Just a simple workbook and some supportive phone calls have been shown to greatly improve the mental health of displaced refugees.
Researchers evaluated an existing WHO study of 303 Farsispeaking Afghan refugees living ‘in a state of waiting’ in Indonesia.
The programme – Doing What Matters In Times Of Stress supplied participants with a workbook in their own language and five support calls from counsellors trained from within their own refugee community.
Compared with the control group, participants reported a greater reduction in psychological distress and post-traumatic stress symptoms,
as well as improvements in wellbeing and daily life.
After a month, around half of participants showed meaningful improvement or recovery, compared with 30% in the control group.
Lead researcher Dr Philippa Specker said: ‘We were really excited to see that such a brief, light-touch intervention could have a meaningful impact.’
Study JMIR Mental Health
Image | ISTOCK
