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Why Social Work Methodologies Are So Important in Delivering Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Interventions for Refugees in Humanitarian Settings

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Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Other Forcibly Displaced Persons

Part of the book series: Essential Clinical Social Work Series ((ECSWS))

Abstract

Over the last decade, attention for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian settings has been growing. However, within this rapidly expanding field, the role of social workers has often not been sufficiently highlighted. This chapter will discuss how social workers can and should play an integral role in the holistic delivery of clinical and community care for refugees living with emotional distress and mental health conditions. Methodologies derived from social work are essential for MHPSS programs. In particular, the chapter will discuss the following: (1) how the holistic training of social workers provides practitioners with unique skills to work with people with severe and complex mental health issues; (2) how social work principles provide foundation to MHPSS case management, with examples of their application, using existing process and tools, to refugee response settings in low- and middle-income countries; (3) the significant role of building capacity of social workers to offer focused psychosocial support within an MHPSS system, using scalable psychological interventions; and (4) how clinical approaches to MHPSS must be balanced by empowering approaches that strengthen community participation and agency, explicitly linking this to current and older debates about MHPSS.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The mhGAP consists of a range of tools to assist the integration of mental health into non-specialized health care. The most widely known tools are the mhGAP Intervention Guide (World Health Organization, 2010, 2016a, b) and the mhGAP Humanitarian Intervention Guide (World health Organization and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2015), which are both widely used in refugee contexts (Echeverri et al. 2018; Keynejad et al., 2021).

  2. 2.

    Interpersonal Therapy for Depression is an exception because it was originally developed for treatment of depressive disorders, but evidence is mounting that the methods are also effective for other conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (Althobaiti et al., 2020; Meffert et al., 2021).

  3. 3.

    See https://www.who.int/mental_health/emergencies/problem_management_plus/en/; https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240008106

  4. 4.

    Participant’s name has been changed to maintain confidentiality.

  5. 5.

    https://www.interventionjournal.com/sites/default/files/The_story_of_a_Somalian_refugee_woman_in_Ethiopia_.7.pdf

  6. 6.

    https://www.interventionjournal.org/article.asp?issn=1571-8883;year=2019;volume=17;issue=2;spage=296;epage=300;aulast=Uddin

  7. 7.

    https://www.interventionjournal.com/sites/default/files/Yohannes_2012_Intervention_10-2.pdf

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Section, Division of Resilience and Solutions, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, Switzerland

    Peter Ventevogel

  2. Technical Unit, International Medical Corps, Washington, DC, USA

    Claire Whitney

Authors
  1. Peter Ventevogel
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  2. Claire Whitney
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Correspondence to Peter Ventevogel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. MSW Program, Pacific University Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Nancy J. Murakami

  2. School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Mashura Akilova

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Ventevogel, P., Whitney, C. (2023). Why Social Work Methodologies Are So Important in Delivering Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Interventions for Refugees in Humanitarian Settings. In: Murakami, N.J., Akilova, M. (eds) Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Other Forcibly Displaced Persons. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12600-0_13

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