AB003. Implementation of Group Problem Management Plus among displaced women in Colombia: a qualitative examination of a community-delivered mental health intervention
Abstract

AB003. Implementation of Group Problem Management Plus among displaced women in Colombia: a qualitative examination of a community-delivered mental health intervention

Manaswi Sangraula1#, Jennifer Diaz2#, Alejandra Cid-Vega3#, Aline Martins Lanes3, M. Claire Greene4, Lucy Suchet-Miller4, Natalia Camargo2, Valeria Merino5, Adam Brown3, Matthew Schojan6, Annie Bonz7, Ana Maria Trejos2

1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA; 2Department of Psychology, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia; 3Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY, USA; 4Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; 5HIAS Colombia, Barranquilla, Colombia; 6Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Research, HIAS, Silver Spring, MD, USA; 7Resilience Projects, HIAS, Silver Spring, MD, USA

#These authors contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.

Correspondence to: Manaswi Sangraula, PhD, MPH. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Center for Global Mental Health Equity, George Washington University, 2120 L Street NW, Ste 600, Washington DC 20037, USA. Email: manaswi@email.gwu.edu.

Background: Forced migration heightens risk of mental health conditions, exacerbated by social protection concerns like gender-based violence (GVB). In Barranquilla, Colombia, we adapted and implemented Group Problem Management Plus (Group PM+), a non-specialist-delivered psychological intervention developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Venezuelan migrant and Colombian host community women were trained to deliver the program to other women. Although there is evidence on the effectiveness of Group PM+, in depth qualitative explorations may provide insight into associated mechanisms and outcomes.

Methods: During phase I, the research team trained community members as Group PM+ facilitators, who delivered the program to 68 women with moderate distress levels. In phase II, participants from phase I were identified to become trainers of new facilitators. A second community-trained cohort, delivered Group PM+ to 59 women. In-depth qualitative data collection and thematic analysis was conducted, employing semi-structured interviews with key informants and focus groups with participants, facilitators and trainers.

Results: Facilitators and trainers reported increased self-confidence and empowerment as well as positive impact through community connections, helping others, and personal application of strategies. Challenges included environmental conditions, space availability, and childcare. Group PM+ had significant impact on participants’ lives, particularly in mitigating anxiety, depressive symptoms and in fostering improved community connections and family dynamics. Psychoeducation reduced stigma around depression, relationship issues, and trauma. A widespread wish to continue Group PM+ and expand access to men, domestic partners, and LGBTQ groups was reported.

Conclusions: Scalable mental health interventions, like Group PM+, delivered by non-specialists address mental healthcare gaps among displaced populations. Individuals without formal training effectively became facilitators and trainers, highlighting task-sharing importance. Future research should examine the sustainability and scalability costs with minimal non-governmental organization (NGO) or academic support, integration into other community services, and potential long-term benefits of Group PM+ and its interaction with other wellbeing factors.

Keywords: Mental health; refugees; scalable mental health interventions; humanitarian response; gender-based violence (GVB)

Acknowledgments

Funding: This research was supported by a grant (PI: Brown) from the United States Agency International Development (USAID) and produced for the LASER PULSE Project (No. AID-7200AA18CA00009).

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jphe.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jphe-2023-apru-ab003/coif). Ms. Valeria Merino passed away before she could complete the conflict of interest statement. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in 2013). The study was approved by the Ethics Board of Universidad del Norte (#237) and informed consent was obtained from all individual participants.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the noncommercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/jphe-2023-apru-ab003
Cite this abstract as: Sangraula M, Diaz J, Cid-Vega A, Martins Lanes A, Greene MC, Suchet-Miller L, Camargo N, Merino V, Brown A, Schojan M, Bonz A, Trejos AM. AB003. Implementation of Group Problem Management Plus among displaced women in Colombia: a qualitative examination of a community-delivered mental health intervention. J Public Health Emerg 2024;8:AB003.

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