Evidence Aid bulletin: 28 February 2023
Below is Evidence Aid’s February 2023 bulletin, containing shortened versions of three of our recent summaries. Please forward this to others who might be interested. Anyone who would like to receive these bulletins directly or has questions about our work should contact Jane Copsey (info@evidenceaid.org). If you like our work and think it is important that we continue through 2023, please consider donating here.
Turkey/Syrian earthquake emergency – here are the links to our Earthquakes Managing Physical Injuries in Disasters and Managing Mental Injuries in Disasters Collections. Please forward to anyone you think it may help and do let us know if there are information needs you think are not being met.
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Interventions for noncommunicable diseases in humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries. Citation: Leff R, Selvam A, Bernstein R, Wallace L, Hayward A, Agrawal P, Hersey D, Ngaruiya C. A review of interventions for noncommunicable diseases in humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries. American Journal of Disaster Medicine. 2022;14(4):297-311.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the world’s leading cause of death worldwide, but insufficient attention is often paid to them during humanitarian emergencies. This systematic review, published in 2022, sought to bring together information on studies of interventions to address the impact of humanitarian disasters on people with NCDs in low- and middle-income countries and included 7 studies. Most of these studies focused either on recovery or response to humanitarian emergencies, without any reference towards mitigation or preparedness. The review’s authors identified several challenges to providing NCD care in active conflict settings: insecurity, refugee displacement, costs, ethics, lack of continuity of care, loss of health care infrastructure and providers, lack of knowledge and experience and shortages of medicines and supplies. They concluded that delivering interventions for patients with a NCD during a humanitarian emergency requires collaboration between different actors and improvements in the training of healthcare workers.
(Full summary available in our Resilient Health Systems collection.)
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Mental health screening for resettling refugees and asylum seekers. Citation: Magwood O, Kassam A, Mavedatnia D, Mendonca O, Saad A, Hasan H, Madana M, Ranger D, Tan Y, Pottie K. Mental health screening approaches for resettling refugees and asylum seekers: a scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(6):3549.
Refugees and asylum seekers face many challenges relating to their mental health, some of which might be helped by pre-departure and post-arrival screening for mental health disorders. This scoping review of 70 studies from 13 countries, most commonly the USA (25 studies) found that screening programs often screened for overall mental health, PTSD and depression. Programs for women of childbearing age, children and adolescents, an d victims of torture were identified; but there were no studies of other vulnerable groups, such as refugees that identify as LGBTQ+ or who live with disabilities. The review shows that trained interpreters or translators can improve communication and act as cultural mediators, and that digital tools can offer more private and accessible self-assessment.
(Full summary available in our Resilient Health Systems and Health of Refugees and Asylum Seekers collections.)
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Policy recommendations regarding human mobility in the context of climate change. Citation: Nayna Schwerdtle P, Stockemer J, Bowen KJ, Sauerborn R, McMichael C, Danquah I. A meta-synthesis of policy recommendations regarding human mobility in the context of climate change. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(24):9342.
Climate change is leading to changes in migration patterns that are presenting increasing challenges for global health. The authors of this systematic review searched for studies of migration (including forced migration, planned relocation and immobility) and health in the context of climate change, published in the three decades to August 2020. They found six main themes among the policy recommendations in the 68 included studies: (1) migration should serve as a last resort when responding to climate change; (2) preserve and protect the socio-cultural ties of mobile populations; (3) enable participation and self-sufficiency of migrants in relocation and resettlement sites; (4) strengthen health systems by reducing barriers to healthcare access among migrants and building climate resilience; (5) support the optimization of social determinants of health among migrants; and (6) integrate health into loss and damage assessments and consider vulnerable populations. The review’s authors called for transformative policies to support the health of those involved in migration related to climate change and future research to focus on mitigation strategies in conjunction with climate adaptation.
(Full summary available in our Resilient Health Systems and Health of Refugees and Asylum Seekers and Climate Change collections.)
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We hope that this bulletin, the collections we link to from the above summaries, and our resources more generally are helpful. They are all freely available on this website.
We would be pleased to hear from you with suggestions for how we can improve what we do.
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