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The Institute for Global Health and Development

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/9

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Author: search.filters.author.Savage, KevinHas files: Yes

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    Resilience and adjustment trajectories amongst children in displacement-affected communities in Zarqa, Jordan
    (International Society of Global Health, 2021-01-05) Hermosilla, Sabrina; Metzler, Janna; Savage, Kevin; Ager, Alastair
    Background: The experiences of protracted conflict and displacement are clear threats to children’s developmental progress. Understanding the factors that shape the trajectories of children’s well-being and adjustment in such contexts is important for informing interventions.
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    Improving mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in humanitarian settings: Reflections on research funded through R2HC
    (BioMed Central, 2020-10-30) Tol, Wietse A.; Ager, Alastair; Bizouerne, Cecile; Bryant, Richard; El Chammay, Rabih; Colebunders, Robert; García-Moreno, Claudia; Hamdani, Syed Usman; James, Leah E.; Jansen, Stefan C. J.; Leku, Marx R.; Likindikoki, Samuel; Panter-Brick, Catherine; Pluess, Michael; Robinson, Courtland; Ruttenberg, Leontien; Savage, Kevin; Welton-Mitchell, Courtney; Hall, Brian J.; Harper Shehadeh, Melissa; Harmer, Anne; van Ommeren, Mark; Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) Programme
    Major knowledge gaps remain concerning the most effective ways to address mental health and psychosocial needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises. The Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) program aims to strengthen humanitarian health practice and policy through research. As a significant portion of R2HC’s research has focused on mental health and psychosocial support interventions, the program has been interested in strengthening a community of practice in this field. Following a meeting between grantees, we set out to provide an overview of the R2HC portfolio, and draw lessons learned. In this paper, we discuss the mental health and psychosocial support-focused research projects funded by R2HC; review the implications of initial findings from this research portfolio; and highlight four remaining knowledge gaps in this field. Between 2014 and 2019, R2HC funded 18 academic-practitioner partnerships focused on mental health and psychosocial support, comprising 38% of the overall portfolio (18 of 48 projects) at a value of approximately 7.2 million GBP. All projects have focused on evaluating the impact of interventions. In line with consensus-based recommendations to consider a wide range of mental health and psychosocial needs in humanitarian settings, research projects have evaluated diverse interventions. Findings so far have both challenged and confirmed widely-held assumptions about the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial interventions in humanitarian settings. They point to the importance of building effective, sustained, and diverse partnerships between scholars, humanitarian practitioners, and funders, to ensure long-term program improvements and appropriate evidence-informed decision making. Further research needs to fill knowledge gaps regarding how to: scale-up interventions that have been found to be effective (e.g., questions related to integration across sectors, adaptation of interventions across different contexts, and optimal care systems); address neglected mental health conditions and populations (e.g., elderly, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, people with severe, pre-existing mental disorders); build on available local resources and supports (e.g., how to build on traditional, religious healing and community-wide social support practices); and ensure equity, quality, fidelity, and sustainability for interventions in real-world contexts (e.g., answering questions about how interventions from controlled studies can be transferred to more representative humanitarian contexts).
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    Short‐ and longer‐term impacts of Child Friendly Space Interventions in Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Uganda
    (Wiley, 2019-05-20) Metzler, Janna; Diaconu, Karin; Hermosilla, Sabrina; Kaijuka, Robert; Ebulu, George; Savage, Kevin; Ager, Alastair
    Background The establishment of Child Friendly Spaces (CFSs) has become a widespread intervention targeting protection and support for displaced children in humanitarian contexts. There is a lack of evidence of impact of these interventions with respect to both short‐term outcomes and longer‐term developmental trajectories.
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    Child friendly spaces impact across five humanitarian settings: A meta-analysis
    (BMC, 2019-05-15) Hermosilla, Sabrina; Metzler, Janna; Savage, Kevin; Musa, Miriam; Ager, Alastair
    Background: Humanitarian crises present major threats to the wellbeing of children. These threats include risks of violence, abduction and abuse, emotional distress and the disruption of development. Humanitarian response efforts frequently address these threats through psychosocial programming. Systematic reviews have demonstrated the weak evidence-base regarding the impact of such interventions. This analysis assesses the impact of Child Friendly Spaces (CFS), one such commonly implemented intervention after humanitarian emergencies.
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    Educational, psychosocial and protection outcomes of child- and youth-focused programming with Somali refugees in Buramino camp, Dollo Ado, Ethiopia
    (Overseas Development Institute, 2020-04-09) Metzler, Janna; Jonfa, Mesfin; Savage, Kevin; Ager, Alastair; Aktion Deutschland Hilft
    Provision of child- and youth-friendly spaces has become a common feature of emergency humanitarian response. The evidence-base regarding such provision is, however, severely limited. This study reports outcomes of Child and Youth Learning Centres (CYLCs) established in Buramino refugee camp for those fleeing conflict in Somalia. Eighty-five youths completed baseline assessments shortly after arrival at the camp and follow-up assessments between three and six months later. Caregivers of 106 younger children completed similar assessments. Attendances at CYLCs between baseline and follow-up were collated. Baseline and follow-up literacy and numeracy assessments were completed by 693 children attending CYLCs. Those attending CYLCs made major gains in both literacy and numeracy (t=9.06 and t=13.94 for younger children and t=13.87 and t=17.10 for youth respectively, all p<.0001). Children’s CYLC attendance also enhanced perceptions of met needs (t=2.53 amongst caregivers and t=2.57 amongst youth, both p<.05) and, amongst caregivers but not youth, significantly moderated protection concerns amidst increasingly challenging camp conditions (t=2.39, p<0.05, and t=-1.90, p=0.06 respectively). There was general improvement in psychosocial well-being over time for all children; CYLC attendance predicted greater reductions in reported difficulties only amongst younger children (t=2.51, p<.05).