Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings: What should Humanitarian Health Actors know?, 2011

Published Date
The guidelines set forth standards to enable humanitarian actors to plan, establish and coordinate a set of minimum multisectoral responses to protect and improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of people in the midst of an emergency. The guidelines are designed for all actors engaged in humanitarian assistance. In an emergency situation it is important that aid workers recognize that people are affected by emergencies in different ways. One key question aid workers should ask the victims of emergencies is what stresses them.   The guidelines consist of three parts. 1) The first part includes background information on mental health and psychosocial impact of emergencies, core principles and frequently asked questions.2) The second and third part provide a matrix of interventions and action sheets for minimum response in coordination, assessment, monitoring and evaluation, protection and human rights standards, human resources, community mobilization and support, health services, education, dissemination, food security and nutrition, shelter and site planning, and WASH.