Problem Management Plus (PM+)

Scalable interventions with Syrian refugees

The STRENGTHS project aims to help provide better and more cost-effective community-based mental health care in refugee host countries
By translating scalable interventions and adapting them to a Syrian context
Countries targeted in the project are from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Europe, and host a significant number of Syrian refugees
ARQ International is part of the STRENGTHS consortium

Providing mental health care to refugees is a great challenge in countries receiving high numbers of refugees. This challenge is also felt by the countries hosting refugees from Syria. The STRENGTHS project outlines the steps to integrate psychological interventions for common mental disorders.

The Middle East, North Africa and Europe host millions of Syrian refugees. A sudden increase in the number of refugees challenges the health systems. Even the most robust health system will struggle to provide sufficient care to a high influx of patients with mental health concerns. This is the case in all host countries to a greater or smaller extent.

Counselling session
Counselling session - photo credits UNHCR

Limited access to mental health services for Syrian refugees

There are many barriers to providing sufficient care. Across the Middle East, there is a lack of trained specialists who can provide high-quality care. In Europe, there are not enough Arabic-speaking mental health care professionals. This limits access to mental health services. Part of the solution could be scalable psychological interventions for common mental disorders.

The STRENGTHS-project trains Syrian refugees to provide scalable psychological interventions to fellow Syrian refugees

What is a scalable intervention?

Scalable interventions are sometimes called ‘low-intensity interventions’. This means that the intervention has been modified to use fewer resources compared to conventional psychological treatments by specialists. Aspects are changed to make them feasible in communities that do not have many mental health professionals. Creating more accessible mental health care that reaches more people in need.

What is Problem Management Plus?

Problem Management Plus is a low-intensity intervention and has been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The programmes are short and can be provided or supported by trained helpers who are not mental health professionals. The interventions target symptoms of common mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

More information about the project

In the STRENGTHS project, 15 partners in 8 countries worked together to enable Syrian refugees to provide brief psychological support to other Syrian refugees. The project studied scalable psychological interventions for common mental health disorders and outlined the steps needed to integrate these interventions into healthcare systems.

VU Amsterdam led the project. ARQ International was one of the partners responsible for disseminating knowledge about the evidence base for PM+ programmes and how to implement and sustain them. The aim is to engage with new stakeholders and health systems to scale up further the implementation of the programmes across Europe and beyond.

For more information on this project, watch the video below or visit the project website. 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme Societal Challenges under Grant Agreement No 733337.

Status

Status

Completed

Year started

Year started

2017

Year ended

Year ended

2022

Countries

Countries

Countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe hosting Syrian refugees

Project type

Project type

Cooperation

Project manager

Project manager

Saara Martinmäki

Websites

Website