Using theory of change to plan for the implementation of a psychological intervention addressing alcohol use disorder and psychological distress in Uganda.

In conflict-affected settings, prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) can be high. However, limited practical information exists on AUD management in low-income settings. Using a theory of change (ToC) approach, we aimed to identify pathways influencing the implementation and maintenance of a new transdiagnostic psychological intervention ("CHANGE"), targeting both psychological distress and AUDs in humanitarian settings. Three half-day workshops in Uganda engaged 41 stakeholders to develop a ToC map. ToC is a participatory program theory approach aiming to create a visual representation of how and why an intervention leads to specific outcomes. Additionally, five semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore experiences of stakeholders that participated in the ToC workshops. Two necessary pathways influencing the implementation and maintenance of CHANGE were identified: policy impact, and mental health service delivery. Barriers identified included policy gaps, limited recognition of social determinants and the need for integrated follow-up care. Interviewed participants valued ToC's participatory approach and expressed concerns about its adaptability in continuously changing contexts (e.g., humanitarian settings). Our study underscores ToC's value in delineating context-specific outcomes and identifies areas requiring further attention. It emphasizes the importance of early planning and stakeholder engagement for sustainable implementation of psychological interventions in humanitarian settings.

Equity Lens Protocol: Reflecting on Harms From the COVID-19 Response and Mitigation Strategies Implemented in a Local Public Health System.

This report describes an Equity Lens Protocol and its use to guide partners' systematic reflection on harms and mitigation strategies of the COVID-19 response in a local public health system. This process evaluation tool is based on the Guidance document for assuring an equitable response to COVID-19 prepared by the Pan American Health Organization. We used a participatory approach to engage public health partners in systematically reflecting on harms, mitigation strategies, and lessons learned and implications for practice. Outputs from using this tool included identified: (a) specific harms (e.g., loss of income and challenges to learning) related to particular COVID-19 response measures (e.g., home confinement and school closure) and (b) mitigation strategies implemented to reduce harms. In response to the protocol's guiding questions, partners also identified lessons learned and practice recommendations for strengthening equity work in public health responses (e.g., an equitable response requires an investment in people, structures, and relationships before a crisis). This report-and accompanying protocol-illustrates use of a practical method for systematic reflection on public health responses through an equity lens.

Challenges of COVID-19 prevention during protracted conflicts: differential adherence to preventive measures in "contact line" regions in eastern Ukraine.

Objectives: Despite the epidemiological importance of social vulnerabilities in compliance with preventive measures, little is known about the disproportional nature of preventive behaviors in crisis-affected populations. We examined adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors, focusing on social distancing measures in the conflict-affected regions in eastern Ukraine. Methods: From a multisectoral needs assessment conducted in 2020 using a household interview of a stratified simple random sample, we included 1,617 rural and urban households located in the government-controlled area. We performed multivariable binary logistic regression analysis with latent class analysis (LCA) to identify unmeasured patterns of classification of preventive measures using data from a cross-sectional survey. Results: The conflict-affected populations showed difficulty in complying with COVID-19 preventive measures due to losses of housing, partners, and access to food resources due to conflicts. Among the various preventive measures, wearing a face mask (88.1%) and washing hands more regularly (71.4%) were the most frequently reported. Compliance with social distancing was significantly lower in those who experienced the direct impacts of conflicts indicated by damaged accommodation or being widowed. Three different groups who showed distinctive patterns of employing COVID-19 preventive measures were identified via the LCA model, which were "highly complying group", "moderately complying group", and "face masks only group". The group membership was associated with a respondent's poverty status. Conclusion: The findings show the difficulty in compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures among conflict-affected populations indicating secondary impacts of the conflicts on preventive health behaviors. To mitigate the health impacts of conflicts, immediate attention is needed to address barriers to COVID-19 preventive measures among conflict-affected populations in Ukraine. This study suggests the need for public health strategies to improve preventive health behaviors in conflict-affected populations under pandemics or large-scale outbreaks.

