Self Help Plus: Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of guided self-help with South Sudanese refugee women in Uganda


Brown, Felicity, Carswell, Kenneth, Augustinavicius, Jura, Adaku, Alex, Laku, Marx, White, RG ORCID: 0000-0003-4026-6439, Ventevogel, Peter, Kogan, Cary, Moreno, Claudia Garcia, Bryant, Richard et al (show 3 more authors) (2018) Self Help Plus: Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of guided self-help with South Sudanese refugee women in Uganda. Global Mental Health, 5. e27-.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Exposure to armed conflict and forced displacement constitute significant risks for mental health. Existing evidence-based psychological interventions have limitations for scaling-up in low-resource humanitarian settings. The WHO has developed a guided self-help intervention, Self Help Plus (SH+), which is brief, implemented by non-specialists, and designed to be delivered to people with and without specific mental disorders. This paper outlines the study protocol for an evaluation of the SH+ intervention in northern Uganda, with South Sudanese refugee women.<h4>Methods</h4>A two-arm, single-blind cluster-randomised controlled trial will be conducted in 14 villages in Rhino Camp refugee settlement, with at least 588 women experiencing psychological distress. Villages will be randomly assigned to receive either SH+ with enhanced usual care (EUC), or EUC alone. SH+ is a five-session guided self-help intervention delivered in workshops with audio-recorded materials and accompanying pictorial guide. The primary outcome is reduction in overall psychological distress over time, with 3 months post-treatment as the primary end-point. Secondary outcomes are self-defined psychosocial concerns, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, hazardous alcohol use, feelings of anger, interethnic relations, psychological flexibility, functional impairment and subjective wellbeing. Psychological flexibility is a hypothesised mediator, and past trauma history and intervention attendance will be explored as potential moderators.<h4>Discussion</h4>This trial will provide important information on the effectiveness of a scalable, guided self-help intervention for improving psychological health and wellbeing among people affected by adversity.<h4>Trial registration</h4>ISRCTN50148022; registered 13/03/2017.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies, interventions, mental health, psychological intervention, trial protocol
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 12 Jun 2018 11:28
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 01:32
DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2018.17
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3022235
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