BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam//NONSGML v1.0//EN NAME:PhD defence D. Abraham METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20260126T114500 DTEND:20260126T131500 DTSTAMP:20260126T114500 UID:phd-defence-d-abraham@8F96275E-9F55-4B3F-A143-836282E12573 CREATED:20260918T165401 LOCATION: SUMMARY:PhD defence D. Abraham X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Mental Health Soluti ons for Internally Displaced Persons: Studying the design, process an d outcomes of a large-scale intervention in a camp in South Sudan

Mental health care training offers immediate help in times of war

People who are forced to flee war and v iolence often suffer serious emotional and psychological problems. Ac cording to Dennis Abraham, these problems can be identified and treat ed even in very difficult conditions, such as crowded refugee camps, with almost no mental health professionals. Most importantly, local c ommunity members can be trained to safely and effectively support oth ers with mental health difficulties.

Abraham’s findings show that mental health support can and should be part of emergency aid, n ot something postponed until crises are over. In practice, this means that refugee camps, disaster shelters, and conflict zones can immedi ately include basic mental health care by training trusted community members, rather than waiting for scarce specialists.

Mental hea lth care does not have to wait until a crisis is over or until specia lists arrive. With the right guidance and community involvement, mean ingful mental health support can be provided early, helping people re cover dignity, strength, and hope even in the middle of displacement and conflict. Displaced families benefit through reduced distress and better coping, while aid agencies gain practical, low-cost tools tha t can be scaled quickly.

More information on the thesis

DESCRIPTION: Mental Health Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons: Studying the design, process and outcomes of a large-scale intervent ion in a camp in South Sudan

Mental health care training offers immediate help in times of war

People who are for ced to flee war and violence often suffer serious emotional and psych ological problems. According to Dennis Abraham, these problems can be identified and treated even in very difficult conditions, such as cr owded refugee camps, with almost no mental health professionals. Most importantly, local community members can be trained to safely and ef fectively support others with mental health difficulties.Abraham’s findings show that mental health support can and should be part of em ergency aid, not something postponed until crises are over. In practi ce, this means that refugee camps, disaster shelters, and conflict zo nes can immediately include basic mental health care by training trus ted community members, rather than waiting for scarce specialists.Men tal health care does not have to wait until a crisis is over or until specialists arrive. With the right guidance and community involvemen t, meaningful mental health support can be provided early, helping pe ople recover dignity, strength, and hope even in the middle of displa cement and conflict. Displaced families benefit through reduced distr ess and better coping, while aid agencies gain practical, low-cost to ols that can be scaled quickly.More information on the thesis END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR