Mental health of the Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon : strategy for the National Institute for Social Care and Vocational Training for 2018-2021

• Autor(a) principal: Najm, Nancy
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/26595
• topic: Mental Health; Palestinian refugees; Strategy; NISCVT; Lebanon; Saúde Mental; Refugiados Palestinianos; Estratégia; Líbano; Ciências Médicas

ABSTRACT: The mental health programme of the National Institution for Social Care and Vocational Training, serving the community of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, requires a mental health strategy. This dissertation consists in such a strategy which contributes in reducing the burden of mental disorders in this community and thus improve the overall life quality of the community. Method: The NISCVT appointed the author to facilitate the development process of the mental health strategy according to WHO’s recommendations for policy and services development. The development of the strategy is grounded in interviews conducted by the author with key persons in the NISCVT. It unfolds in five steps: Consultations with stakeholders; Situation analysis of the current programme; The elaboration of the policy elements: vision, mission, objectives, values, guiding principles; Development of a first draft of the strategy; Experts reviews. Results: A mental health strategy for the NISCVT was developed following a consultational process. Five domains of action are identified: (1) Leadership and Governance, (2) Re-orientation and Scaling-up of Services, (3) Prevention and Promotion, (4) Information, Evidence and Research and (5) Vulnerable Groups. Each domain comprises of a general goal, strategic objectives and targets for the achievement of the objectives. Conclusion: This dissertation describes a successful collaboration among key stakeholders of the mental health programme of NISCVT which resulted in the development of a strategic policy. It is recommended to complete the development process of the strategy in these five steps: (1) an elaboration of a second draft following the experts review, (2) building a consensus among all the stakeholders, (3) an elaboration of final draft and an (4) online launching. Also, (5) an implementation plan needs to be developed to lay out a roadmap for delivering the commitments and recommendations of the mental health strategy.