Examining associations between personal growth initiative and subjective trajectories of life satisfaction among survivors of ethnopolitical violence in Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

Does personal growth initiative (PGI)-the tendency to be proactive about one's personal development-impact adaptive beliefs about life quality among survivors of mass violence, such as ethnopolitical warfare or genocidal violence? One-hundred-and-twenty-three survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and 179 Tamil individuals affected by the civil war in Sri Lanka completed assessments of PGI, satisfaction with one's past life, current life satisfaction, and anticipated future life satisfaction. High levels of PGI were associated with an adaptive inclining trajectory of life satisfaction (Past < Present < Future) in both samples. These results indicate that PGI is associated with adaptive beliefs about one's identity and well-being among war-affected populations, and supports future interventions targeting PGI among those communities.

Assessment of Mental Health and Coping Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Groups Amid COVID-19 From the "How Right Now" Campaign.

OBJECTIVES: How Right Now (HRN) is an evidence-based, culturally responsive communication campaign developed to facilitate coping and resilience among US groups disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To inform the development of this campaign, we examined patterns in emotional health, stress, and coping strategies among HRN's audiences, focusing on differences among racial and ethnic groups. METHODS: We used a national probability panel, AmeriSpeak, to collect survey data from HRN's priority audience members in English and Spanish at 2 time points (May 2020 and May 2021). We conducted statistical testing to examine differences between time points for each subgroup (Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White) and differences among subgroups at each time point. RESULTS: We found disparities in COVID-19-related mental health challenges and differences in coping strategies. Non-Hispanic Black respondents were more likely than non-Hispanic White respondents to report challenges related to the social determinants of health, such as affording food and housing (26.4% vs 9.4% in May 2020) and experiencing personal financial loss (46.6% vs 29.2% in May 2020). In May 2021, 30.6% of Hispanic respondents reported being unable to meet basic food or housing needs versus 8.2% of non-Hispanic White respondents, and 51.6% reported personal financial loss versus 26.5% of non-Hispanic White respondents. CONCLUSIONS: Our study further illuminates what is needed to build emotional well-being pathways for people who historically have been economically and socially marginalized. Our findings underscore the need for public health interventions to provide culturally responsive mental health support to populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19 during the pandemic and into the future, with a focus on racial and ethnic disparities.

Health professionals' perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and SGBV services in Rohingya refugee communities in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has acutely affected Rohingya refugees living in camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Reported increases in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) were attributed in part to pandemic-related public health measures. In addition, the Government of Bangladesh's restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have impacted the provision of comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence. This study sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected SGBV and the provision of services for Rohingya survivors in Bangladesh. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with 13 professionals who provided or managed health care or related services for Rohingya refugees after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. RESULTS: At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations observed an increase in the incidences of SGBV. However, health care workers noted that the overall number of survivors formally reporting or accessing services decreased. The pandemic produced multiple challenges that affected health workers' ability to provide essential care and services to Rohingya survivors, including access to the camps, initial designation of SGBV-related services as non-essential, communications and telehealth, difficulty maintaining confidentiality, and donor pressure. Some emerging best practices were also reported, including engaging Rohingya volunteers to continue services and adapting programming modalities and content to the COVID-19 context. CONCLUSIONS: Comprehensive SGBV services being deemed non-essential by the Government of Bangladesh was a key barrier to providing services to Rohingya survivors. Government restrictions adversely affected the ability of service providers to ensure that comprehensive SGBV care and services were available and accessible. The Government of Bangladesh has not been alone in struggling to balance the needs of displaced populations with the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and its response can provide lessons to others overseeing the provision of services during epidemics and pandemics in other humanitarian settings. The designation of comprehensive services for survivors of SGBV as essential is vital and should be done early in establishing disease prevention and mitigation strategies.

The impact of maternal depressive symptoms and traumatic events on early childhood mental health in conflict-affected Timor-Leste.

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal studies are needed to examine the association between maternal depression, trauma and childhood mental health in conflict-affected settings. AIMS: To examine maternal depressive symptoms, trauma-related adversities and child mental health by using a longitudinal path model in conflict-affected Timor-Leste. METHOD: Women were recruited in pregnancy. At wave 1, 1672 of 1740 eligible women were interviewed (96% response rate). The final sample comprised 1118 women with complete data at all three time points. Women were followed up when the index child was aged 18 months (wave 2) and 36 months (wave 3). Measures included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, lifetime traumatic events and the Child Behaviour Checklist. A longitudinal path analysis examined associations cross-sectionally and in a cross-lagged manner across time. RESULTS: Maternal depressive symptom score was associated with child mental health (cross-sectional association at wave 2, ß = 0.35, P < 0.001; cross-sectional association at wave 3, ß = 0.33, P < 0.001). The maternal depressive symptom score at wave 1 was associated with child mental health at wave 2 (ß = 0.12, P < 0.001), and the maternal depressive symptom score at wave 2 showed an indirect association with child mental health at wave 3 (indirect standardised coefficient 0.23, P < 0.001). There was a time-lagged relationship between child mental health at wave 2 and maternal depression at wave 3 (ß = 0.08, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal depressive symptoms are longitudinally associated with child mental health, and traumatic events play a role. Maternal depression symptoms are also affected by child mental health. Findings suggest the need for skilled assessment for depression, trauma-informed maternity care and parenting support in a post-conflict country such as Timor-Leste.

