Heartbeat of Humanity
Heartbeat of Humanity is a podcast about mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). The podcast is mainly for staff and volunteers in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, especially staff and volunteers working in mental health and psychosocial support services.
The podcast is produced by the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub supporting the RCRC Movement by providing mental health, psychosocial support, and capacity-building initiatives. Hosted by the Danish Red Cross (DRC), the Hub is a collaborative partnership involving the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the DRC.
Heartbeat of Humanity
Evidence from the Frontline: Mental Health in Crisis Affected Contexts, episode 1: Self-Help Plus
How do we adapt an evidence-based mental health intervention for different communities in crisis-affected settings?
In this first episode Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, interviews Ken Carswell a Mental health Specialist from WHO and Lidiia Kasianchuk a psychologist from Ukraine with experience of implementing SH+.
Together they unpack what practitioners need to know about implementation of both the book and group-based SH+ approaches, including field use and adaptation experiences; the impact of SH+ on service users and staff (the role of group facilitators is key). The importance of practice-based evidence and community engagement are explored, and the need for monitoring and evaluation, as well as more rigorous research to inform scaling and to explore motivation aspects.
SH+ is a stress management course developed by WHO supported by Elrha’s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) and the EU Horizon2020 programme.
Key resources for practitioners
- Psychological interventions implementation manual: integrating evidence-based psychological interventions into existing services
- Self-Help Plus (sh+): a group-based stress management course for adults
- The Self-Help Plus (SH+) training manual: for training facilitators to deliver the SH+ course
- Self-Help Plus (SH+) online orientation course
- Doing What Matters in Times of Stress
Research and further reading
- Self-Help Plus (SH+): a new WHO stress management packageGuided self-help to reduce psychological distress in South Sudanese female refugees in Uganda: a cluster randomised trial
- Effectiveness of a WHO self-help psychological intervention for preventing mental disorders among Syrian refugees in Turkey: a randomized controlled trial
- Effectiveness of a WHO self-help psychological intervention to alleviate stress among healthcare workers in the context of COVID-19 in China: a randomised controlled trial
- Effectiveness of Self-Help Plus in its digital version in reducing anxiety and post-traumatic symptomatology among nursing home workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: secondary analysis of randomised controlled trial data
- Highlighting Complementary Benefits of Problem Management Plus (PM+) and Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (DWM) Interventions Delivered Alongside Broader Community MHPSS Programming in Zummar, Ninewa Governorate of Iraq
Evidence from the Frontline: Mental Health in Crisis Affected Contexts is a six-episode mini-series produced in collaboration between the MHPSS Hub and Elrha, designed for practitioners working in humanitarian and crisis contexts, the series highlights impactful interventions and practical insights from experts in the field.