Research
Development of a multi-layered psychosocial care system for children in areas of political violence
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* Corresponding author: Mark JD Jordans mjordans@healthnettpo.org
1 Department of Research & Development, HealthNet TPO, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 VU University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3 School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, USA
4 Church World Services, Jakarta, Indonesia
5 Shantiham, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
6 Burundi Country Office, HealthNet TPO, Bujumbura, Burundi
7 Sudan Country Office, HealthNet TPO, Yei, Sudan
8 Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2010, 4:15 doi:10.1186/1752-4458-4-15
Published: 16 June 2010Abstract
Few psychosocial and mental health care systems have been reported for children affected by political violence in low- and middle income settings and there is a paucity of research-supported recommendations. This paper describes a field tested multi-layered psychosocial care system for children (focus age between 8-14 years), aiming to translate common principles and guidelines into a comprehensive support package. This community-based approach includes different overlapping levels of interventions to address varying needs for support. These levels provide assessment and management of problems that range from the social-pedagogic domain to the psychosocial, the psychological and the psychiatric domains. Specific intervention methodologies and their rationale are described within the context of a four-country program (Burundi, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Sudan). The paper aims to contribute to bridge the divide in the literature between guidelines, consensus & research and clinical practice in the field of psychosocial and mental health care in low- and middle-income countries.