Browsing by Author "Van Ommeren, Mark"

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    Relevance or excellence? Setting research priorities for mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings
    (Informa Healthcare, 2012-02) Tol, Wietse, A.; Patel, Vikram; Tomlinson, Mark R.; Baingana, Florence; Galappatti, Ananda; Silove, Derrick; Sondorp, Egbert; Van Ommeren, Mark; Wessells, Michael G.; Panter-Brick, Catherine
    Background: Humanitarian crises are associated with an increase in mental disorders and psychological distress. Despite the emerging consensus on intervention strategies in humanitarian settings, the field of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian settings lacks a consensus-based research agenda. Methods: From August 2009 to February 2010, we contacted policymakers, academic researchers, and humanitarian aid workers, and conducted nine semistructured focus group discussions with 114 participants in three locations (Peru, Uganda, and Nepal), in both the capitals and remote humanitarian settings. Local stakeholders representing a range of academic expertise (psychiatry, psychology, social work, child protection, and medical anthropology) and organizations (governments, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and UN agencies) were asked to identify priority questions for MHPSS research in humanitarian settings, and to discuss factors that hamper and facilitate research. Results: Thematic analyses of transcripts show that participants broadly agreed on prioritized research themes in the following order: (1) the prevalence and burden of mental health and psychosocial difficulties in humanitarian settings, (2) how MHPSS implementation can be improved, (3) evaluation of specific MHPSS interventions, (4) the determinants of mental health and psychological distress, and (5) improved research methods and processes. Rather than differences in research themes across countries, what emerged was a disconnect between different groups of stakeholders regarding research processes: the perceived lack of translation of research findings into actual policy and programs; misunderstanding of research methods by aid workers; different appreciation of the time needed to conduct research; and disputed universality of research constructs. Conclusions: To advance a collaborative research agenda, actors in this field need to bridge the perceived disconnect between the goals of “relevance” and “excellence.” Research needs to be more sensitive to questions and concerns arising from humanitarian interventions, and practitioners need to take research findings into account in designing interventions. (HARV REV PSYCHIATRY 2012;20:25–36.)
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    Research priorities for mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings
    (Public Library of Science, 2011-09-20) Tol, Wietse A.; Patel, Vikram; Tomlinson, Mark; Baingana, Florence; Galappatti, Ananda; Panter-Brick, Catherine; Silove, Derrick; Sondorp, Egbert; Wessells, Michael; Van Ommeren, Mark
    There has been a great need to develop a research agenda to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings; prior research in this area has had limited inputs from practitioners. We developed a consensus-based research agenda for the next ten years through inputs from an interdisciplinary group of academics, policy makers, and practitioners (n = 82) representing regions where humanitarian crises occur. Participants reached a high level of agreement on the ten most highly prioritized research questions, which consisted of questions related to: problem analysis (four questions on identifying stressors, problems, and protective factors from the perspective of affected populations), mental health and psychosocial support interventions (three questions on sociocultural adaptation and on effectiveness of family- and school-based prevention), research and information management (two questions on assessment methods and indicators for monitoring and evaluation), and mental health and psychosocial support context (one question on whether interventions address locally perceived needs). This research agenda emphasizes the generation of practical knowledge that could translate to immediate tangible benefits for programming in humanitarian settings, rather than addressing the key debates that have dominated the academic literature. Addressing this research agenda requires a better alignment between researchers and practitioners, attention to perspectives of populations affected by humanitarian crises, and sensitivity to sociocultural context.
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    Responsible governance for mental health research in low resource countries
    (Public Library of Science (PLOS), 2011-11) Yasamy, M. Taghi; Maulik, Pallab K.; Tomlinson, Mark; Lund, Crick; Van Ommeren, Mark; Saxena, Shekhar
    Between 13% and 49% of the world’s population develop neuropsychiatric disorders at some point in their life. More and more evidence indicates that mental disorders and problems are common in all countries studied, and supports earlier projections that the burden of mental health problems is increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as well. Most people with these disabling conditions now live in LMICs, but at most one in five receives treatment and care. In order to narrow this gap, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Mental Health GAP Action Programme (mhGAP) with the objective of scaling up services for priority mental disorders using evidence-based interventions. In 2009, evidence profiles were compiled based on a systematic review of the literature for interventions that were to form part of the mhGAP Intervention Guide.
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    World Health Organization guidelines for management of acute stress, PTSD, and bereavement : key challenges on the road ahead
    (PLoS, 2014-12) Tol, Wietse A.; Barbui, Corrado; Bisson, Jonathan; Cohen, Judith; Hijazi, Zeinab; Jones, Lynne; De Jong, Joop T. V. M.; Magrini, Nicola; Omigbodun, Olayinka; Seedat, Soraya; Silove, Derrick; Souza, Renato; Sumathipala, Athula; Vijayakumar, Lakshmi; Weissbecker, Inka; Zatzick, Douglas; Van Ommeren, Mark
    The implementation of new WHO mental health guidelines for conditions and disorders specifically related to stress is likely to face obstacles, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. N Formulation of evidence-based guidelines is complicated by limited knowledge regarding (a) the effectiveness of commonly implemented interventions, (b) the effectiveness of established evidence-based interventions when used in situations of ongoing adversity, and (c) the effectiveness of widely used cultural practices in LMICs. The application of the guidelines requires improved knowledge on how to reduce potentially harmful practices that are widely applied. N The implementation of recommendations regarding psychotherapeutic interventions will require an approach that balances (a) strengthening the availability and capacity of specialists to train and supervise and (b) shifting to the delivery of psychotherapy by non-specialists. N The strengthening of evidence for managing these conditions will require collaborative efforts by researchers and practitioners in a manner that is mindful of local sociocultural and health system realities.