Joanne Kiniry

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Country: Ireland
Background: BSc Applied Psychology
Research Project:The experience of individuals who have worked in complex emergencies, of implementing mental health and psychosocial guidelines to affected populations

Complex emergencies are challenging events that can have a detrimental effect on the mental health of individuals and the communities affected by them. Mental health and the psychosocial guidelines are available for use during the complex emergencies but there is little awareness of them. This study surveyed the experience of individuals who have worked in the implementing of mental health and psychosocial guidelines to populations affected by complex emergencies.

The experiences of participants were collected using a short questionnaire, distributed by email, which included structured and semi-structured questions.

Sixty questionnaires were distributed; however there was a low response rate with only fourteen participants responding. Only six participants returned a fully completed questionnaire.

A number of codes emerged from the analysis of the data, and from them, three main themes became apparent, these were; Awareness, Responsibilities and Capacity. The results showed that there is a lack of awareness of mental health as an issue in complex emergencies. Accordingly there was also a lack of awareness of the guidelines to tackle mental health problems. Confusion about who has responsibility for implementation was also apparent as was a lack of capacity to address the problem during complex emergencies.

In conclusion, Awareness, Responsibility and Capacity all appear to be issues in the implementation of mental health and psychosocial guidelines in complex emergencies. These issues need to be addressed before mental health and psychosocial guidelines can be introduced in complex emergencies.

Although the response rate in this study was low, the findings of this study may be used as a starting point for future research and it is recommended that in future key informant interviews or an internet based questionnaire may be appropriate methods of research.