Boosting Refugee Integration Through Psychological Intervention

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH · Jan 9, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial, titled "Boosting Refugee Integration Through Psychological Intervention," is focused on helping refugees and asylum seekers who are experiencing psychological distress, including PTSD and other common mental health issues. Due to the many challenges they face, these individuals often struggle with their mental health and have limited access to the care they need. To tackle this issue, the trial is using a program called Problem Management Plus (PM+), which is a short and simple psychological intervention delivered by trained non-professionals. The trial aims to enhance the PM+ program by adding extra support sessions and reminders for practicing skills at home, while also assessing how well it works within public health services.

To be eligible for this study, participants must be refugees or asylum seekers aged 16 and older who live in selected Swiss municipalities where the program is available. They should also speak one of several languages, including German, English, or Arabic, and have moderate to high levels of psychological distress as indicated by a screening questionnaire. Those who have severe mental health issues or are at risk of suicide will not be included in the trial. Participants can expect to receive support through the PM+ program, which will help them manage their mental health in a practical way. This study is currently recruiting participants and aims to make a meaningful difference in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers facing mental health challenges.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• The inclusion criteria for participating in the study are:
• • refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) aged 16 or older;
• • residing in one of the participating local sites (Swiss municipalities, namely, Gemeinden, and transitional asylum centers, namely, Durchgangszentren) where PM+ is offered and which gave their consent for participation in the RCT;
• • speaking at least one of the following 12 languages: German, English, French, Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, Russian, Tamil, and Pashto;
• • obtaining a score of 20 or higher on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10; Kessler et al., 2002), a brief clinically validated screening questionnaire that assesses general psychological distress in the past 30 days. A score equal to or higher than 20 is used as an indication of moderate to high levels of psychological distress.
• The exclusion criteria for participating in the study are:
• • significant cognitive or neurological impairment measured through specific tools developed by the WHO and integrated into the PM+ manual (impairment questionnaire);
• • acute medical conditions or severe mental disorders (e.g., psychotic or substance-abuse disorders) measured through specific tools developed by the WHO and integrated into the PM+ manual (impairment questionnaire);
• • acute risk of suicide as measured by the Suicidal Ideation Attribution Scale (SIDAS; van Spijker et al., 2014) and the Thoughts of Suicide Questionnaire (World Health Organization WHO, 2016).