Browsing by Person "Strohmeier, Hannah"

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Factors associated with common mental health problems of humanitarian workers in South Sudan
(PLoS, 2018-10-31) Strohmeier, Hannah; Scholte, Willem F.; Ager, Alastair
Background - The latest data on major attacks against civilian aid operations have identified South Sudan as the most dangerous country for aid workers globally. Exposure to other traumatic events and chronic stress is also common in this population. No research exists on the mental health of humanitarian workers in South Sudan. Objectives - This study examined symptom burden and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, hazardous alcohol consumption, and burnout among humanitarian workers in South Sudan. Method - We conducted a cross-sectional online survey with humanitarian workers (national and international staff, consultants, United Nations volunteers). We applied validated measures useful for this setting. We applied Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression to fit models with high prediction accuracy for each outcome and used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to obtain final coefficients and perform inference. Results - A total of 277 humanitarian workers employed by 45 organizations completed the survey (a response rate in the order of 10%). We estimated prevalence of PTSD (24%), depression (39%), anxiety disorder (38%), hazardous alcohol consumption in men (35%) and women (36%), and the burnout components emotional exhaustion (24%) and depersonalization (19%). Chronic stress exposure was positively associated with PTSD (p < .001), depression (p < .001), anxiety (p < .001), emotional exhaustion (p < .01), and depersonalization (p < .001). We found no significant association between emotion focused and problem focused coping and mental health outcomes. Associations between dysfunctional coping and depression (p < .001) and anxiety (p < .01) were positive. Higher levels of spirituality were associated with lower risk of hazardous alcohol consumption (p < .001). Contrary to expectations, working directly with humanitarian aid beneficiaries was significantly associated with lower risk for emotional exhaustion (p < .01). Conclusion - Our results suggest that humanitarian workers in South Sudan experience substantial levels of mental ill-health. This study points to the need for staff support strategies that effectively mitigate humanitarian workers’ chronic stress exposure. The dynamics between coping and mental health among humanitarian workers require further study.
How to improve organisational staff support? Suggestions from humanitarian workers in South Sudan
(Wolters Kluwer - Medknow, 2019-06-28) Strohmeier, Hannah; Scholte, Willem F.; Ager, Alastair
Humanitarian workers experience high symptom burdens of common mental health problems. This requires action from the organisations they are employed with. However, many studies have documented continuing weaknesses in organisational staff support, as well as disparities in access to the services for national and international staff. Systematic data capturing suggestions from humanitarian workers on how to tackle this situation within a specific crisis setting is rarely available. This study addresses this gap through qualitative content analysis of the suggestions from the 210 humanitarian workers based in South Sudan collected through an online survey in 2017. Five major themes emerged regarding proposed improvements: ‘Competitive benefit and salary packages’; ‘internal work climate and organisational culture’; ‘equality within and between organisations’; ‘skill enhancement and personal development’ and ‘physical safety and security’. For both national and international staff, improved access to psychosocial support services was the most frequent proposal. Apart from this suggestion, their top priorities for improvement of staff support differed greatly. National staff emphasised improvements related to training and greater equality between employees. International staff emphasised improvements related to time off and team cohesion. Findings provide a clear case for organisations to assess their services and offer a potential framework to inform future interventions that better address the priorities of the humanitarian community as a whole.
Humanitarian workers in South Sudan: Mental health, gender, and organizational staff support
(Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, 2019) Strohmeier, Hannah
This study focused on humanitarian workers in South Sudan and the interrelation of mental health, gender, and organizational staff support. Based on the propositions of Job Demands- Resources (JDR) theory, I applied mixed methods research in three research phases to 1) investigate prevalence and predictors of common mental health problems among national and international humanitarian workers; 2) examine international humanitarian workers’ lived experiences, particularly with respect to gender; and 3) crystallize implications of these findings for humanitarian stakeholders, particularly with respect to organizational staff support. The survey phase estimated prevalence rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (24%), depression (39%), anxiety disorder (38%), hazardous alcohol consumption in men (35%) and women (36%), and the burnout components emotional exhaustion (24%) and depersonalization (19%). Chronic stress was most consistently associated with mental health problems. Dysfunctional coping predicted mental health problems among humanitarian workers, but emotion-focused and problem-focused coping were neither protective nor predictive of the outcomes studied. Surprisingly, gender was significantly associated with anxiety only, with women being more likely to experience symptoms associated with anxiety diagnosis. However, the focused qualitative phase indicated that gender substantially influenced international humanitarian workers’ lived experiences. Men perceived Juba as a convenient duty station. Women experienced a feeling of loneliness on site, and considered it challenging to combine their profession with family life. There was a gap between international humanitarian workers’ needs for psychosocial support, and the attention paid to these needs by themselves and their organizations. The evaluation phase showed that organizational staff support provided by NGOs was insufficient to address employees’ needs. As expected, national staff had less access to services than international staff, and organizations neglected gender in their staff support programs. This study provides tailored recommendations to address the identified challenges and gaps in staff support. It demonstrates that a more nuanced version of JDR theory is required to be applicable to humanitarian settings.
Living with transience in high-risk humanitarian spaces: Gendered experiences of international staff and policy implications for building resilience
(Wiley, 2020-08-10) Strohmeier, Hannah; Panter-Brick, Catherine
Being deployed in crisis zones is perilous business. To-date, little is known regarding how humanitarian workers relate social and professional goals to lived experiences of high-risk environments. In South Sudan, ranked as the most dangerous country for aid workers globally, we interviewed international humanitarian staff (n=20) to examine, using thematic and interpretative phenomenological analysis, their sense of place, wellbeing, and vocation. Subjectivities of humanitarian spaces hinged upon negotiating physical hardships and social relationships: Juba was described both as a "prison" and "party hot spot." For expatriate staff, making sense of spatial, social, and professional transience was sharply gendered and rooted in subjectivities of risk-taking, crisis-managing, and career-building. We highlight two policy measures to address the implications of transience for human wellbeing and organizational effectiveness. Efforts to support teams and structure work environments, altering the humanitarian and vocational bubble, will help build resilience at the heart of humanitarian systems.