Scaling-up Psychological Interventions With Syrian Refugees in Switzerland (STRENGTHS_CH): RCT

The current refugee crisis across the Middle East and Europe has large effects on individual refugees' psychological well-being, as well as on the healthcare systems of countries hosting refugees. For example, in Switzerland patients sometimes have to wait up to 12 months for the specific psychological treatment due to a lack of specialists. To address this problem the WHO has developed Problem Management Plus (PM+), a brief (five sessions), low-intensity psychological intervention, delivered by paraprofessionals, that addresses common mental disorders in people in communities affected by adversity. The effectiveness and implementation of PM+ has never been examined in Switzerland before, this is the aim of the current randomized controlled trial.

Recent crises in the Middle East have resulted in an unprecedented increase in the worldwide number of refugees and asylum seekers. Switzerland (CH) is strongly affected by this crisis too.There are currently about 19'000 Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland. A similar number of other Arabic-speaking individuals have applied for asylum in Switzerland since 2011. Due to the ongoing war in the MENA region, it is unlikely that this kind of migration and flight will resolve within the next years. Refugees have typically been exposed to multiple stressors related to war and displacement including loss of family members, destruction of homes and livelihoods and human rights violations such as sexual violence or torture. They have often undertaken a risky and stressful flight leaving their homes for an unknown future. Accordingly, various studies have shown that refugees are at considerable risk of developing common mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related somatic health symptoms. According to the UNHCR, 85% of all displaced persons are hosted in third-world countries where appropriate mental health care is often not available. However, Western health systems are also often unable to appropriately cover the needs of this particularly vulnerable population regarding prevention and treatment of mental health problems. As a response to this situation, the WHO developed the low-intensity Problem Management Plus (PM+) programs, a new generation of short, resource-sparing, trans-diagnostic (i.e., not specifically aimed at treating a certain mental disorder) programs to reduce common mental health symptoms and improve psychosocial functioning. PM+ is based on the WHO treatment guidelines for conditions related to stress. PM+ is a 5-sessions intervention aimed at reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and related conditions, is delivered by trained non-specialized workers or lay people, and is available in individual and group delivery formats for both children and adults. It comprises evidence-based techniques of (a) problem solving, (b) stress management, (c) behavioral activation, and (d) accessing social support. PM+ has been successfully tested for effectiveness in Kenya and Pakistan. The STRENGTHS (Syrian REfuGees MeNTal HealTH Care Systems) study aims at evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of PM+ with Syrian refugees in different settings in low- and high-resource countries. The study consortium includes international experts in the domains of trauma and public mental health as well as representatives of WHO and UNHCR. The Zürich study site has been consigned to examine PM+ with adult refugees in an individual treatment setting in Switzerland. At the same time, similar studies in other countries will be undertaken. Despite the objective of these studies to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of PM+ in refugees, each research institution acts independently. Moreover, the other studies will be completed in different treatment settings - i.e., in children and adolescents (Lebanon), in groups (Turkey and Netherlands), and internet-delivered PM+ (Germany and Egypt). To date, the effectiveness and implementation of PM+ has not been investigated in a highly industrialized country, such as Switzerland. In the present study, the investigators will evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of PM+ in Arabic speaking refugees in Switzerland.