Planning the scale up of brief psychological interventions using theory of change.

BACKGROUND: A large mental health treatment gap exists among conflict-affected populations, and Syrian refugees specifically. Promising brief psychological interventions for conflict-affected populations exist such as the World Health Organization's Problem Management Plus (PM+) and the Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE) intervention, however, there is limited practical guidance for countries of how these interventions can be taken to scale. The aim of this study was to unpack pathways for scaling up PM+ and EASE for Syrian refugees. METHODS: We conducted three separate Theory of Change (ToC) workshops in Turkey, the Netherlands, and Lebanon in which PM+ and EASE are implemented for Syrian refugees. ToC is a participatory planning process involving key stakeholders, and aims to understand a process of change by mapping out intermediate and long-term outcomes on a causal pathway. 15-24 stakeholders were invited per country, and they participated in a one-day interactive ToC workshop on scaling up. RESULTS: A cross-country ToC map for scale up brief psychological interventions was developed which was based on three country-specific ToC maps. Two distinct causal pathways for scale up were identified (a policy and financing pathway, and a health services pathway) which are interdependent on each other. A list of key assumptions and interventions which may hamper or facilitate the scaling up process were established. CONCLUSION: ToC is a useful tool to help unpack the complexity of scaling up. Our approach highlights that scaling up brief psychological interventions for refugees builds on structural changes and reforms in policy and in health systems. Both horizontal and vertical scale up approaches are required to achieve sustainability. This paper provides the first theory-driven map of causal pathways to help support the scaling-up of evidence-based brief psychological interventions for refugees and populations in global mental health more broadly.

Construção de hidrelétricas e populações atingidas no Brasil: uma revisão sistemática / Construction of hydroelectric power plants and affected populations in Brazil: a systematic review

Este estudo possui o objetivo de realizar uma revisão sistemática dos artigos produzidos no Brasil nos últimos dez anos acerca dos grandes empreendimentos hidrelétricos e dos seus impactos às populações atingidas. A busca foi realizada na Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde Psicologia e na Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde. Localizaram-se 329 trabalhos, sendo que 42 deles foram utilizados para o desenvolvimento deste estudo. Os resultados apontaram para uma equidade entre o número de artigos teóricos e empíricos, demonstrando que as revistas com maior número de publicações estão vinculadas a áreas interdisciplinares, envolvendo a geografia, o meio ambiente e a sociologia. Quanto aos principais resultados, identificou-se um declínio geral nas condições de saúde física e mental, a implantação de políticas reparatórias insuficientes e o papel do Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens como estratégia de resistência social e política.(AU)

This study aims to carry out a systematic review of the articles that have been produced in Brazil in the last ten years about large hydroelectric power plant projects and their impacts on populations directly or indirectly affected. A search for different articles was performed in the Virtual Health Library in Psychology and in the Virtual Health Library. A total of 329 studies were found, and 42 of them were used in this study. The results show evenness between the numbers of theoretical and empirical articles, which demonstrate that journals with the greatest number of publications are linked to interdisciplinary areas, involving geography, environment and sociology. As for the studies' main results, an overall decrease in physical and mental health conditions, the implementation of insufficient reparative policies and the role of the Movement of People Affected by Dams as a strategy of social and political resistance were identified.(AU)

A scoping review of reporting 'Ethical Research Practices' in research conducted among refugees and war-affected populations in the Arab world.

BACKGROUND: Ethical research conduct is a cornerstone of research practice particularly when research participants include vulnerable populations. This study mapped the extent of reporting ethical research practices in studies conducted among refugees and war-affected populations in the Arab World, and assessed variations by time, country of study, and study characteristics. METHODS: An electronic search of eight databases resulted in 5668 unique records published between 2000 and 2013. Scoping review yielded 164 eligible articles for analyses. RESULTS: Ethical research practices, including obtaining institutional approval, access to the community/research site, and informed consent/assent from the research participants, were reported in 48.2, 54.9, and 53.7% of the publications, respectively. Institutional approval was significantly more likely to be reported when the research was biomedical in nature compared to public health and social (91.7% vs. 54.4 and 32.4%), when the study employed quantitative compared to qualitative or mixed methodologies (61.7% vs. 26.8 and 42.9%), and when the journal required a statement on ethical declarations (57.4% vs. 27.1%). Institutional approval was least likely to be reported in papers that were sole-authored (9.5%), when these did not mention a funding source (29.6%), or when published in national journals (0%). Similar results were obtained for access to the community site and for seeking informed consent/assent from study participants. CONCLUSIONS: The responsibility of inadequacies in adherence to ethical research conduct in crisis settings is born by a multitude of stakeholders including funding agencies, institutional research boards, researchers and international relief organizations involved in research, as well as journal editors, all of whom need to play a more proactive role for enhancing the practice of ethical research conduct in conflict settings.

How Narratives of Fear Shape Girls' Participation in Community Life in Two Conflict-Affected Populations.

Numerous social factors shape girls' lives in conflict-affected settings, affecting their vulnerability to gender-based violence (GBV). Qualitative research methods were used to examine spaces of perceived safety and risk for girls living in two conflict-affected populations: camps in Ethiopia hosting primarily South Sudanese and Sudanese refugees and communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Three major themes emerged: (a) challenges around caregiver-child communication regarding development, sex, and sexual violence; (b) a typology of safe/risky spaces; and (c) the influence of male-dominated spaces on experiences and fear of GBV. The findings have implications for programs focused on reducing adolescent girls' vulnerability to violence within conflict-affected contexts.

HIV care in Yangon, Myanmar; successes, challenges and implications for policy.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 0.8% of adults aged 18-49 in Myanmar are seropositive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Identifying the demographic, epidemiological and clinical characteristics of people living with HIV (PLHIV) is essential to inform optimal management strategies in this resource-limited country. METHODS: To create a "snapshot" of the PLHIV seeking anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in Myanmar, data were collected from the registration cards of all patients who had been prescribed ART at two large referral hospitals in Yangon, prior to March 18, 2016. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Anti-retroviral therapy had been prescribed to 2643 patients at the two hospitals. The patients' median [interquartile range (IQR)] age was 37 (31-44) years; 1494 (57%) were male. At registration, injecting drug use was reported in 22 (0.8%), male-to-male sexual contact in eleven (0.4%) and female sex work in eleven (0.4%), suggesting that patients under-report these risk behaviours, that health care workers are uncomfortable enquiring about them or that the two hospitals are under-servicing these populations. All three explanations appear likely. Most patients were symptomatic at registration with 2027 (77%) presenting with WHO stage 3 or 4 disease. In the 2442 patients with a CD4+ T cell count recorded at registration, the median (IQR) count was 169 (59-328) cells/mm3. After a median (IQR) duration of 359 (185-540) days of ART, 151 (5.7%) patients had died, 111 (4.2%) patients had been lost to follow-up, while 2381 were alive on ART. Tuberculosis (TB) co-infection was common: 1083 (41%) were already on anti-TB treatment at registration, while a further 41 (1.7%) required anti-TB treatment during follow-up. Only 21 (0.8%) patients were prescribed isoniazid prophylaxis therapy (IPT); one of these was lost to follow-up, but none of the remaining 20 patients died or required anti-TB treatment during a median (IQR) follow-up of 275 (235-293) days. CONCLUSIONS: People living with HIV in Yangon, Myanmar are generally presenting late in their disease course, increasing their risk of death, disease and transmitting the virus. A centralised model of ART prescription struggles to deliver care to the key affected populations. TB co-infection is very common in Myanmar, but despite the proven efficacy of IPT, it is frequently not prescribed.

PrEP: controversy, agency and ownership.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been and continues to be an intervention that causes controversy and debate between stakeholders involved in providing or advocating for it, and within communities in need of it. These controversies extend beyond the intrinsically complex issues of making it available. In this commentary, some of the possible roots of the air of dissent and drama that accompanies PrEP are explored. The similarities between the controversies that dogged the earliest human trials of PrEP and the ones we see today in the era of licensing and implementation are explored. We outline five mediating principles or cultural norms that may influence arguments about PrEP differently. Three areas of specific concern are identified: medical risk versus benefit, distrust and fear of healthcare interventions, and fears for individual responsibility and community cohesion. The fear that PrEP may somehow represent a loss of control over one or more of these domains is suggested as an underlying factor. The development of countervailing measures, to institute greater community "ownership" of PrEP, and concomitant improvements in the sense of individual agency over sexual risk are outlined and recommended.

Estimating HIV incidence among key affected populations in China from serial cross-sectional surveys in 2010-2014.

INTRODUCTION: HIV incidence is an important measure for monitoring the development of the epidemic, but it is difficult to ascertain. We combined serial HIV prevalence and mortality data to estimate HIV incidence among key affected populations (KAPs) in China. METHODS: Serial cross-sectional surveys were conducted among KAPs from 2010 to 2014. Trends in HIV prevalence were assessed by the Cochran-Armitage test, adjusted by risk group. HIV incidence was estimated from a mathematical model that describes the relationship between changes in HIV incidence with HIV prevalence and mortality. RESULTS: The crude HIV prevalence for the survey samples remained stable at 1.1 to 1.2% from 2010 to 2014. Among drug users (DUs), HIV prevalence declined from 4.48 to 3.29% (p<0.0001), and among men who have sex with men (MSM), HIV prevalence increased from 5.73 to 7.75% (p<0.0001). Changes in HIV prevalence among female sex workers (FSWs) and male patients of sexually transmitted disease clinics were more modest but remained statistically significant (all p<0.0001). The MSM population had the highest incidence estimates at 0.74% in 2011, 0.59% in 2012, 0.57% in 2013 and 0.53% in 2014. Estimates of the annual incidence for DUs and FSWs were very low and may not be reliable. CONCLUSIONS: Serial cross-sectional prevalence data from representative samples may be another approach to construct approximate estimates of national HIV incidence among key populations. We observed that the MSM population had the highest incidence for HIV among high-risk groups in China, and we suggest that interventions targeting MSM are urgently needed to curb the growing HIV epidemic.

Factors Enabling Access to HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing for Key Affected Populations in Thailand.

The objective was to study the factors that enabled persons at risk of HIV to obtain voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) in Thailand. This research was a cross-sectional study and data were collected during May to July 2013 in 8, purposively selected provinces. The method for selecting respondents used time-location quota sampling to achieve a total sample of 751 persons. The proportion who had VCT in the year prior to the survey was 56%.The significant enabling factors associated with VCT were having someone encourage them to go for testing and receiving information about VCT In addition, other significant factors for female sex workers were self-assessed risk for HIV and having had risk behavior, and for men who have sex with men the factors were awareness of eligibility for VCT. Thus, in order to achieve the VCT target for higher risk populations by 2016, there should be special mechanisms to inform the different groups, along with improvements in outreach services to make VCT more convenient for key affected populations.

Tuberculosis in Canada: Detection, Intervention and Compliance.

This paper provides an overview of the current state of TB in Canada by referencing information presented at the workshop, "Tuberculosis: Detection, Prevention, and Compliance." The workshop took place on November 14 and 15, 2012 in Ottawa. The workshop was organized by the Centre for Disease Modeling and the Public Health Agency of Canada as a two-day knowledge translation event that was comprised of scientific and policy focused presentations designed to address four key objectives: (1) Evaluate the success of current tuberculosis (TB) health policies and control strategies in Canada and for specific Canadian sub-populations; (2) Determine the impact of detection, intervention, compliance, and education strategies in terms of TB incidence and prevalence; (3) Develop targets for future interventions by identifying key characteristics of TB epidemics that impact the success of TB health policies and control strategies; (4) Leverage our existing ties with public health decision makers, aboriginal health organizations, and organizations serving the homeless to develop a research community that is based on close collaboration, and will foster national TB control efforts. The workshop elicited robust discussions between experts from a variety of academic disciplines and government officials. A summary of the information presented, comments shared, and questions posed, will provide a comprehensive understanding of the status of TB in Canada and future directions to be taken for improved control of the disease.