A project of Columbia World Projects, Healing Roots: An Evidence Roadmap for Refugee Mental Health Interventions aims to developan online, open-access, user-friendly, multi-component tool designed to organize and synthesize existing research on refugee mental health interventions.
In June 2024, the project was among three projects honored with the 2024 Columbia World Projects Impact Awards for its innovative approach to addressing the urgent mental health needs of refugees in Greece and beyond.
Project summary
There are hundreds of millions of international migrants and forcibly displaced people in our world. Among the regions most affected, the Eastern Mediterranean continues to be a major migratory pathway to Europe. Armed conflicts in the Middle East, Asia and Africa – along with European Union policy – have rendered Greece the primary entry point for migrants in Europe. Greece hosts some 170,000 refugees and asylum seekers coming mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, according to the most recent reports from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration. Of them, 37% are children, many unaccompanied.
Forced migration is a complex situation involving challenges before departure, the violent loss of homeland and the adjustment to culturally new environments. These factors create multifaceted vulnerability and increase the risk of mental health and psychosocial problems. Moreover, refugees experience higher rates of depression and anxiety compared to the populations of their host countries, which is compounded by their lack of access to healthcare and further stresses the mental health services of host countries. This is particularly true for countries like Greece, which serve as entry points for migrants and have disproportionately large refugee populations.
To address these complex issues, the Healing Roots project in Greece will develop a Mental Health Evidence Roadmap, an online, open-access, user-friendly, multi-component tool designed to organize and synthesize existing research on refugee mental health interventions. This innovative approach will enable stakeholders to identify effective strategies and address evidence gaps to guide the implementation of targeted refugee mental health services.
In the broader context, the link between refugee mental health and forced migration is growing. There is evidence supporting the effectiveness of mental health and psychosocial support interventions in diverse refugee populations; however, a concise summary of evidence-based interventions is lacking. Standardization of mental health interventions and data on migrant mental health across countries and over time are scarce. Without appropriate data and implementation of evidence-based policies, achieving mental health development goals will be unmanageable for migrant communities around the world.
The project will also include a refugee mental health roadmap, based on the Evidence Map, that leverages established mental health methodologies endorsed by the UN and the World Health Organizations, and other agencies, as well as input from personal refugee experiences. The roadmap will guide the design and implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions specific to refugee communities. Both tools will be piloted in partnership with key stakeholders, including select migrants in resettlement centers in Greece. The results will be shared with the international community with the aim of improving mental health outcomes of forcibly displaced communities in Greece and the Balkans, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and North Africa more broadly.
The project is in partnership with:
- University of Ioannina
- Hellenic Region of Epirus
- Network for Children’s Rights
- Society of Psychosocial Research and Intervention
- Columbia Global Center, Athens
The project leads include:
- Charles Branas, Gelman Professor of Epidemiology, chair of the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health
- Dr. Evangelia Ntzani, professor and chair of the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece; adjunct professor in the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice, at Brown University’s School of Public Health
- Manuela Orjuela-Grimm, associate professor of epidemiology and pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- Claire Greene, assistant professor, Program on Forced Migration and Health, Columbia University/s Mailman School of Public Health
- Dr. Ajmal Sabawoon, associate research scientist, served a one-year appointment in 2021 with Mailman School of Public Health; former associate professor of Epidemiology at Kabul University of Medical Science