A systematic review of psychosocial interventions for adult refugees and asylum seekers

• Published in: Journal of mental health (Abingdon, England) England), 2019-11, Vol.28 (6), p.662-676
• Main Authors: Tribe, Rachel H., Sendt, Kyra-Verena, Tracy, Derek K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety - therapy; asylum seeker; Clinical medicine; Clinical research; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Cognitive-behavioral factors; Cultural sensitivity; depression; Depression - therapy; Exposure therapy; Eye movement desensitization; Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing; Humans; Implosive Therapy; Interdisciplinary aspects; Intervention; Mental depression; Mental Health; Migration; Narrative Therapy; Political asylum; Post traumatic stress disorder; post-traumatic; psychological; Psychological distress; Psychosocial factors; Psychosocial intervention; PTSD; Refugee; Refugees; Refugees - psychology; Refugees - statistics & numerical data; review; Social services; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - therapy; Systematic review; Trauma; Treatment methods; Treatment Outcome; Workforce; World War II; Wounds and Injuries - therapy
• ISSN: 0963-8237; 1360-0567
• DOI: 10.1080/09638237.2017.1322182

Background: Europe is in the midst of the largest refugee migration since the Second World War; there is an urgent need to provide an updated systematic review of the current best evidence for managing mental distress in refugee populations. Aims: The aim of this review is to provide an exhaustive summary of the current literature on psychosocial interventions, both trauma- and non-trauma-focused, for refugee populations experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive or anxiety symptoms. To produce recommendations for future research and current clinical practice. Method: Searches were conducted in PubMed, PsychINFO (Hosted by Ovid), PILOTS and Social Services Abstracts; 5305 articles were screened and 40 were included. Results: This review found medium to high quality evidence supporting the use of narrative exposure therapy (NET). A lack of culturally adapted treatments was apparent and there was less evidence to support standard cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and multidisciplinary treatments. Conclusion: NET produced positive outcomes in refugees from a diverse range of backgrounds and trauma types. There is a general dearth of research in all intervention types: further research should include more "real-world" multidisciplinary interventions that better model clinical practice. Recommendations for evaluating local need, and creating a culturally sensitive workforce are discussed.