Show Summary Details

Page of

Printed from Encyclopedia of Social Work. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 13 February 2025

Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settingslocked

Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settingslocked

  • Maryanne LoughryMaryanne LoughryBoston College - Social Work

Summary

The integration of psychosocial support into emergency responses is a recent development. In the 1990s, the need to address the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals and communities affected by emergencies became clear following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia (1991–1992) and the Rwandan genocide (1994). Prior to this, mental health in emergencies was primarily addressed in clinical settings. However, the humanitarian field was divided between the medical sector, which asserted that psychiatric clinical intervention was best, and many nonmedical actors, who preferred a person-in-environment approach. The need for consensus resulted in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) working group’s establishment of the framework of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), which combined both approaches. The IASC Guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings, published in 2007, are widely recognized as explaining how best to administer psychosocial support in emergencies. This ended decades of tension between mental health and psychosocial experts in emergency and humanitarian settings.

Subjects

  • Clinical and Direct Practice
  • Health Care and Illness
  • Mental and Behavioral Health
  • Policy and Advocacy
  • Populations and Practice Settings

You do not currently have access to this article

Login

Please login to access the full content.

Subscribe

Access to the full content requires a subscription