Scaling up health innovations
Scaling up health innovations: A systems perspective on the scalability of novel psychological interventions for refugees
It is often difficult to successfully introduce short and structured psychological programmes, such as Problem Management Plus, into regular health and support services for refugees. Aniek Woodward’s study focused on several 'scalable' psychological programmes for Syrian refugees developed by the World Health Organization and various contexts. Woodward’s study has increased our understanding of how novel brief psychological programmes for Syrian refugees can be made part of regular health and support services. It identified important factors, people, and processes that play a role in making this possible.
Instead of only listing barriers and facilitators - which is common in research on scaling up health interventions -this study explored feasible ways for institutional anchoring of new psychological interventions for Syrian refugees into existing services across different settings. The developed integration scenarios present stories of how the scaling up of these interventions could work in specific countries. This provides deeper insight into how such interventions can be implemented in real-world settings (i.e. outside of research projects).
The knowledge generated by this research is valuable for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers who are involved in planning, delivering, or evaluating mental health interventions for refugees.
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