fieldworkers supporting Syrian refugees in Lebanon. They suggest that scarce training in this regard leaves staff ill-equipped to care for themselves and practise resilience while handling trauma in the field.…”

Challenges of Researchers in Conducting International Study during the Eruption of COVID-19: Student and Mentor Perspectives

“…The students conducting the study were not professionally trained for their encounter with Syrian refugees who endured multiple traumatic events and prolonged survival stressors [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Therefore, the student researchers were at risk of potential harm in experiencing refugee PTSD-similar symptoms due to their field work-related exposure [ 2 , 3 , 35 , 36 ]. I was also concerned that the students’ lack of experience in interviewing traumatized populations, may result in causing discomfort or re-traumatization of participants [ 37 ].…”