Feasibility and Acceptability of BRIGHT

Refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) are often exposed not only to potentially traumatic events before and during migration but also to significant post-migration stressors. Due to this combined burden, RAS are at increased risk for developing mental health problems. In accessing mental health care in the host countries, however, they face several barriers including waitlists, stigma and communication difficulties. Consequently, RAS are frequently underdiagnosed and often do not receive adequate medical treatment despite an urgent need. To improve the access to evidence-based psychological interventions, the WHO developed a series of scalable interventions. One of these is Problem Management Plus (PM+), a brief, low-intensity psychological intervention, delivered by paraprofessionals, that addresses common mental disorders in people affected by adversity. PM+ consists of 5 sessions that comprise evidence-based techniques of (a) problem solving, (b) stress management, (c) behavioral activation, and (d) accessing social support. The present study aims at expanding the existing PM+ intervention by providing additional booster sessions and access to a digital support program. PM+ has been proven to be an effective method for reducing mental health problems and improving the psychosocial functioning of people in crisis in various countries and contexts, including Switzerland. Despite its effectiveness, far too little attention has been paid to the successful implementation of such low-intensity psychological interventions into real-world health care systems. The present pilot RCT aims to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of an augmented version of PM+ for refugees and asylum-seekers to inform a full-scale, definitive randomized controlled trial and implementation study. Data will be collected regarding the feasibility and acceptability of all study components, including recruitment, drop-out rate, protocol adherence, study visit attendance and the time burden of parent questionnaires. These data will inform the design of a full scale randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of augmented PM+ in refugees and asylum-seekers.