Culturally-sensitive Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in the Syrian Context – Findings of a Research Capacity-Sharing Project’
Cultural adaptation in the Syrian context
This policy/practice paper focuses on developing culturally adapted MHPSS interventions for Syrian communities affected by the ongoing conflict and displacement, in order to better understand the impact of cultural adaptation on people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.
Desire and resistance
This paper highlights the desire by many practitioners to obtain training in cultural adaptation, including in relation to faith, as well as some resistance.
Collaboration with local communities
Working with grassroots networks and community leaders can help to ensure that interventions are community-centred and responsive to the needs and preferences of the local populations.
Comment:
This policy paper is part of an ongoing collaboration between Syria Bright Future, a Syrian NGO that has been working on MHPSS in the Syrian context since 2012 and the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, a network focused on the collaborative production of evidence on the role of faith in local-international partnerships between researchers and practitioners. Together they established a network focused on the collaborative production of evidence on the role of faith in local-international partnerships between researchers and practitioners. There is a significant need for MHPSS interventions in Syria and Syrian refugee communities in the region; however, culturally adapted approaches are rare, with most Syrian MHPSS professionals applying frameworks developed in the Global North. This project speaks into this gap, providing a contemporary case study.
How to cite:
Abo-Hilal, M., Eggert, J. P., & Mustafaalhasan, A. (2023). Culturally-sensitive Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in the Syrian Context—Findings of a Research Capacity-Sharing Project. Syria Bright Future & Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities.
