Support Community Mental Health

Our community-based mental health programs promote the well-being of refugees affected by crisis and conflict so they can heal and rebuild their lives.

Learn how HIAS provides displaced people with community-based mental health care. (SideXSide Studios for HIAS)

Overview

HIAS’ community-based mental health programs and psychosocial services promote the well-being of individuals, families, and communities affected by crisis and conflict so they can heal and rebuild their lives.

A supportive environment is essential to healing and recovery. Our programs strengthen existing relationships, networks, and practices that communities use to cope and heal. We train key community members to recognize emotional distress as a result of crisis or emergency, and how to respond with empathy and respect. By developing community support and peer groups, facilitating opportunities for connection in a safe environment, and linking people with necessary services, HIAS promotes a culturally sensitive approach to help people cope with adversity.

290,000+

people received our mental health support in 2024

Strategies

As the scale of humanitarian crises reaches historic proportions, an unprecedented number of individuals are experiencing the emotional and psychological impacts of forced displacement. HIAS is investing in supporting mental health, which can in turn enable social and economic development.

We support community mental health by:

  • Strengthening community-based care for individuals, families, and communities impacted by crisis and conflict.

  • Building skills and competencies of key stakeholders to promote mental health and well-being.

  • Contributing to research and learning about mental health in humanitarian settings.

Impact

A leader from a local humanitarian organization in Odesa listens to information on MHPSS and burnout prevention for humanitarian workers at a HIAS-led session. (Pavlo Oliynyk for HIAS Ukraine)

Women Humanitarians in Ukraine Need Mental Health Aid

Three years after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, HIAS is helping women in the humanitarian sector improve their mental health. “It’s essential to be in a good state yourself to take care of others.” -Iraida Gerashchenko, a humanitarian worker for a local NGO in Kherson.

Read more

Resources

Ensuring equity in mental health and psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

In collaboration with academic partners and peer organizations, HIAS staff published an article describing strategies to ensure the centrality of equity when adapting mental health and psychosocial supports to meet COVID-19 requirements. The article also provides recommendations for ensuring the continuity of these innovations afterwards.

Interpersonal Counseling for Displaced People Living in Peru during COVID-19 Pandemic

In Peru, HIAS partnered with Columbia University and UNHCR to carry out a study of how to adapt a psychological intervention to a COVID-19-affected setting, where remote delivery was necessary. The study also tested a shortened approach that was designed to better fit the needs of mobile populations. This work can help humanitarian organizations to better adapt care to settings marked by crisis and disruption and to better evaluate their efforts to do so. 

Evaluation of a Group Psychosocial Intervention for Displaced Women in Ecuador and Panamá

In Ecuador and Panama, HIAS carried out a multi-phase study to better understand, prioritize, and address the psychosocial needs of displaced women and their host communities. HIAS staff developed a five-session MHPSS and protection intervention in collaboration with community representatives. The intervention, called Entre Nosotras, was designed to be delivered by trained community members. HIAS staff tested two versions of the intervention in partnership with University of Copenhagen, Columbia University, and others.

18 Months Later: A Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs Assessment Across Ukraine

HIAS and Girls collaborated on a nation-wide mental health and psychosocial needs assessment undertaken between July and August 2023. The report reassesses the impact of this conflict on the population’s mental well-being and psychosocial needs today to help address new gaps in services and provide support that is context-relevant and informed by the targeted population.

Children and Families MHPSS Resource Collection

The Children and Families MHPSS Resource Collection offers access to a wide range of key materials that are relevant to mental health and psychosocial support work with children and families across humanitarian and development settings. HIAS has partnered with the MHPSS Collaborative and MHPSS.net to provide resources to MHPSS practitioners responding to the crisis in Ukraine.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Curriculum

The HIAS MHPSS curriculum offers a teaching curriculum to implement community-based support groups for refugees, newcomers and immigrants. This curriculum offers nine sessions with scripts, resources, and activities for skilled facilitators to promote healing, connection, and support.

Community-Based Participatory Design of a Psychosocial Intervention for Migrant Women in Ecuador and Panama

This paper describes a community-based participatory approach to MHPSS intervention design incorporating processes to promote local adaptability and fit while maintaining standardized elements of existing MHPSS interventions.

Evaluating the Feasibility of a Group Psychosocial Intervention for Displaced Women in Ecuador and Panamá

This study will evaluate the appropriateness, acceptability, feasibility, and safety of intervention and research procedures for a cluster randomized comparative effectiveness trial conducted in Ecuador and Panamá with migrant and host community women.

Together, we can help create a world in which refugees find welcome, safety, and opportunity.

Your gift will help us provide vital services to refugees and asylum seekers and advocate for their fundamental rights so they can rebuild their lives.

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