Mental Health Among Displaced People and Refugees

Mental Health Among Displaced People and Refugees: Making the Case for Action at The World Bank Group (2016) outlines the humanitarian and development challenges presented by forced displacement and discusses how to address mental health needs in conflict- and post-conflict situations, with a focus on collaborative, multisectoral approaches and other key issues, such as:

• community level interventions
• integration with health and social systems
• affordability and cost-effectiveness
• malnutrition
• long-term care

The report concludes with a section on key lessons learned and the role of The World Bank Group in addressing mental health needs of displaced people and refugees.

• Prepared by Patricio V. Marquez, Lead Public Health Specialist and Coordinator of the Global Mental Health Initiative, Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice (HNP GP), The World Bank Group (WBG).
• Contributions provided by Sheila Dutta, Senior Health Specialist, and Jaime Bayona, Senior Health Specialist, HNP GP, WBG, as well as by Giuseppe Raviola, Director, Mental Health, Partners in Health (PIH), Inka Weissbecker, Senior Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Advisor, International Medical Corps, Shekhar Saxena, Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization (WHO), Mark van Ommeren, Public Mental Health Adviser, WHO, Eliot Sorel, Senior Scholar in Healthcare Innovation and Policy Research, George Washington University School of Medicine & School of Public Health, Pamela Collins, Associate Director for Special Populations, Office for Research on Disparities & Global Mental Health/Director, Office of Rural Mental Health Research, US National Institute of Mental Health, and Melanie Walker, Senior Adviser to the President of the World Bank Group. Aakanksha Pande, Senior Health Economist, and Ana Holt, Senior Health Specialist, HNP GP, WBG, also contributed as part of policy discussions.
• Washington, D.C. December 19, 2016

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