Community readiness in the Syrian refugee community in Jordan: A rapid ecological assessment tool to build psychosocial service capacity.

Community readiness in the Syrian refugee community in Jordan: A rapid ecological assessment tool to build psychosocial service capacity. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2019 Aug 15;: Authors: Wells R, Abo-Hilal M, Steel Z, Hunt C, Plested B, Hassan M, Lawsin C Abstract The knowledge of Syrian psychosocial activists in displaced communities is an invaluable resource for developing an ecological understanding of community needs and attitudes. This may elucidate the structural challenges of displacement to be addressed in psychosocial interventions. During Phase 1 of the study, we employed the community readiness model-a tool to assess community climate, needs, and resources-to determine community capacity-building needs. Eight Syrian key informants were interviewed in Amman, Jordan (December 2013 to January 2014). Community readiness scores were calculated. Thematic analysis explored community identified needs. During Phase 2, a focus group was conducted with 11 local psychosocial workers in Amman (September 2016) employing Phase 1 findings to develop a local capacity-building intervention. For the Phase 1 results, community attitudes toward mental health were reported to be rapidly changing. However, continued stigma, lack of knowledge of service availability, and insufficient number of services were noted as barriers to care. Sense of civic engagement and cultural knowledge of local psychosocial actors were noted as significant strengths. How...
Source: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research