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Improving access to mental healthcare for displaced Syrians: case studies from Syria, Iraq and Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

P. Hughes ,
Z. Hijazi  and
K. Saeed
P. Hughes
Affiliation:
Springfield University Hospital, London, UK, email [email protected]
Z. Hijazi
Affiliation:
email [email protected]
K. Saeed
Affiliation:
EMRO Eastern Mediterranean Region, WHO, email [email protected]
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The conflict in Syria has led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that extends across multiple countries in the area. Mental health services were undeveloped before and now face huge strain and unmet need. The World Health Organization and others have developed a programme to build capacity in the delivery of mental health services in an integrated healthcare package to refugees and displaced people. The tool used for this is the mhGAP Intervention Guide and complementary materials. In this paper we refer to training in Turkey, Iraq and Syria where health professionals were trained to roll out this community-based integrated approach through primary healthcare. We describe field case examples that show the complexity of situations that face refugees, displaced people and those caught in active conflict. Training improved the knowledge and skills for managing mental health disorders in primary healthcare. Further work needs to be done to demonstrate greater access to and utilisation of services, client outcomes and organisational change with this approach.

Type
Thematic Paper
Information
BJPsych International , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , November 2016 , pp. 84 - 86
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016

References

OCHA (2016) Overview of Global Humanitarian Response. Available at https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/CAP/Overview_of_Global_Humanitarian_Response_2014.pdf Google Scholar
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WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization surveys. JAMA, 291, 2581–2590.Google Scholar
World Health Organization & United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2015) Global Burden of Disease. WHO.Google Scholar
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