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EDITORIAL
Year : 2022 | Volume
: 20
| Issue : 2 | Page : 137-138
Approaching 20 Years of Publishing Intervention Journal
Wendy Ager
Editor in Chief, Intervention, Diemen, The Netherlands
Correspondence Address:
MSc Wendy Ager
Editor in Chief, Intervention, Nienoord 5-13, 1112XE Diemen
The Netherlands
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/intv.intv_18_22
Welcome to the second issue of Intervention in 2022, featuring a great range of articles covering a lot of different topics. Since the last issue in May 2022 which included a special section on the climate crisis and MHPSS, we have had two webinars on this important theme. The first was part of the United for Global Health series highlighting research in this area and the second was hosted by Intervention Journal and focused on implications for the field. Julian Eaton, Director of CBM Global and Asst. Professor at the LSHTM and a member of our editorial board, moderated and Joshua Duncan of the Mental Health Coalition Sierra Leone and Yasin Duman of IOM Iraq − both co-authors of articles in our special section − were panel members, along with Viola Graef of the MHPSS Collaborative and Lena Pschiuk, a guest editor for the special section. Both webinars were recorded and are available at internventionjournal.org.
We are proud to be approaching an important milestone in the life of our journal − it is Intervention’s twentieth anniversary in January 2023. We are so pleased to be doing what we have always done in offering a platform for practitioners, academics and policymakers to document their work. The first issue expressed the hope ‘to ensure a high degree of practical relevance in its contents’ and I certainly hope that Intervention can continue to take its place in encouraging debate across different communities of practice.
This issue opens with an article by Musotsi et al. (see pp. 139–150) reporting on outcomes for internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, returnees (IDPs and refugees going back home) and host community members (teens and adults) in Zummer, Iraq with experience of high rates of mental health difficulties and following implementation of Problem Management Plus (PM+) or Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (DWM). The team reported a significant reduction in the number of days off work and increased ability to carry out usual activities after both interventions.
Parvin et al. (see pp. 151–160) turn our attention to the mental health status of humanitarian staff working in the Rohingya refugee response in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both national and international humanitarian staff working in person or remotely at that time were surveyed. The pandemic had taken its toll and most respondents said they felt so afraid and upset about COVID-19 that they had avoided people or places. One in three respondents had felt unable to carry out essential activities at least some of the time. However, fewer than one in five had sought professional help, while around half of all respondents indicated that they would want mental health support. The authors highlight the importance of strengthening strategies to make mental health support available and accessible to all humanitarian staff.
Bosqui et al. (see pp. 161–169) completed a review of evidence for mechanisms of change associated with mental health and psychosocial support interventions for children affected by conflict. Out of all the records accessed, seven studies were included, which were all evaluations of school-based preventative programmes. Findings highlight the role of social relationships as mechanisms of change in MHPSS programmes, but with limited studies to draw from. It is important to note that the capacity of the researchers was affected by the onset of the economic crisis and the 2019 October revolution in Lebanon. For this reason, the research team could not complete a comprehensive grey literature search, which could have led to the identification of relevant unpublished programme reviews nor to update the search before publication.
Acaturk et al. (see pp. 170–178) explore the effectiveness of DWM in decreasing psychological distress amongst Turkish nationals and Syrian refugees in Turkey. The researchers used two parallel pilot randomised controlled trials and randomly allocated participants to a DWM group or a wait-list group. They found a significant improvement in depression symptoms among Turkish participants and in posttraumatic stress disorder among the Syrian participants. They reported the potential of DWM to decrease mental health problems and the contribution a trial of this kind can make in examining its effectiveness. It is good to see that this study like the one by Musotsi includes both host and refugee communities.
El Barazi et al. (see pp. 179–187) examine the efficacy of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) in treating posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety among Syrian refugees living in Egypt. This was a clinical trial conducted at a hospital in Cairo. The team found that CPT indeed appeared to be helpful in treating all three mental health difficulties. Full results of the trial are presented in the article. Overall it seemed that CPT helped all those receiving treatment in their daily lives and in their capacity to be present.
For over 25 years, child friendly spaces (CFS) have been implemented extensively in humanitarian response. The commentary by Ager and Metzler (see pp. 188–192) is a helpful contribution to the field in summarising research findings about CFS from the last decade and identifying implications for policy and practice. They highlight three key imperatives: (1) to mainstream quality and contextualisation in the implementation of CFS as a mechanism for emergency response; (2) to structure CFS within a phased intervention strategy incorporating education and community-based approaches; and (3) to further develop resources to support quality, contextualised and phased provision for children.
Last, but not least is a letter to the editor sent to us by Darya Ahmed (see pp. 193–194) concerning mental health and psychosocial support services in Iraq, outlining the considerable challenges and recommending solutions based on a review she completed recently.
Please note the erratum which refers to an article in our earlier issue this year.
Finally, we would very much welcome your submissions about MHPSS in conflict-affected settings. If you have ideas or questions about any aspect of publishing an article with Intervention, please do contact me. I would be glad to hear from you.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
The author, Alastair Ager, is related to the editor in chief. The submission by Ager and Metzler was therefore handled by a different editor.
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