The Institute for Global Health and Development
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Item Refugee integration in national health systems of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): evidence synthesis and future research agenda(Elsevier, 2025-09-12) Olabi, Amina; Palmer, Natasha; Bertone, Maria Paola; Loffreda, Giulia; Bou-Orm, Ibrahim; Sempé, Lucas; Vera Espinoza, Marcia; Dakessian, Arek; Kadetz, Paul; Ager, Alastair; Witter, SophieThis paper reviews evidence on healthcare responses for refugees, documenting the different approaches and their effectiveness and impact in particular in relation to supporting integrating refugees into national health systems. The review adopted a purposeful, iterative approach, utilizing electronic databases, grey literature, and reference lists from relevant studies. A total of 167 studies, primarily from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), focusing on refugees and forcibly displaced persons with empirical data, were included. The review highlights a substantial literature on refugee health and healthcare access, with well-covered areas including delivery models, access barriers, gaps in coverage, and specific health services such as psychosocial care, non-communicable diseases, mental health, and maternal and child health. However, less attention is given to integration models, health system responses, and their impact on system resilience and social cohesion. Few studies examine the costs, feasibility, or sustainability of integration models, and little research focuses on health system perspectives or comparative analyses. Moreover, the host health system's status, capacity, and needs are often underexplored. Some countries are particularly well-represented in studies, e.g. Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Uganda. There is however a paucity of data that would provide the basis for more quantitative or analytical evaluation from a systems perspective. This gap highlights the need for further research on effective integration models, their operational aspects, and their long-term impact on local health systems' resilience and sustainability. To support this research agenda, we propose a conceptual framework to provide analytic guidance for future research on healthcare responses for refugees and health system integration.Item Peace of mind: A quasi-experimental, mixed-method evaluation of a community-based mental health intervention for persons affected by Neglected Tropical Diseases(Public Library of Science, 2025-09-04) Seekles, Maaike L.; Nganda, Motto; Kadima, Jacob; Sempé, Lucas; Kim, Joy; Omumbu, Pierre; Kukola, Junior; Ngenyibungi, Stephanie M.; Ngondu, Florent; Sabuni, Louis; Dean, LauraEvidence consistently shows high levels of mental distress amongst populations affected by skin NTDs. Self-help groups are thought to be a key intervention strategy to support affected persons. However, to date, self-help interventions have largely been concerned with physical improvements as opposed to psychological outcomes. This paper provides an evaluation of the impact of the ‘Peace of Mind’ intervention in Kasai Province, DRC. Peace of Mind was a community-based, peer-led mental health intervention, combining lay counselling, mutual support, self-care, and income generation activities within a self-help group model to address health, psychosocial and economic impacts of skin-NTDs. This mixed-methods study used a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference approach. A survey measured levels of depression, anxiety, and stigma before and after intervention. To facilitate data matching, machine learning was used to predict (based on age, sex, health zone and disability status) which participants in the baseline would have attended the self-help groups. In addition, qualitative and participatory methods including photovoice, in-depth interviews and key informant interviews were completed to elicit the experiences of group members and health staff. Our findings show that after 6 months of intervention this holistic approach was effective at reducing levels of depression (PHQ-9 score reduction ranging on average from -3.5 to -6.7 points, p < .05) and anxiety (GAD-7 score reduction from -2.0 to -3.3 points, p < .05) in persons affected by skin NTDs. However, the prevalence of depression (64%) and anxiety (52%) remained high with suicidal thoughts reported by 35% of respondents at endline. Whilst we found no impact on stigma scores, qualitative data indicated improvements to self-esteem and ability to take part in community life. To our knowledge, this is the first study in the DRC to evaluate the impact of a community-based, peer-led intervention on mental health outcomes of persons affected by skin-NTDs. Holistic self-help groups have the potential to serve as a key component of integrated NTD/mental health service provision at community-level. However, this should be accompanied by the integration of