The greatest risk to persons engaging in international medical emergency response is poor preparation.
The In Control handbook hopes to provide a remedy.
At the time of writing, we are living through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a health
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emergency that disregards physical borders, brings into focus social inequalities and affects people on every continent. This shared challenge requires unprecedented measures and the collaboration of the brightest minds to support global health protection through this crisis and beyond. Healthcare infrastructures have to be strengthened, public health capacities and processes upgraded, medical countermeasures and vaccinations found and psychosocial side-effects treated.
Solidarity is the normative order of the day and the human species has to collaborate to face this invisible threat. Hiding and living in fear is not an option in this interconnected world. We have both a responsibility and an opportunity to make substantial contributions to a safer, healthier and more sustainable future for us all.
The existence of this handbook is an impressive example of solidarity. Over 50 authors from more than 15 institutes and organisations have come together voluntarily within a very short time to make their expertise available and enable cross-sectoral thinking. Knowledge is bundled, resources are combined, information gaps are filled. The In Control handbook is not a theoretical treatise of possible dangers, but a collection of subject-matter expertise, written by experts and practitioners who have shaped health topics over the past 20 years in the most diverse corners of the world.
The Centre for International Health Protection at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is collaborating with its partners and investing heavily in the build-up of operational know-how and capacity to support health crisis response abroad. This is done by preparing and enabling professionals to deploy safely across the world to assist those in need. In Control addresses the multi-faceted challenges of an international deployment. Readers will find not only technical medical information, but also insights into, for example, the fragility of our environment, the cultural differences that influence risk communication or the dilemmas arising from social distancing. Legal principles are highlighted, along with ethical guidance to ensure that our actions and decisions correspond to the highest moral standards.
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An Easy-Reference Guidebook for Healthcare Providers In Developed and Developing Countries
From Individual to Collective healing: A trainer’s manual
The* Facilitator manual on community-based psychosocial support *and the* Volunteers manual on community-based
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psychosocial support* provides resources for trainers and participants in key aspects of psychosocial support, including understanding the impact of crisis events, supportive communication, protection issues and self-care.
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The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have newly developed "Caring for Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse Guidelines"
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for health and psychosocial providers in humanitarian settings - “CCS Guidelines”. The CCS Guidelines are based on global research and evidence-based field practice, and bring a much-needed fresh and practical approach to helping child survivors, and their families, recover and heal from the oftentimes devastating impacts of sexual abuse. The guidelines walk the reader through the core knowledge, attitude and skill competencies required for service providers to effectively care for children and families affected by sexual abuse. In addition, the guidelines outline how to provide case management and basic psychosocial care for child survivors, as well as best practices for coordinating care.
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The purpose of this document is to provide agencies with a guide with three tools containing key assessment questions that are of common relevance to all actors involved in Mental Health
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and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) independent of the phase of the emergency. This guide will be useful for rapid assessments of MHPSS issues in humanitarian emergencies across sectors. The guide is designed for use by various humanitarian actors (governmental and non-governmental; local, national and global). It is based on the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007).
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The toolbox contains guidance and tools (sample templates) for data collection in M&E of PSS programmes. The tools can be adapted to PSS programme, depending upon target
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group, activities and scope. These are tools that may be useful for your programme and many are drawn from existing PSS programme M&E tools, but they are not an exhaustive list. They can act as an inspiration and supplement to other existing tools.
The Toolbox is also available in word format for easy use and adaptation here:
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The PS Centre has released three publications addressing the need for MHPSS tools and guidance in Ukraine and surrounding countries.
The Introdu
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ction to Psychological First Aid, presents a training module on basic psychological first aid skills for people affected by the international armed conflict in Ukraine which can be delivered in four hours. It is an adaption of another PS Centre publication, Training in Psychological First Aid for Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Module 1. An introduction to PFA.
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Guidance for School-Based Psychosocial
Programmes for Teachers, Parents and Children
in Confli
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ct and Postconflict Areas
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The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on the mental health of populations in the Americas. Studies
show high rates of depression and anxi
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ety, among other psychological symptoms, particularly among women, young
people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, health workers, and persons living in vulnerable condi-
tions. Mental health systems and services have also been severely disrupted. A lack of financial and human resource
investments in mental health services, limited implementation of the decentralized community-based care approach
and policies to address the mental health gap prior to the pandemic, have all contributed to the current crisis. Coun-
tries must urgently strengthen their mental health responses to COVID-19 by taking actions to scale up mental
health and psychosocial support services for all, reach marginalized and at-risk populations, and build back better
mental health systems and services for the future.
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This brief document compiles existing material related to mental health and psychosocial
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support (MHPSS) for the COVID-19 crisis, as well as other resources that can be applicable to the context. Documents are divided into different sections, based on the ‘’spaces of new vulnerability” inherent to some IOM programmes although many of them are applicable to other areas. They cover both mainstreaming of MHPSS and specific actions.
MHPSS managers will also find guidance on how to address the less technical and more managerial and programmatic issues related with the pandemic, including programme redefinition, surge capacity and how to manage demands to provide staff support to colleagues in the same missions
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This briefing note summarises key mental health and psychosocial
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support (MHPSS) considerations in relation to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
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39 examples of field practices, and learnings from 20 countries, for all phases of humanitarian response. The report shows that deliberate and proa
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ctive action is required to ensure that persons with disabilities from all constituencies are systematically included and meaningfully participate in DRR and humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery. It draws lessons from field practices, but does not provide technical guidance. The newly published IASC Guidelines are the reference document to seek in-depth theoretical and technical information.
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When terrible things happen in our communities, countries and the world, we want to reach out a helping hand to those who are affected. This guide covers
psychological first aid which involves humane, supportive
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and practical help to fellow human beings suffering serious crisis events. It is written for people in a position to help others who have experienced an extremely distressing event. It gives a framework for supporting people in ways that respect their dignity, culture and abilities. Despite its name, psychological first aid covers both social and psychological support.
Available in various languages: http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/guide_field_workers/en/
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BMJ Global Health2020;5:e002014. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002014
Individual psychological help for adults impaired by distress in communities exposed to adversity.
The manual describes a scalable psychological intervention called Problem Management Plus (PM+) for
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adults impaired by distress in communities who are exposed to adversity. Aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) have been changed to make them feasible in communities that do not have many specialists. To ensure maximum use, the intervention is developed in such a way that it can help people with depression, anxiety and stress, whether or not exposure to adversity has caused these problems. It can be applied to improve aspects of mental health and psychosocial well-being no matter how severe people’s problems are.
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