This application is being submitted to PA-18-591 in accordance with NOT-TW-19-003. It expands research and training on implementation science in relation to the prevention and treatment of behavioral disorders in LMICs. It leverages the NIMH investment in an existing R21 funded award as part of the Global Brain program, which is being conducted in Turkey. This R21 award is developing and pilot testing a novel model for helping urban refugee families in LMICs with common mental disorders (CMD) and no access to evidence-based mental health services. It delivers a transdiagnostic low resource-intensity family support intervention for CMD in health sector and non-health sector settings. Acting within the scope of the original parent award, and at the parent grant LMIC site, this supplement increases the likelihood for the currently funded R21 project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on mental health research and training. Specifically, it utilizes the incredible new opportunity for partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent, which is the organization responsible for providing psychosocial and mental health services to more than 3.6 million refugees in Turkey. The overall purpose is to foster evidence-based policy and program development in mental health for refugees by expanding communication and collaboration between the researchers and end users within the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), including practitioners, managers, and policy makers.
The specific aims are to: 1) Convene a refugee mental health implementation research group composed of researchers and end users in the TRC that will collaboratively: a) conduct trainings on the state-of-the-science in implementation science research (e.g. strategies for implementation, dissemination, and evaluation of effective mental health interventions); b) disseminate research findings on proven mental health assessments and interventions; and c) build a model for best impacting the TRC organizational structure, climate, culture, and processes regarding the implementation, dissemination, and evaluation of effective mental health interventions. These activities, in addition to the R21 in progress, will strengthen a mental health-focused implementation science research team within the TRC and prepare them for proposing a future R01 or hub proposal focused on scaling up effective mental health interventions for refugees.
Turkey currently has more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees who are at high risk for common mental disorders due to war trauma compounded by displacement stressors. This project fosters evidence-based policy and program development in mental health for refugees by expanding communication and collaboration between the researchers and end users within the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), including practitioners, managers, and policy makers. This supplement strengthens TRC?s capacity to create a system for adoption and integration of evidence-based mental health interventions into the context of community, clinical, and cultural settings to scale up effective interventions for refugees.