stigma-reduction strategies, the strengthening of primary health care capacities, and the establishment of mental health services at secondary and tertiary care levels.Item ‘The Lost Peace’: Evidencing the Syndemic Relationship between Neglected Tropical Diseases and Mental Distress in Liberia(MDPI AG, 2024-08-17) McCollum, Rosalind; Barrett, Carrie; Zawolo, Georgina; Johnstone, Rachel; Godwin-Akpan, Tiawanlyn G.; Berrian, Hannah; Chowdhury, Shahreen; Kollie, Jerry; Kollie, Karsor; Rogers, Emerson; Parker, Colleen; Phillip, Maneesh; Sempé, Lucas; Seekles, Maaike; Smith, John Solunta; Seekey, Wede; Wickenden, Anna; Zaizay, Zeela; Theobald, Sally; Dean, LauraNeglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic infectious diseases of poverty affecting over one billion people globally. Intersections of NTDs, disability, and mental ill-health are increasingly evidenced but are rarely studied from a mixed-methods perspective. Here, we advance syndemic understandings by further assessing and contextualising the syndemic relationship between NTDs (particularly their associated disability) and mental distress in Liberia. Participatory qualitative methods, including body mapping (56 participants), social mapping (28 participants), and in-depth interviews (12) provided space for persons affected by NTDs to narrate their experiences. Simultaneously, 201 surveys explored experiences of common mental health conditions among persons affected by skin NTDs. An intersectionality approach was applied within the analysis for both qualitative and quantitative methods informed by Meyer’s minority stress model, adapted for NTDs. Qualitative data was analysed thematically and gender-disaggregated, univariable and multivariable analyses were applied to survey data for the outcome measures depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7). Disability was associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety (p < 0.001). An interaction between disability and being a women increased incidence risk ratio of depression (p < 0.001). In alignment with qualitative findings, persons affected experienced additional generalised (financial concerns), external (experience of stigma) and internal (experience of pain and physical symptoms) minority stressors, to varying degrees, which contributed towards their mental distress, and mental health conditions. These findings were used to co-develop a syndemic-informed person-centred health system response to address the suffering associated with NTDs and mental distress, including a focus on strengthening relationships between formal and informal community health actors and the broader health system.Item Evaluación del protocolo de visitas domiciliarias de Pensión 65 durante COVID-19(Universidad Católica San Pablo, Arequipa, 2021) Sempé, Lucas; Lloyd-Sherlock, PeterEl año 2020 ha estado marcado por la expansión del COVID-19 en el país, al igual que por los esfuerzos realizados por el Estado Peruano para hacer frente a las consecuencias de esta pandemia. Esto ha obligado a las distintas entidades y programas públicos -entre ellas, Pensión 65- a modificar, actualizar y adaptar sus procesos operacionales para atender las necesidades de sus usuarios de la forma más adecuada y eficaz posible dentro de un difícil contexto que afecta tanto a la salud, lazos sociales y economía de las familias, especialmente de aquellos más vulnerables. Considerando que la morbilidad a causa de la pandemia alcanza índices desproporcionados especialmente dentro de la población adulta mayor -hecho conocido con anterioridad en países como Italia y España-, donde a la fecha de la presente investigación (21 de diciembre de 2020), el 70% de los fallecidos oficialmente reconocidos en nuestro país corresponde justamente a los adultos mayores 1 ; por este motivo, resulta de mayor relevancia estudiar las acciones propuestas por el Programa Pensión 65 con la finalidad de enfrentar los efectos del COVID-19. Este estudio se desarrolló como resultado del XXI Concurso Anual de Investigación CIES 2019, con el auspicio del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas. Esta investigación también se encuentra dentro del repositorio REPECItem An emergency strategy for managing COVID-19 in long-term care facilities in low and middle-income countries: the CIAT Framework (Version 3*)(2021-07-20) Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter; Bastos, João; Duarte, Meirelayne; Frank, Monica; Geffen, Leon; Giacomin, Karla; Kelly, Gabrielle; Montes de Oca, Veronica; Rojo, Almudena Ocejo; Redondo, Nelida; Saddi, Fabiana; Sasat, Siriphan; Sempé, Lucas; Vivaldo, MarissaItem Meeting the complex challenge of health and social care provision for rapidly-ageing populations: introducing the concept of “avoidable displacement from home”(SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online, 2020-04-03) Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter; Billings, Jenny; de Souza Aredes, Janaína; Freire Neto, João Bastos; Camarano, Ana Amélia; Macedo Coelho Filho, João; Firmo, Josélia Oliveira Araújo; Kalache, Alexandre; Macinko, James; Sempé, Lucas; Giacomin, Karla CristinaThe increasing numbers of people at very old ages pose specific policy challenges for health and social care and highlight the need to rethink established models of service provision. The main objective of this paper is to introduce the concept of “avoidable displacement from home” (ADH). The study argues that ADH builds on and adds value to existing concepts, offering a holistic, person-centered framework for integrated health and social care provision for older people. It also demonstrates that this framework can be applied across different levels, ranging from macro policymaking to organizational and individual decision-making. The paper pays attention to the Brazilian context but argues that ADH is a universally applicable concept.Item Integrating health and social care in Brazil(Oxford University Press, 2020-09-30) Sempé, Lucas; Lloyd-Sherlock, PeterIntegrating health and social care is now a high priority for public health policy in high-income countries. It has received much less attention in low and middle-income country (LMIC) settings. There is particular value in assessing the potential to integrate care services for older adults, given the speed of population ageing in LMICs. The presentation provides findings of process and impact evaluations of novel local government initiatives to integrate care for older people in Brazil (drawing on a study co-funded by the UK MRC and CONFAP Brazil). Programa Maior Cuidado (PMC) was established in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte in 2011. It is jointly managed by the departments of health and of social assistance and involves close community-level collaboration between health posts and neighbourhood social service centres. A key element of PMC is the provision of paid trained lay carers to support family care for dependent older people in socially vulnerable families. We will present findings on the implementation process and operation of PMC, as well as its effects on the following outcomes of interest: reduced unnecessary hospitalisations, enhanced health status for older people and reduced care burden for family carers. Quasi-experimental analysis using spatial-based Propensity Score Matching shows promising results in terms of increasing planned attentions as well as access to rehabilitation services, which confirms the ability of the Program to improve interface with health services avoiding unplanned unnecessary attentions We will examine the implementation of similar interventions in other Brazilian cities, including Fortaleza and Contagem, and will study the role of national and international processes in dissemination, knowledge sharing and agenda-setting.Item School-level inequality measurement based categorical data: a novel approach applied to PISA(Springer, 2021-05-03) Sempé, LucasThis paper introduces a new method to measure school-level inequality based on Item Response Theory (IRT) models. Categorical data collected by large-scale assessments poses diverse methodological challenges hinder measuring inequality due to data truncation and asymmetric intervals between categories. I use family possessions data from PISA 2015 to exemplify the process of computing the measurement and develop a set of country-level mixed-effects linear regression models comparing the predictive performance of the novel inequality measure with school-level Gini coefficients. I find school-level inequality is negatively associated with learning outcomes across many non-European countries.Item Problems of Data Availability and Quality for COVID-19 and Older People in Low- and Middle-Income Countries(Oxford University Press, 2020-10-06) Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter; Sempé, Lucas; McKee, Martin; Guntupalli, AravindaFor all health conditions, reliable age-disaggregated data are vital for both epidemiological analysis and monitoring the relative prioritization of different age groups in policy responses. This is especially essential in the case of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), given the strong association between age and case fatality. This paper assesses the availability and quality of age-based data on reported COVID-19 cases and deaths for low- and middle-income countries. It finds that the availability of reliable data which permit specific analyses of older people is largely absent. The paper explores the potential of excess mortality estimates as an alternative metric of the pandemic’s effects on older populations. Notwithstanding some technical challenges, this may offer a better approach, especially in countries where cause of death data are unreliable.Item Introducción: Causas y desaf́ıos de la segregación educativa / Introduction: Causes and challenges of educational segregation [Editorial](2021-12-27) Amat, Luciana Reátegui; Sempé, Lucas